China’s most devastating earthquake in three decades killed nearly 9,000 people on Monday, with the toll likely to soar as authorities struggle to reach casualties in large areas cut off from relief. The earthquake that hit China’s southwestern province of Sichuan killed 8,533 people, the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday, citing the provincial government.

The epicentre of the 7.8 magnitude quake was in a mountainous region about 100 kilometres from Sichuan’s capital Chengdu, a bustling city of 10 million.”The road started swaying as I was driving. Rocks fell from the mountains, with dust darkening the sky over the valley,” a driver for Sichuan’s seismological bureau was quoted by Xinhua as saying, as he was driving near the epicentre. The quake hit in the middle of the school day, toppling eight schools in the region. Chemical plants and at least one hospital were also flattened, trapping many hundreds, state media said. About 900 teenagers were buried in the rubble of a collapsed three-storey school building in the Sichuan city of Dujiangyan. Local villagers had already helped dozens of students out of the ruins and five cranes were excavating the site as anxious parents looked on, Xinhua said.”Some buried teenagers were struggling to break loose from underneath the ruins while others were crying out for help,” the agency said. Nightfall, severed communications and blocked roads have hampered rescue efforts and the death toll was likely to rise significantly.Many buildings flattened An estimated 3,000 to 5,000 people were killed in Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County alone, state media said. As many as 10,000 in Beichuan were feared injured and 80 per cent of the buildings there had been destroyed, Xinhua said. There had been more than 300 aftershocks, state television said. Beichuan’s population is 161,000, meaning about one in 10 residents were killed or injured. The county is a part of Mianyang city, and about 160 kilometres from the provincial capital, Chengdu. Hundreds of people were buried in two collapsed chemical plants in Shifang in Sichuan, the online edition of the official Xinhua news agency said. About 6,000 people were evacuated, Xinhua said, adding that more than 80 tonnes of highly corrosive liquid ammonia had leaked. Hundreds of people were buried under rubble in Shifang in Sichuan as several schools, factories and dormitories collapsed during the quake, the official Xinhua news agency said. Hundreds were also buried under rubble in a collapsed hospital in Dujiangyan city in Sichuan. The quake’s epicentre was in nearby Wenchuan, a mountainous county of about 100,000 people, but its force was enough to cause buildings to sway across China and as far away as the Thai capital Bangkok. The Sichuan plain is one of China’s most fertile agricultural areas, but it relies heavily on an irrigation system linked to the 2,000-year-old Dujiangyan flood control works. Which means the quake could exacerbate inflation, already running at the fastest pace in 12 years. The quake is also the worst to hit China in 32 years since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake in northeastern China where up to 300,000 died. It has come at a bad time for China, which holds the Olympic Games in August, and has been struggling to keep a lid on unrest in ethnic Tibetan areas and the heavily Muslim northeastern Xinjiang region. The US Geological Survey said on its website (http://earthquake.usgs.gov) the main quake struck at 02.28 HK time at a depth of 10 kilometres. In Beijing and Shanghai, office workers poured into the streets as the tremor hit. In the capital, there was no visible damage and the showpiece Bird’s Nest Olympic stadium was unscathed. ‘All-out’ rescue effort Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Chengdu and President Hu Jintao ordered an “all-out” rescue effort, Xinhua reported. Thousands of army troops and paramilitary People’s Armed Police carrying medical supplies were also headed to the region, state television said. But a landslide had blocked a mountain road leading to Wenchuan, preventing troops from reaching the scene, state radio said. In Washington, President George W. Bush said the United States was ready to help.”I extend my condolences to those injured and to the families of the victims of today’s earthquake. I am particularly saddened by the number of students and children affected by this tragedy.”The United States stands ready to help in any way possible,” Mr Bush said in a statement. At least 45 had died in Chengdu, Xinhua said, citing an official with the local seismological bureau. Another 600 people were injured, 58 of them critically, in the sprawling city.Some 57 have been confirmed killed in northern Shaanxi, 48 in northwestern Gansu, 50 in Chongqing municipality, and one in Yunnan province, Xinhua said, citing the national headquarters of disaster relief.”); document.write(tmpText); China’s most devastating earthquake in three decades killed nearly 9,000 people on Monday, with the toll likely to soar as authorities struggle to reach casualties in large areas cut off from relief.The earthquake that hit China’s southwestern province of Sichuan killed 8,533 people, the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday, citing the provincial government.The epicentre of the 7.8 magnitude quake was in a mountainous region about 100 kilometres from Sichuan’s capital Chengdu, a bustling city of 10 million.

“The road started swaying as I was driving. Rocks fell from the mountains, with dust darkening the sky over the valley,” a driver for Sichuan’s seismological bureau was quoted by Xinhua as saying, as he was driving near the epicentre.

The quake hit in the middle of the school day, toppling eight schools in the region. Chemical plants and at least one hospital were also flattened, trapping many hundreds, state media said.

About 900 teenagers were buried in the rubble of a collapsed three-storey school building in the Sichuan city of Dujiangyan.

Local villagers had already helped dozens of students out of the ruins and five cranes were excavating the site as anxious parents looked on, Xinhua said.

“Some buried teenagers were struggling to break loose from underneath the ruins while others were crying out for help,” the agency said.

Nightfall, severed communications and blocked roads have hampered rescue efforts and the death toll was likely to rise significantly.

Many buildings flattened

An estimated 3,000 to 5,000 people were killed in Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County alone, state media said.

