City Expansion

China Newsweek
January 14

Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu Province, is expanding its territory by smashing more than 700 surrounding mountains. The move is part of a new round of Chinese urbanization.

The city needs land more urgently than any other, hemmed in by mountains and the Yellow River. The urban area stretches 50 km from west to east, but only measures 1.8 km from north to south. The narrow main road causes serious traffic congestion, and with little wind, the city suffers heavy air pollution.

Experts have warned of the ecological impact of expansion. Yang Yongchun, a professor from the College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, said the mountains in question form only a small portion of the range surrounding the city and their removal will have a minimal effect. However, he called for more caution in carrying out the project due to its scale and unprecedented nature.

"Its influence on the environment will only show after a period of time," he noted.

Although the geologist believes nature should be left alone, as a Lanzhou citizen, he also understands the city's necessity to develop.

Dog Raising Regulations

Oriental Outlook
January 17

As a rule, Beijing's dog rearing regulations are revised every 10 years. Now, the city is currently drawing up new rules.

According to the Beijing Dog Association, from 2005 to 2009 the city's registered number of dogs increased from 458,000 to 950,000, with the number reaching nearly 1 million at present.

Yu Shaoxiang, in charge of revising the dog rearing regulations, said new laws will be strict in protecting the rights of both animal lovers and the public. A lot of research has gone into the new rules, which were drawn from similar regulations in other countries, he added.

Yin Wenwu, an official from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said the revision aims to better regulate dog raising activities. "The responsibilities of dog owners need to improve," he stressed.

Cracking Down on Food Waste

People's Daily
January 22

Every year, a huge amount of food is wasted at banquets and conferences by government officials using public expenses. The extravagant behavior by certain enterprises and government departments have left a bad impression on society.

Economic conditions have greatly improved over the last few decades. However, China remains a developing country with more than 100 million people throughout rural areas living in poverty and millions of low-income residents spread across cities. The country's per-capita GDP still ranks among the lowest. China still depends on large agricultural imports amidst a shortage of energy sources, which is causing a bottleneck in China's future development.

Controlling government expenses is key to rooting out wasteful behavior of officials.

Ban on Software

The Beijing News
January 20

On January 18, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued an official ban on Web browsers that allow users to cut ahead of others when buying train tickets online. This is the most direct interference from the government after the plug-ins triggered controversy. Authorities have demanded that popular services stop providing downloads of such illegal programs.

Browsers have add-ons designed to help people buy seats on 12306.cn, the Railway Ministry's official ticketing website, which has given some people an unfair advantage, disrupted the normal ticket booking order and even caused the system to crash.

Many people defend the browsers. In order to go home for the Spring Festival, it's understandable that some choose to use these services. However, the majority of migrant workers, who make up a large number of rail passengers during the festival period, are not familiar with the Internet.