More than 1,100 officials have been held accountable for environmental irregularities in China's nature reserves after a six-month environmental protection inspection that lasted until the end of last year, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said in a statement on Saturday.Those punished include 60 officials at the prefectural or equivalent level and 240 at the county or equivalent level, but the ministry didn't disclose what punishments were handed out.With 20,800 tips related to environmental damage in nature reserves, authorities suspended or closed 2,460 companies and demolished buildings with a total floor area of 5.9 million square meters during the inspections. The inspection was focused on mining, quarrying, tourism and hydropower development in nature reserves, the ministry said.The inspections - which involved seven central government departments, including water resources, land and agriculture - covered all 446 national nature reserves, and were the largest inspections to date targeting nature reserves.The 10 inspection teams, with personnel from the seven departments, used remote sensing and unmanned aerial vehicles to complete their work, the ministry said.Some local governments still fail to attach enough importance to the protection of nature reserves and make excuses for environmental damage, the statement said.It also said some local governments lacked powerful enough supervision over irregularities in the nature reserves and failed to rectify existing environmental issues.Some local governments organized their own inspections of areas under their jurisdiction and found more than 5,000 irregularities. A total of 12 local laws that relate to nature reserves but conflict with national laws were abolished, and another 51 were revised. Local governments also drafted more than 20 new laws to help with the protection of nature reserves, the statement said.The ministry said it is cooperating with various departments to draft a plan for a similar inspection in 2018 and will maintain its tough stance over irregularities.The inspections were launched after the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, China's cabinet, jointly released a circular in July about irregularities in the Qilian Mountains National Natural Reserve in Gansu province.An inspection team from the central government found various irregularities, including over-exploitation of mineral resources, illegal construction and the operation of hydropower facilities, as well as excessive pollutant emissions.More than 150 hydropower stations were found in the Qilian Mountains basin, 42 of which are located within the reserve, resulting in severe disruption to the local ecosystem. Many of the projects have violated regulations both in the process of gaining approval and in construction.In the document, the central government said that officials, including Yang Zixing, vice-governor of Gansu province, will be held accountable for failing to look into and prevent the environmental [email protected]paper wristbands for eventswristband comprintable wristbandsjordan wristbandrubber arm bandswristband keychaincustom silicone bands
Members of China's top political advisory body have urged the government to unveil detailed implementation measures as soon as possible, following the launch of a series of policies to further expand economic and cultural exchanges across the Taiwan Straits.On Feb 28, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council issued a document composed of 31 measures to promote cross-Straits economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation. According to the latest policies, Taiwan people will be granted equal treatment with residents of the Chinese mainland gradually with regard to entrepreneurship, employment, education and living.Following the issuance of the measures, many young people have called us from Taiwan, asking how they can take qualification exams for permission to practice certain professions such as medicine in the mainland. We told them to wait for the release of detailed implementation plans, said Yang Yizhou, vice-chairman of the All-China Federation of Taiwan Compatriots, on the sidelines of this year's session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.Nowadays, Taiwan youth have become major participants of cross-Straits exchanges and an important force to influence the development of cross-Straits relations, said Xiao Qingwei, vice-president of Minnan Normal University in Zhangzhou, Fujian province, at a forum on youth innovation and entrepreneurship in Beijing last year.By the end of 2016, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council had approved the establishment of 53 cross-Straits youth entrepreneurship bases and demonstration sites. In Fujian province alone, such bases have attracted more than 2,000 young people from Taiwan to start their own business in the mainland, said Yang, who is also a member of the 13th National Committee of the CPPCC.Some policies concerning cross-Straits youth entrepreneurship should be adjusted to better serve the needs of the Taiwan people. We hope to improve these youth entrepreneurship bases and to help them attract more Taiwan youth to the mainland for entrepreneurship and employment, Yang said.The central government has created many favorable conditions in this regard, said Zhang Jiaji, a member of the Central Committee of the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League and a member of the 13th National Committee of the CPPCC.Zhang stressed that how to carry out the central government's decision to grant Taiwan people equal treatment with residents of the Chinese mainland is the most crucial part of the recently introduced policies.These 31 measures have shown the consistency and steadiness of the central government's policy on Taiwan. Although Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen has refused to recognize the 1992 Consensus, the central government is still sticking to its Taiwan policy and keeps on delivering goodwill to Taiwan people while cross-Straits relations are at a low ebb. It shows that central authorities have a big heart, he said.Further studies must be conducted to make these 31 measures easy to understand and easy to implement. The relevant government authorities should also supervise the implementation of the new policies, identify problems and make timely adjustments, he said.