As many as 10,000 in Beichuan were feared injured and 80 per cent of the buildings there had been destroyed, Xinhua said. There had been more than 300 aftershocks, state television said.

Beichuan’s population is 161,000, meaning about one in 10 residents were killed or injured. The county is a part of Mianyang city, and about 160 kilometres from the provincial capital, Chengdu.

Hundreds of people were buried in two collapsed chemical plants in Shifang in Sichuan, the online edition of the official Xinhua news agency said.

About 6,000 people were evacuated, Xinhua said, adding that more than 80 tonnes of highly corrosive liquid ammonia had leaked.

Hundreds of people were buried under rubble in Shifang in Sichuan as several schools, factories and dormitories collapsed during the quake, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Hundreds were also buried under rubble in a collapsed hospital in Dujiangyan city in Sichuan.

The quake’s epicentre was in nearby Wenchuan, a mountainous county of about 100,000 people, but its force was enough to cause buildings to sway across China and as far away as the Thai capital Bangkok.

The Sichuan plain is one of China’s most fertile agricultural areas, but it relies heavily on an irrigation system linked to the 2,000-year-old Dujiangyan flood control works.

Which means the quake could exacerbate inflation, already running at the fastest pace in 12 years.

The quake is also the worst to hit China in 32 years since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake in northeastern China where up to 300,000 died.

It has come at a bad time for China, which holds the Olympic Games in August, and has been struggling to keep a lid on unrest in ethnic Tibetan areas and the heavily Muslim northeastern Xinjiang region.

The US Geological Survey said on its website (http://earthquake.usgs.gov) the main quake struck at 02.28 HK time at a depth of 10 kilometres.

In Beijing and Shanghai, office workers poured into the streets as the tremor hit. In the capital, there was no visible damage and the showpiece Bird’s Nest Olympic stadium was unscathed.

‘All-out’ rescue effort

Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Chengdu and President Hu Jintao ordered an “all-out” rescue effort, Xinhua reported.

Thousands of army troops and paramilitary People’s Armed Police carrying medical supplies were also headed to the region, state television said. But a landslide had blocked a mountain road leading to Wenchuan, preventing troops from reaching the scene, state radio said.

In Washington, President George W. Bush said the United States was ready to help.

“I extend my condolences to those injured and to the families of the victims of today’s earthquake. I am particularly saddened by the number of students and children affected by this tragedy.

“The United States stands ready to help in any way possible,” Mr Bush said in a statement.

At least 45 had died in Chengdu, Xinhua said, citing an official with the local seismological bureau. Another 600 people were injured, 58 of them critically, in the sprawling city.

Some 57 have been confirmed killed in northern Shaanxi, 48 in northwestern Gansu, 50 in Chongqing municipality, and one in Yunnan province, Xinhua said, citing the national headquarters of disaster relief

Japan called for calm but braced for trouble with tight security on Friday, as low-key protests began ahead of its leg of the Olympic torch relay, following emotional scenes at other venues around the world.The global torch relay ahead of the Beijing Games in August has provoked protests against China’s rights record, especially in Tibet, as well as patriotic rallies by Chinese who say the west has vilified Beijing unfairly.

The flame is meant to transmit a message of peace and friendship, but its journey has been largely turned into a political event and the torch has been granted the sort of security usually reserved for state leaders.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura called for calm ahead of Saturday’s relay in the central Japanese city of Nagano, a former Winter Olympics site.

“I hope this torch relay will take place peacefully in an atmosphere where everyone can celebrate,” he told a news conference in Tokyo.

In Hanoi, Vietnam state-run radio reported that a US citizen of Vietnamese origin had been expelled on accusations of planning anti-Chinese protests at next week’s Olympics torch relay in Ho Chi Minh City.

Reclusive North Korea, for its part, vowed to “astonish the world” with pomp, ceremony and safety during its stage of the relay on Monday, Chinese state media reported.

“North Korea has fully prepared an Olympic Games torch relay in Pyongyang that will be high-quality, outstanding, safe and successful,” China’s official Xinhua news agency cited a North Korean official as saying.

The flame’s arrival in Nagano was greeted by right wing activist trucks roaming the streets, displaying hugh Japanese flags and blaring “go away”.

Yellow T-shirt-clad supporters of the Falun Gong religious group, outlawed by Beijing, marched down a Nagano street with a brass band and yellow banners.

Dozens of people carrying pro-Tibet and Japanese flags later marched near the City Hall, blaring “Nagano City, cancel the torch relay now” as two vans of riot police trailed them.

“It’s an embarrassment for Japan. To host the torch relay is the same as supporting oppression in Tibet,” said Atsushi Matsuoka, 37, who worked for a publishing company.

Kunihiko Shinohara, head of Nagano’s relay organising committee, tried to reassure ordinary Japanese who would be taking part in the relay. “I know some of you are worried, but we will do our best to ensure safety,” he told them.

The torch will be guarded by up to 4,000 police, media said, with riot police and another 100 regular officers set to shield torch-bearers in two rows, shrouding the runners from sight.

They will be joined by two Chinese “flame attendants”, although Japan has made it clear that their participation in security would not be welcome after criticism of the paramilitary guards as heavy-handed in protecting the torch elsewhere.

Spectators will be barred from the opening and closing ceremonies on Saturday in Nagano.

