Month: January 2021

(Peoples Daily Online)13:10, August 03, 2020

For decades, Li Tianlai, an expert in solar greenhouses, has been working to help more residents in northern China cultivate vegetables and fruit in winter.

Li Tianlai (File photo)

He has pioneered the theories and methods for maintaining good lighting procedures as well as storing and preserving heat in greenhouses, enabling northern areas, where temperatures can fall to minus 30 degrees Celsius in winter, to plant fruit and vegetables through the use of solar energy.

Li has also successfully brought the line demarcating areas where fruit and vegetables can be grown in winter 300 kilometers farther north.

In 1978, he entered the Shenyang Agricultural University, specializing in studying how to grow vegetables. Agriculture integrates many disciplines, such as genetics, breeding, cultivation, and soil nutrition, and turned out to be more interesting than I thought, he said.

While still at school, Li spent a lot of time in the fields, which made him realize the importance of combining practice and research.

After graduation, he was persuaded by his teachers to stay and teach at the school. I was determined to conduct scientific research and continue with my studies while teaching, he said.

He would often carry out experiments in the fields, learn from the farmers, and managed to solve the problems they frequently encountered in their work.

In 1985, Li went to Japan to study horticulture at Yamagata University. Three years later, he returned to China and started to address the urgent problem of residents in northern China finding it difficult to get fresh fruit and vegetables in winter.

Li decided to try striking a balance between input and output, and developed a program that was more accessible to farmers and that could be promoted on a large scale after initial results.

Li and his research team have implemented innovations to maintain lighting and heat at the same time, not an easy task for most horticultural facilities.

Due to the lack of funds, the research team asked the farmers to demonstrate and promote the program. Members of the team held training courses and provided on-site guidance, finally achieving initial results.

In 1988, Li participated in the design and construction of the first-generation solar greenhouse, allowing northern regions where temperatures can fall to minus 20 degrees Celsius in winter to plant fruit and vegetables by making use of solar energy.

He would later continue to improve the technologies, expanding the areas able to grow vegetables in winter from 40.5 degrees north of the Earths equatorial plane to 43.5 degrees.

Li is now developing modern solar greenhouses, which are expected to automatically control the environment in the greenhouses and be equipped with machinery production.

(Xinhua)16:11, August 04, 2020

At least seven people were trapped after a warehouse collapsed Tuesday morning in Harbin, capital of northeast Chinas Heilongjiang Province, according to the local publicity department.

The collapse happened at 8:55 a.m. Tuesday in a warehouse of a food company in the citys Daoli District.

Rescue operations and an investigation are underway.

(Xinhua)08:42, August 05, 2020

Researchers from the University of Macao of Chinas Macao Special Administrative Region and institutions in central Chinas Hubei Province have worked together to develop an intelligent system to distinguish pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) from other common pneumonia, said the university Tuesday.

The new system, developed by Prof. Wong Pak Kin in the Faculty of Science and Technology, and his doctoral student Yan Tao in the Department of Electromechanical Engineering, can tell COVID-19 from other common pneumonia at a speed nearly 60 times faster than radiologists, the University of Macao said in a press release.

They had worked with researchers at institutions in Hubei Province to collect data on 206 confirmed COVID-19 patients and their 416 chest computed tomography (CT) scans, as well as data on 412 patients with non-COVID-19 pneumonia and their 412 chest CT scans.

Based on these CT images, the researchers developed an automatic diagnosis system based on a multi-scale convolutional neural network. The verification results have shown that with a limited amount of data, the intelligent diagnosis system can successfully distinguish COVID-19-caused pneumonia from other common pneumonia.

CT diagnosis has a very high degree of accuracy and can provide more clinical information for COVID-19 detection and diagnosis. But the large number of scan images and lengthy time for manual identification bring big challenge for radiologists.

The related research paper titled Automatic Distinction between COVID-19 and Common Pneumonia using Multi-Scale Convolutional Neural Network on Chest CT Scans has been published by the international science journal Chaos, Solitons Fractals in its latest issue.

(Xinhua)08:48, August 05, 2020

For decades, Kou Ruis father kept the family of seven afloat through the huajiao (Sichuan pepper) trade. Like father, like son. Kou, 38, has built his own fortune from the unique plant and helped spice up poor farmers lives deep in the mountains of northwest China.

Despite its name, Sichuan pepper, the dried rust-colored berries of a type of spiky shrub native to parts of west China, is not actual pepper. Delivering a slightly numbing sensation and a lemony, peppery aroma, it is used extensively in Sichuan food to create its trademark flavor: numbing heat.