“The people of Nagano were so looking forward to cheering on the relay, but everyone is disappointed because no one will be able to see it,” said Nagano taxi driver Michie Higuchi.

About 2,000 Chinese students from across Japan were expected to travel to Nagano carrying Chinese and Japanese flags and wearing matching T-shirts to show support for the relay.

More than 560,000 Chinese nationals live in Japan, official figures show, making them the second largest group of non-Japanese after Koreans. Many are students.

Pro-Tibet groups were to hold a prayer service early on Saturday for all those killed in recent unrest in Tibet before the relay on Saturday at the historic Zenkoji temple, which earlier withdrew as the kick-off site for the event.

The pro-Tibet groups would then congregate for a peaceful protest near the relay.

China has called the global torch relay a “journey of harmony” but the flame has become a magnet for anti-China protests. In London, Paris and San Francisco, torch bearers were jostled by anti-Beijing protesters as they ran.

The demonstrations stirred nationalistic sentiment in China, and prompted calls from some Chinese to boycott foreign businesses. In the last leg in Canberra, more than 10,000 Chinese Australians staged a huge pro-Beijing rally.

The International Olympic Committee’s athletes’ commission said in a statement it was saddened the torch relay had ‘not had the peaceful passage it deserves”.

Or perhaps they do not want to understand us, from this post I saw this:

Sushipanda said that over half of my Chinese-Chinese friends on MSN have put the badge on their contact names, in defiance of all the anti-China bullying that they’re undoubtedly reading about in the Chinese newspapers, watching on the Chinese news, and scouring over on the hundreds of blogs and BBS’s peppering China’s cyberscape and devoted to propping up this country’s national pride.

TC suggested that outsiders are suggesting that the news in China is being censored and that Chinese citizens aren’t getting a balanced view of the reality of the international protests. But whatever the cause, this is a significant showing of Chinese nationalistic behavior, and a sign that they are paying attention to the outside world.

What is surprising is that the West and the western media appears to insist that things are bad in China, the Olympics is China’s call to the new century, about improvement, about progress, and about some pride. The only perception the West leaves us with is that you wish to deny this moment of glory to us, why would you do that? When South Korea had their Olympics from a corrupt and military state was there this protest? Infact you were all hailing the progress and hoping South Korea will improve after this, which it did, so why do you want to spoil it for China? Are you envious, jealous or feel that we do not deserve our entry into the word? Do you think us foolish or ignorant of the meaning of “freedom” or “democracy”?

Do not raise your false torch for your so called chaotic and revolutionary freedom that will bring misery and war. You claim the name of Tibet for an Olympic Boycott but the Da Lai Lama himself does not agree or advocate it.

There is much China needs to improve upon, nobody will disagree with you here. There is no question that human rights can be better, that poverty is a problem, that education is a problem, that censorship is a problem, but if you think boycott, revolution and drastic change is the answer, as your violent protests seem to indicate then you will have learnt nothing of China’s true bloodshed in its many revolutions.

Already known as the largest e-waste capital of the world and often discussed in various high profile news articles and blogs it would appear that Guiyu is however still not getting any real priority attention to fix this terrible situation.

image courtesy of http://coolthingsinrandomplaces.com/guiyu/ and reposted…

Most of Guiyu makes their living by tearing apart outdated Dells with their bare hands. To access the solder, for example, they roast circuit boards over coal-fired grills. Printer cartridges are attacked with paint brushes, sending black clouds into the air and lungs. Gold is obtained using acid strippers, whose sludge is later dumped into the local river.

Computers components, however old, are rife with bits of valuable metals - many savvy geeks strip their old technology of gold before leaving them on the curb. But they also contain enough other materials - lead, cadmium, barium, even mercury - that electronic waste qualifies as hazardous, which is why most western countries drop it off as waste disposal centers. From there, 80% of e-waste heads straight to Asia.

Some workers claim they can distinguish between dozens of plastics, based on how they smell when they burn. Workers here make as little as $100 a month.

Via CNN, an interesting article about how hackers in China are making the world unsafe.

ZHOUSHAN, China — They operate from a bare apartment on a Chinese island. They are intelligent 20-somethings who seem harmless. But they are hard-core hackers who claim to have gained access to the world’s most sensitive sites, including the Pentagon.

In fact, they say they are sometimes paid secretly by the Chinese government — a claim the Beijing government denies.

"No Web site is one hundred percent safe. There are Web sites with high-level security, but there is always a weakness," says Xiao Chen, the leader of this group.

"Xiao Chen" is his online name. Along with his two colleagues, he does not want to reveal his true identity. The three belong to what some Western experts say is a civilian cyber militia in China, launching attacks on government and private Web sites around the world. Watch hackers’ clandestine Chinese operation »

If there is a profile of a cyber hacker, these three are straight from central casting — young and thin, with skin pale from spending too many long nights in front of a computer.

One hacker says he is a former computer operator in the People’s Liberation Army; another is a marketing graduate; and Xiao Chen says he is a self-taught programmer.

"First, you must know about the Web site you want to attack. You must know what program it is written with," says Xiao Chen. "There is a saying, ‘Know about both yourself and the enemy, and you will be invincible.’"

CNN decided to withhold the address of these hackers’ Web site, but Xiao Chen says it has been operating for more than three years, with 10,000 registered users. The site offers tools, articles, news and flash tutorials about hacking.

Private computer experts in the United States from iDefense Security Intelligence, which provides cybersecurity advice to governments and Fortune 500 companies, say the group’s site "appears to be an important site in the broader Chinese hacking community."

Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks of on-again, off-again e-mail exchanges. When they finally agreed, CNN was told to meet them on the island of Zhoushan, just south of Shanghai and a major port for China’s navy.

The apartment has cement floors and almost no furniture. What they do have are three of the latest computers. They are cautious when it comes to naming the Web sites they have hacked.

But eventually Xiao Chen claims two of his colleagues — not the ones with him in the room — have hacked into the Pentagon and downloaded information, although he wouldn’t specify what was gleaned. CNN has no way to confirm if his claim is true.

"They would not publicize this," he says of someone who hacks the U.S. Defense Department. "It is very sensitive."

This week, the Pentagon said computer networks in the United States, Germany, Britain and France were hit last year by what they call "multiple intrusions," many of them originating from China.

At a congressional hearing in Washington last week, administration officials testified that the government’s cyber initiative has fallen far short of what is required. Most alarming, the officials said, there has never been a full damage assessment of federal agency networks. Watch Pentagon bans Google from bases »

"We are here today because we must do more," said Robert Jamison, a top official in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. "Defending the federal system in its current configuration is a significant challenge."

U.S. officials have been cautious not to directly accuse the Chinese military or its government of hacking into its network.

But David Sedney, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, says, "The way these intrusions are conducted are certainly consistent with what you would need if you were going to actually carry out cyber warfare."

Beijing hit back at that, denying such an allegation and calling on the United States to provide proof. "If they have any evidence, I hope they would provide it. Then, we can cooperate on this issue," Qin Gang, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said during a regular press briefing this week.

But Xiao Chen says after the alleged Pentagon attack, his colleagues were paid by the Chinese government. Again, CNN has no way to independently confirm if that is true.

His allegations brought strenuous denials from Beijing. "I am telling you honestly, the Chinese government does not do such a thing," Qin said.

But if Xiao Chen is telling the truth, it appears his colleagues launched a freelance attack — not initiated by Beijing, but paid for after the fact. "These hacker groups in my opinion are not agents of the Chinese state," says James Mulvenon from the Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis, which works with the U.S. intelligence community.

"They are sort of useful idiots for the Beijing regime."

He adds, "These young hackers are tolerated by the regime provided that they do not conduct attacks inside of China."

One of the biggest problems experts say is trying to prove where a cyber attack originates from, and that they say allows hackers like Xiao Chen to operate in a virtual world of deniability.

And across China, there could be thousands just like him, all trying to prove themselves against some of the most secure Web sites in the world.

Visitors to the Beijing Games may be able to buy Playboy and a raft of other limited publications as China mulls relaxing its controls for the Summer Olympics in line with international practice.

Source China Daily.

All pornographic material is prohibited on the mainland but a temporary exception could be made for the Games, according to the biggest importer of foreign publications in the country. “Our law forbids Playboy and we should obey this, but we can’t rule out the possibility that it might make its debut. There might be a demand for it (from athletes or visitors) during the Games,” said Liang Jianrui, vice-president of China National Publications Import and Export Corporation, which will manage the nine magazine-selling kiosks sanctioned by Olympic organizers BOCOG during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Each kiosk will retail over 100 kinds of newspapers and magazines, including publications that are difficult to find in the capital like The New York Times, Newsweek and Britain’s The Sun famous for its topless Page 3 models. “We will provide most of the world’s top-selling newspapers and magazines,” said Liang. While Playboy, the brainchild of Hugh Hefner that is known for its “tasteful” photos of buxom beauties, remains a highly controversial choice at the Olympic Village, there is a growing trend in China to experiment with magazines that were once deemed dangerous or unsanitary.

China’s increasingly liberal political climate has seen sweeping changes hit the shelves of bookstores in the last 18 months, with a Chinese edition of edgy music journal Rolling Stone now deemed fit for the Chinese reading public. Other foreign media, like The New York Times, usually costs twice as much in Beijing as it does in Hong Kong - because of high tax rate and shipping costs, and is often restricted to five-star hotels, international compounds and special foreign bookstores.

Many expatriates in the capital consider this one of the “cons” of living in the city. “It is very inconvenient to buy foreign newspapers and magazines in Beijing,” said South African Jeremy Goldkorn, a 12-year China resident who founded a popular English blog about the country. “As a long-term resident of Beijing, I am already used to reading my favorite publications online, but even then, some foreign websites are inexplicably difficult to access.”

Beijing is going all out on a PR offensive to show the world next summer that it is an international city and is ready to bend the rules to give visitors a more comfortable stay. In addition to implementing a citywide clean-up campaign involving taxi-drivers and social etiquette lessons, it is ramping up English learning across the city, recruiting an unprecedented number of volunteers for the Games and doing its utmost to sanitize the environment and food hygiene levels in the city. The relaxation of curbs on magazines and newspapers follows Olympic protocol. Previous host cities like Athens, Sydney and Atlanta were also asked to ensure journalists and athletes had access to all leading international publications.

The move is also in line with a growing appetite among the Chinese public for foreign, and especially original, material, including novels. The final installment of the bestselling Harry Potter series, for example, sold 50,000 copies on its first print here despite a high retail price of 200 yuan per hardback copy. “This trend of releasing more foreign material stems purely from demand,” said Liang. “Before China opened up, expatriates were so eager to read their newspapers and books in Beijing that China made exceptions by opening foreign bookstores. Nowadays, Chinese bookstores sell foreign books.”

The good news for athletes, tourists and journalists during the 2008 Olympics is that they will be able to find many of their favorite paperbacks at downtown bookstores, while also being able to catch up on the latest news from the nine designated kiosks only hours after publications like the Financial Times are printed in Hong Kong. Popular Asian newspapers such as Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, Singapore’s The Strait Times and France’s L’Équipe will also be available, said Liang.

The kiosks got a pre-run this August at the Olympic co-host city of Qingdao when it staged the Qingdao International Sailing Regatta, an Olympic test event. Liang said his company is also talking with leading newspapers including The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times to keep down retail costs and make sure the papers arrive in a timely manner. These two dailies do not have access to printing presses in Hong Kong and must be flown from the United States to Beijing. “Our newsstands will respond to the practical needs of visitors during the Games,” said Liang. “We plan to release a list of what’s going to be available next April or May, but it may not be the final list.”

Six of the nine kiosks will be located in the media area for accredited and non-accredited journalists, he said. The biggest one, with a floor space of 68 sq m, will sit in the International Broadcasting Center. Athletes and coaches will have access to their favorite reads at the Olympic Village, while another store at the Olympic Green will cater to international and domestic spectators. The newsstands will be updated every three hours from 9 am to 6 pm, Jiao Guoying, president of the company, told local media recently.

On a newsstand at the University of International Business and Economics in north Beijing, several copies of a pink Financial Times stick out from behind piles of Chinese publications. The second-hand newspaper costs only 4 yuan (50 US cents), a fraction of its retail price in Europe, but is a must-read for finance majors at the college. Yet the fact it is even here at all is a mystery to many. “A man delivers the papers to me, but I’m not exactly sure where they come from,” said Han, a vendor at the school who refused to disclose her full name. A man who used to sell second-hand magazines during his college days told China Daily on condition of anonymity that he persuaded airport staff at Beijing Capital International Airport to collect used foreign magazines from the cabins of international flights, before carrying them to universities and crowded English schools like New Oriental in the capital.

As foreign publications, both in print and online, are still few and far between in China, used copies from “smugglers” like this form one of the limited channels for Chinese to (literally) get their hands on material that is easily available overseas. “When Time magazine published its Person of the Year edition last December, featuring a mirror reflecting the reader herself, I was eager to get one,” said Wu Yun, a senior student of Beijing Foreign Studies University. “It took me over a month to get one copy but in the end I did it,” she told China Daily.

Used periodicals like Time, The Economist and National Geographic, which are brought to the Chinese mainland from Hong Kong, are also among the best sellers, said vendors around Wu’s school. One vender there said he sold about 50 to 60 copies every month. Readers of foreign publications in China include students, scholars and office workers with some foreign-language skills.

During weekends, reading rooms for foreign-language periodicals are usually packed at the National Library of China near Zhongguancun, where more than 10,000 foreign periodicals are available. “I asked for leave from my company to come here and read foreign periodicals like I.D., Innovation, Design and Mono,” said a woman surnamed He, an industrial designer in her late 20s and a fine arts enthusiast. “Not many Chinese design companies can afford to subscribe to all these magazines,” she said. “But they are really useful.” Luo Huan, a 30-year-old librarian at the library, said that nowadays Chinese readers want to know more about what is going on in the world of international science, law and social affairs.

Many Chinese frequently read foreign publications online, using portals, search engines, proxies and RSS feeds. The Chinese websites of some western media have also experienced a growing readership on the Chinese mainland. “Reading more global publications certainly broadens the mind,” said Chen Lidan, a media expert at Beijing-based Renmin University. “But right now few people do that in China.”

“The driving force behind foreign publications in China comes from the coalition of the market and the policy. Policy follows demand,” said Liang Jianrui, vice-president of China National Publications Import and Export Corporation. “I often bought second-hand magazines at school. But since I left, I can rarely find them,” said Han Mingbing, a college graduate who now works at a tourism company in Beijing. “If the latest edition of Time was available around the corner, I would snap it up no matter how much it cost,” he said.

She has starred in dozens of films and been photographed thousands of times for hundreds of magazines, but it’s still easy to miss Maggie Cheung Man-yuk in a crowd. The cafe in the Mandarin Oriental hotel is buzzing with the Friday evening mix of tai-tais, tycoons and investment bankers sipping Veuve Clicquot, and no one notices when the actress quietly slips into the room and cosies up in a booth at the back.

Cheung is beaming. Having been away from the big screen for four years - her last role was the troubled single mother and recovering junkie she portrayed in Clean - she seems carefree, stripped down to her real self. She is wearing a simple Balenciaga sweater, skinny trousers, boots from her favourite store, Top Shop, and a distressed leather Luella bag ("It came with some strings but I cut them off," she whispers, as if divulging a secret. "I love it because it will age well.") Cheung is here to talk about, among other things, her latest role - not in a film but as one of the stars in Lane Crawford’s Transitions fashion campaign, which debuts next month. In one of the two images featuring Cheung, shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, the actress is pictured wearing an Alexander McQueen hourglass dress that cages her body, transforming it into a dramatic silhouette. The image is erotic - Newton-esque in its depiction of the female form - and completely incongruous with the good-girl persona she portrays for brands such as Ebel and Oil of Olay.