Many Chinese people adore Sichuan pepper, while its journey from farm to table is bruising.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

Kou and his family live in Longnan City, northwest Chinas Gansu Province, which neighbors Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces. While the junction boasts a major Sichuan pepper-growing region, offering locals a potential lifeline, soaring mountains long stood in the way.

Among those to blaze a trail was Kous father. Three decades ago, as the cultivation and harvest of Sichuan pepper required technical savvy, its planting was scattered and limited in scale. So was the trade. Besides, the journey to the nearest market was quite a trek.

The crop met great demand in Sichuan, on the other side of the mountains. To get there, burdened with the spice, Kous father had to spend over 20 hours on the road, transferring from bus to train.

Quality Sichuan pepper produced in Longnans Wudu District was sold for up to 8 yuan (about 1.15 U.S. dollars) per kilogram 30 years ago, twice the average daily salary of most workers in west China in the same period.

For Kous family, Sichuan pepper has brought them fortune, and even a taste of the unknown. Once, his father bought peanuts from Sichuan after he sold his pepper in the province.

It was the first time that Id ever seen or eaten peanuts. I ate too much and suffered from diarrhea and vomiting for days, Kou recalled. But Sichuan pepper gave me a glimpse at the outside world.

Despite these humble beginnings, the younger generation have spiced up the narrative in recent years, taking advantage of improved logistics and introducing fresh ideas, aided by favorable government policies.

Kou set up a Sichuan pepper cooperative in 2003 after completing military service. So far, his cooperative has pulled over 90 households out of poverty.

ADDING SPICE TO ECONOMY, LIFE

Great potential in the demand for Sichuan pepper has revved up local growers enthusiasm, said Chen Hongyan, head of an organization in Wudu District of Longnan that serves the trade of Sichuan pepper. In 2003, the local government designated the industry as a prime way to root out poverty, encouraging large-scale planting and bolstering infrastructure such as logistics.

More recently, powered by Chinas poverty alleviation efforts, the citys transport service has embraced a new round of upgrades. In 2017, a major railway connecting Lanzhou, capital of Gansu, and southwest Chinas Chongqing Municipality, through Longnan and multiple cities, opened for service. Couriers like SF Express have also established branches in Longnan, speeding up the delivery of goods.

Due to the leap forward in development, Kou has seen the freight transport time from his hometown to Sichuan reduced to less than five hours. Meanwhile, locally grown Sichuan pepper is of higher quality thanks to government support, and its supply is booming with more growers.

Once a local delight, now the spice has ventured abroad, gaining traction among foreign customers. Gao Zhidong, founder of another Sichuan pepper cooperative in Longnan, has not only succeeded in selling his products to hotpot heavyweight Haidilao but also tapped the German market.

When an industry offers hope, talented youths step in. Ouyang Shuzhi, a college graduate in e-commerce employed by Gaos cooperative, incorporated his expertise into their business strategies. Last year, of the cooperatives more than 30 million yuan in Sichuan pepper sales, one third came from online platforms.

Among various Sichuan peppers of prime quality across China, those grown in Wudu District stand out due to their prominent numbing properties, thus enjoying popularity. And with top yields, we play a crucial role in leading the domestic Sichuan pepper market, said Niu Junping, deputy head of the district.

In the height of summer, clumps of ripened berries were seen hanging from shrubs in a village in Longnan. Wang Fuchao, a local villager, was weaving in and out of the branches. He had to finish picking all the berries on over 500 Sichuan pepper trees before early August.

According to Wang, Sichuan pepper could be sold at more than 120 yuan per kilogram this year, and his total income will reach at least 40,000 yuan. After the harvest, he will seek work in other places, earning more money for his family.

In Longnan, the history of cultivating Sichuan pepper dates back about 1,000 years. Now, the industry is taking on a new look. The Sichuan pepper planting area has reached 1 million mu (66,667 hectares) in Wudu District, and the industry has helped 86,000 local residents cast off poverty.

The numbing spicy pepper has really spiced up the life of the poverty-stricken residents in rural areas, said Chen Hongyan.

(Xinhua)08:54, August 05, 2020

Chinas Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has called for tailored vocational training for those fishermen affected by a 10-year fishing ban in the Yangtze River basin that came into force this year.

At least one vocational training course will be offered, free of charge, to fishermen who request it, along with training subsidies for the duration of the course, according to a circular issued by the ministry.

For senior fishermen whose skill-set is limited, training on aquaculture and aquatic products processing will be given. They may also obtain training in areas such as household management, elderly care, and security-guard work. Middle-aged and young fishermen, meanwhile, will receive training in online retailing, auto repairs and electrical work.

The ministry also advised giving full play to new occupations, such as live-streaming salesperson, delivery personnel for online orders and express-delivery person.

In January, China began a 10-year fishing moratorium in 332 conservation areas in the Yangtze River basin, which will be expanded to all the natural waterways of the countrys longest river, and its major tributaries from no later than January 1, 2021.

The full-scale ban is likely to affect more than 113,000 fishing boats and nearly 280,000 fishermen in 10 provincial-level regions along the river, according to earlier estimates.

By MdEnamulHassan (Peoples Daily Online)12:18, July 19, 2020

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

American conservative cable television news channel, Fox News, broadcast an exclusive interview of a virologist from Hong Kong Dr. Li-Meng Yan on July 13. In the interview, the virologist has accused China of covering up coronavirus cases and claimed to have fled from Hong Kong to the United States (US) for her life.

In the wake of airing the interview, some Western politicians and media have created quite an uproar around the world as if they were waiting for such an interview. They have bought no time to label the Hong Kong virologist as a whistleblower.

Western media have given the interview such uncritical coverage that they even havent felt the need for cross-checking her statements. However, after going through the interview, many questions have popped up in my journalistic mind about the authenticity of her claims.

I would like to share a few of them with my readers in this article. For example, the virologist has said, She believes the China knew about the coronavirus well before it claimed it did. I have found this statement untrustworthy. Because she couldnt or didnt cite any evidence for the verification of her claim. It appears to be a repetition of the accusation oft-made by some of the Western forces against China.

Dr. Yan also claimed that she was one of the first scientists in the world to study the novel coronavirus. She was allegedly asked by her supervisor at the University/WHO reference lab, Dr. Leo Poon, in 2019 to look into the odd cluster of SARS-like cases coming out of the Chinese mainland at the end of December 2019.

Her claim to be one of the first scientists in the world to study the novel coronavirus is also contradictory to her own statement. Because she later in the interview said, The Chinese government refused to let overseas experts, including ones in Hong Kong, do research in China. If the government didnt allow any Hong Kong experts, how she, despite being a Hongkonger, could study the coronavirus.

Besides, in an official statement, her university, Hong Kong University (HKU), has clarified that Dr. Yan never conducted any research on the human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus at the university during December 2019 and January 2020.

Dr. Yan has apparently made another dubious claim of fleeing Hong Kong. Its an absurd claim because no Hongkonger is barred from traveling to the US. The virologist also told Fox News that she landed in Los Angeles on April 28 and told customs officials at the airport that she wanted to reveal the so-called truth about China.

Her statement has raised a question of why she has taken around two and a half months to appear before the camera, that too from an undisclosed location. I think it wont be strange to ask if she had been being groomed by any agency during the period to face the media to reveal her so-called truth!

The virologist also expressed that she believes her life is in danger saying she knows how China treats whistleblowers. But I think she has forgotten or might not be allowed to talk about how Western governments treated Edward Joseph Snowden and Julian Paul Assange for revealing the real truth.

Putting aforesaid analysis into perspective, I have enough reasons to consider the virologist a Western propaganda puppet instead of a true whistleblower.

Moreover, the interview of the virologist has reminded the world of Nayirah testimony once again. It was a false testimony given before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus of the US in 1990 by a 15-year-old girl who provided only her first name, Nayirah. The testimony was widely publicized and was cited numerous times by US senators and then-president George H. W. Bush in their rationale to back Kuwait in the Gulf War.

But in 1992, it was revealed that Nayirahs last name was al-峁ba岣?and that she was the daughter of Saud Al-Sabah, the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US. Furthermore, it was revealed that her testimony was organized as part of the Citizens for a Free Kuwait public relations campaign, which was run by the American public relations firm Hill Knowlton for the Kuwaiti government. Following this, al-Sabahs testimony has come to be regarded as a classic example of modern atrocity propaganda.

It is crystal clear that the virologist is used as a Western propaganda puppet. Her interview is very similar to the Nayirah testimony. Because the testimony was used to justify the US invasion in Iraq, while Dr. Yan鈥檚 interview might be orchestrated to help President Donald J Trump confirm his second term at the White House by blaming China to cover up his failures in the fight against the coronavirus. The interview has again proved that Western imperium can stoop to any lower for withholding their opponents and attaining their ulterior motives.

The author is the China Correspondent of the Bangladesh Post.

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