"Wow," she exclaims, looking at the images with a naughty look in her eye. "This is going to be great!" Acting is what Cheung is best known for but fashion has long been an interest. From designing for jewellery brand Qeelin to being photographed by Patrick Demarchelier and serving as a muse for designers such as Nicolas Ghesquiere at Balenciaga, Cheung has become one of the industry’s leading style icons. An attempt five years ago to come up with some ideas for local clothing chain Izzue wasn’t such a success, however, and she’s vowed she’ll "never do it again. It took too much time and work, and fashion design doesn’t interest me.

"It’s a big bonus that I am a fashion icon but I still think [fashion] is a superficial thing," she says. "Yes, it’s a beautiful thing and I appreciate it very much … so I let myself gravitate towards it … but it’s not something I like to do all the time. It doesn’t … affect what I really am."

At 43, Cheung has changed significantly from when she starred in her first feature film, almost 23 years ago. Born in Hong Kong, she moved to Kent, in England, when she was eight, and stayed there until the early 80s, when she returned to Asia to start modelling. After finishing as first runner-up at the Miss Hong Kong Pageant in 1983 (she was a semi-finalist at the Miss World pageant that year), she secured a contract with Shaw Brothers Studios and starred in popular comedy Police Story (1985) with Jackie Chan. In 1988, she landed a role in As Tears Go By, directed by Wong Kar-wai, a man who would be key to her career. Successes followed, and so did awards - as well as numerous Hong Kong honours, Cheung picked up best actress accolades from the Berlin and Cannes film festivals and five Golden Horse Awards over the next two decades.

Such praise, however, was not enough to keep Cheung on the silver screen. After completing Clean, the actress drifted away from cinema, leaving critics to presume she has retired from the business altogether.

"No, I’m not retired; I am letting it be," she explains in a soft English accent. "I’m not looking to do another film but I am not saying yes to much else either. The only thing that could draw me back to getting up at 5.30am, being on the set at 6am, and doing hair and make-up for five hours, is something very special. It became the same cycle for every film; I don’t need that cycle any more.

"I am at such a nice time in my life and I don’t want to end that for something that I don’t 100 per cent love. You have to defend a film that you have done no matter what - professionally and personally. I’d like to speak about my next project with passion, but I just feel that it’s not going to happen. I have done 75 films and that makes me think that it’s OK not to do 76. If I do choose another movie, I’d like to walk on set and say, `Wow! I love being here’, instead of thinking, `Why am I giving up my life to be here on this bloody mountain in the middle of nowhere?’

"When you take on a part, it’s actually quite a beautiful process," says Cheung, who has earned a reputation for playing "heavy" roles. "Just to understand another woman … to imagine what it can be. I don’t live the parts but I analyse them until I really understand who they are and I try to imagine them physically.

"But now [that I’ve stopped] I am much lighter as a person. It’s amazing to be able to live as you wish. You are able to plan your day yourself and do whatever you want. Right now I don’t feel like being stuck or committed to anything full time. Even my relationship - it’s still part-time, as I travel and work."

Cheung’s wanderlust may have stemmed from her childhood desire to be an air stewardess, she jokes, and she still makes frequent trips to Paris, where she once shared a home with ex-husband and Clean director Olivier Assayas. More recently, though, she has been spending a significant amount of time at her home in Beijing, where she enjoys the anonymity.

"I feel so sad about what the Hong Kong press have become. Even though people [in Beijing] still recognise me, and do or don’t like me, the way they behave is purer. Hong Kong people have become more critical because of the media," which have been known to camp outside Cheung’s Repulse Bay home.

"It’s a bad education for the heart, the soul and what you want for others and what is important: the value of life. It’s f**ked up. The media are f**king Hong Kong up and I am angry about that.

"In Beijing I feel that with anyone I am in touch with, whether they know who I am or not, they are genuine and not judging me on how I look. I don’t always want to be alert and on my guard."

She may not feel charitable towards the Hong Kong media, but Cheung has begun working with Oil of Olay and Audi (she represents both brands in China) on projects aimed at educating mainland youths.

"China is growing so fast but if the education of the next generation is not up to it, it can backfire for the country," she says. "Now I can do something for society. I always wanted to but have been so busy up to now. I am not a great saint who is giving up all her time to charity; it’s something I am serious about and that I really want to do. Apart from the charity work, I’m still out there looking for fulfilling projects.

"I like to do things properly. What I have in my hands now makes me busy and I just don’t want to overload myself. I want to be happy and lighthearted."

On the creative front, Cheung is devoting time to music, her enthusiasm ignited by a brief stint on the microphone in Clean.

"It’s not that I want to become a singer, but I am working with … music. I walk into the studio and hang out, make up songs and write some lyrics. I do some tunes on the computer with my own programming. I’m in love with that side of it," she says.

"If I keep on doing it, it might become something big. Music took me away from cinema. I feel my disposition is more inclined towards music now than to acting. Some actors are addicted to acting but I don’t feel that way. But if I don’t do anything musical for a while, I miss it and I want to be back in the studio." And that "part-time" relationship? Having split up with Qeelin founder Guillaume Brochard, she is reportedly dating German architect Ole Scheeren (she neither confirms nor denies this).

"I am willing to go where love is. I didn’t know that before, that I was like that," she says. "But I realise that’s always been the case. I am a true romantic at heart and I think that is the most important thing. Love is what drives me.

"But having a family is something I don’t see. I don’t think I will manage to have kids. I might adopt. I love children but I don’t want to [give birth]. I decided [that] when I was watching the news during 9/11. When I saw those planes crash into the buildings I said to myself that I didn’t want to bring anyone into this suffering. That moment clarified it for me. And along the way, watching my friends have kids, I have just realised it’s not for me. It’s a lot of work, a lot of heart. I believe two people should just be together and be happy to enjoy each other."

With no family and, possibly, no films ahead, what does the future hold for Miss Photogenic 1983?

"I think I will probably continue having three or four homes in places I like, and travel from home to home. I may even consider settling down in England, as that’s the one place I feel most comfortable. That would be an ideal life for me, as long as I have the person I love with me - unless he takes me somewhere else that I love, that is."

Interview by Harilela

This is very sad news, that something like the Flu can still do this, I wonder if they did a thorough inspection of the surrounding of what caused this.

Four reports of flu outbreaks involving 88 people in kindergartens and primary schools in Yuen Long, Tuen Mun and Yau Tong were announced last night. Most of the patients, aged from three to 42, had recovered, the Centre for Health Protection said.

Legislator for the medical sector Kwok Ka-ki said the Hospital Authority should be better prepared for flu outbreaks. "Faced with demands in admission, hospitals should try to scale down other services and provide additional beds for paediatric and medical patients who are most affected by flu outbreaks," he said.

The tragedy-struck Ho family had happier news yesterday with the birth of a baby, four days after their three-year-old daughter died of flu.

The baby came into the world yesterday morning at Tuen Mun Hospital, where Ho Po-yi died on Saturday. The child’s death sparked allegations by the family that doctors had been remiss in not admitting her earlier.

On what should have been a joyful occasion, the children’s father and grandfather were unsmiling as they went to the hospital yesterday, not even willing to disclose the sex of the new child, Mrs Ho’s fourth.

Also in the hospital is another daughter, Ho Yuen-yi, six, suffering from the same H3 flu strain that struck Po-yi.

Yuen-yi was confirmed yesterday to be ill with the H3N2 substrain, known as Brisbane flu after the Australian city where it first emerged, but the exact substrain that infected her sister had not been established last night.

Secretary for Food and Health York Chow Yat-ngok said the authority was very concerned by the sisters’ case. Dr Chow said he hoped the coroner’s court would be able to provide a clear account of the medical procedures involved and what had happened. He said the case was rare, as flu did not normally kill so quickly.

Po-yi died on Saturday afternoon after she was admitted to the hospital, a few hours after being sent home from the emergency room with a high fever.

Her sister, under treatment with the flu drug Tamiflu, is also having psychological counselling to help her deal with the tragedy.

"Yuen-yi is now stable, and she has started to eat again," grandfather Ho Kwai-ming said.

"Doctors say she may be discharged within two days. We are glad."

He did not answer when asked whether Yuen-yi had taken in the news of the death of her sister, but said he was still angry with the hospital. Mr Ho wondered whether mistakes had been made.

Via ifeng

"This is a photograph that everybody is familiar with.  When I first saw it, my eyes lit up: the Tibetan antelopes and the train on the Qinghai-Tibet railroad appeared simultaneously in the eye of the camera.  This was such a precise and decisive moment!  Thus, this photograph was selected as one of the top 10 most memorable photographs of 2006 and its author received innumerable honors … but on the day before yesterday, I suddenly discovered that there was a very obvious line at the bottom of the photograph." On February 12, an essay titled <Liu Weiqiang’s award winning photograph of the Tibetan antelopes is suspected of being fake> was posted to the world’s largest Chinese-language photography forum <Unlimited sights and colors>.  This post quickly drew more than 10,000 page views.  As of 7pm last evening, there were 120,478 page views and 1,524 comments.  Some netizens even compared Liu with "Tiger Zhou."  Could it be that this photograph was the result of PhotoShop manipulation?

The netizen nicknamed Dajiala was the person who made the post.  He questioned the bronze-award winning photograph titled <Wildlife opening the passage of life at the Qinghai-Tibet railway> from the 2006 CCTV news photos of the year.

According to Dajiala, he had liked that photograph before.  On February 10, he passing by the Beijing Number 5 subway’s photograph exhibition and saw this familiar photograph once more.  But this time, he found a suspicious point.  "I suddenly saw a peculiar detail.  At the bottom of the photograph, there was a very obvious line.  I examined it very carefully and it was obviously the stitching of two different parts … if the train and the antelopes came from two different photographs, then this decisive moment was just a simple PhotoShop trick?" Afterwards, Dajiala took out his camera and recorded the details of the photograph.  When he got home, he made a careful comparison with the photograph that he had saved on his computer.  He concluded that the photograph was faked.

Dajiala’s post caused a huge storm and drew many other netizens into an investigation of the veracity of the photograph.  They studied the EXIF information (which are present on digital photographs) and they pored over every detail of the photograph.  They came up with more problems.  "The EXIF information indicated that the time when the photograph was taken was faked!" "The rock in two different photographs taken at different times at the same place was identical!"  "The antelopes were definitely on the move and they cannot but be disrupted by the passing train!"  The netizens used their amateur photography knowledge to cast doubts on this award-winning photograph.  "From how the shutter speed could freeze the Tibetan antelopes, it is reasonable to assume 1/1000 seconds for 20D.  But the date of the photograph was in September, and this is inconsistent with the habits of the Tibetan antelopes." As the doubts rose, netizens said that "Tiger Zhou" has not departed the scene but "Antelope Liu" has arrived.

The reporter took this photograph and consulted a veteran photographer working in journalism in Chengdu.  "A news photograph must emphasize the factual nature of the subject.  If the decisive movement was in fact faked, then the facts do not exist.  It is illogical for this photograph to be entered into a news photography contest." As soon as this photographer took a look at this photograph, he shook his head and said: "According to the habit of the Tibetan antelopes, they will be scared by a passing train and they will scatter everywhere.  They could not maintain a straight-line file so calmly." Then he produced a photograph of a train passing by some Tibetan antelopes, which scattered in fear."  So anyone familiar with Tibetan antelopes would see that this photograph was illogical.  But if ordinary netizens can spot this problem, why did the many judges for CCTV fail to spot it?  Instead, they awarded a bronze award for photojournalism.  This photographer thinks that CCTV should bear the primary responsibility for the mistake.

This photograph is very well-known and has been published in more than 200 media outlets around the world.  The award-winning photographer is Liu Weiqiang, who is presently the assistant director of the photography department at Daqing Evening News.  He is a senior member of the Chinese Photographers Association and a special contracted Xinhua photographer.  Yesterday afternoon, this reporter made contact with Liu by mobile telephone.  At the time, Liu was out of town on assignment.

"The antelopes in the photograph are real.  The overpass bridge is also real.  But it was not easy to capture such a moment."  Liu Weiqiang admitted openly: The photograph was created by PhotoShop.  Liu said that the photograph was taken in 2006 and served as the poster/postcard for the Kekexili nature preservation area.  Later, the Kekexili nature preservation area let the China Environmental News publish it.  This photograph was then discovered by CCTV which selected it as one of the most memorable news photographs of the year 2006.  "I had never published this photograph as a news photograph.  After receiving this award, I did not use it to enter the Holland world competition or the China news photography competition, because this was an artistic photograph that had been modified."  As to why a PhotoShop-ed photograph could win a news photography award, Liu Weiqiang said, "Maybe it is because the award judges were not familiar with the habits of the Tibetan antelopes."

"Actually, I hoped that this incident would blow up because more people will pay attention to the Tibetan antelopes!" said Liu Weiqiang.  As for netizens calling for his award to be rescinded, Liu said that he only has a piece of paper and a cup to show and therefore this does not mean much to him.  "Presently, the focus of my attention is on the Tibetan antelopes!"

Beleaguered actor-singer Edison Chen Koon-hei returned to Hong Kong yesterday and apologised unreservedly for his involvement in the nude pictures controversy, saying he would quit the local entertainment scene indefinitely.

He admitted for the first time he had taken pictures of female celebrities engaging in sex acts with him. His lawyers issued a statement warning that further publication of the images would be a breach of copyright, a move that could foreshadow legal  action.

It is interesting to see how legal action against proprietary images is being used, since they were "stolen" and published without consent, does this mean we will be seeing multi million dollar lawsuits headed towards media outlets that published these photos?

"I would like to say sorry to all the people of Hong Kong. I give my apologies sincerely to you all unreservedly and with my heart," the Canadian-born Chen, 27, told a packed press conference at the Hong Kong International Trade and Exhibition Centre in Kowloon Bay. "I hope you all will accept my apology. Give me a chance."

He added: "I admit that most of the photos being circulated on the internet were taken by me. But these photos were very private, and have not been shown to people and were never intended to be shown to anyone. These photos were stolen from me illegally and distributed without my consent."

Chen said he would leave the local entertainment industry after fulfilling current commitments. His  lawyers released a statement saying Chen was the owner of the photographs and images "featuring himself and his lady friends in intimate circumstances", in an attempt to stop the pictures being circulated on the internet or published in the press.

The statement said that downloading the photographs was an act of copyright infringement and the  reproduction and dissemination of the photographs to the public was an "even more serious act of copyright infringement".

The photographs, featuring Chen and seven female celebrities including Gillian Chung Yan-tung of girl duo Twins, actress Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi and his current girlfriend Vincy Yeung Wing-ching, niece of Emperor Group tycoon Albert Yeung Sau-shing, have been circulated globally since the scandal broke nearly four weeks ago.

During his seven-minute speech, Chen repeatedly apologised to the  female stars who had been  embroiled in the scandal.

"I would like to apologise to all the ladies and to all their families for any harm or hurt that they have been  feeling. I’m sorry," he said calmly. He added: "I know young people in Hong Kong look up to many figures in our society. And in this regard, I failed as a role model. I will wholeheartedly fulfil all the commitments that I have to date but after that I have decided to step away from the Hong Kong entertainment industry."

Albert Yeung said last night Chen had spoken well and was "very sincere". "I think we should give him a chance." On Chen’s decision to quit local showbusiness he said: "It’s a pity, but this is his personal decision."

Gary Chan Chi-kwong, director of East Asia Music, said the company supported Chen’s decision.

Defending his decision to disappear after the scandal broke, Chen said: "I have never escaped from my responsibility … I have been assisting the police since the first day the photos were published, and I will continue to assist them."

Chen said he would dedicate his time to charity in the next few months and hoped his predicament would be a lesson for the wider  community.

After the press conference, police went to Chen’s home in Magazine Gap Road to continue their investigation and search for evidence.

"We have collected evidence including some computer-related items and a computer," said Chief Inspector Kenny Wong Tak-cheung from the Commercial Crime Bureau.