All Roads Lead to Brazil

China Newsweek

June 9

Though the Chinese national football team did not make it to the 2014 FIFA World Cup held in Brazil from June 12-July 13, China is still managing to take part in the event.

Chinese machinery, for example, has been used to build a number of Brazilian football stadiums. Eighty percent of underground and commuter trains running in Rio de Janeiro are produced in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province. This year's mascot, Fuleco, and the official instrument caxirola are both made in China. During the games, many wealthy Chinese families can be found watching from VIP boxes in Brazil, while young Chinese sports commentators cover the event online and on the evening news.

Even when Team China isn't in the running for a trophy, an international love of football keeps Chinese fans cheering on their favorite World Cup teams.

China Newsweek interviews a worker with China CNR Co. Ltd., construction machinery and equipment providers , and Chinese football fans who plan to go to Brazil to watch the games.

Migrant Children

Oriental Outlook

June 12

According to the sixth national population census conducted in 2012, there are 35.81 million migrant children under age 18 in China. More specifically, four out of every 10 children living in Shanghai and three out of every 10 children living in Beijing are the offspring of migrant workers.

Living in large metropolises, though, these children face numerous problems.

First, education resources open to migrant children are limited. Although most have access to compulsory schooling, still around 3 percent—or some 2 million children—don't.

Second, the relationships between working parents and their children become warped. According to a survey done in Guangdong Province, one-third of migrant workers spend fewer than seven hours with their children every week; some even less than one hour. Only one tenth of the children said their parents often took them out to play.

Finally, such barriers as permanent residence permit requirements can cause problems for migrant teens when applying to high schools and universities. Even for rich families, this insurmountable difficulty causes many 14- and 15-year-old children to drop out of school.

In an aging China, children under 14 years old will be the most important human resource in the next 20 years. Offering comprehensive schooling, positive role models, and increased access to higher education for China's migrant children are vital steps to creating success for future generations.

Lead Poisoning

Xinhua Daily Telegraph

June 17

In response to widespread media coverage of 300 children suffering from lead poisoning in Hengdong, central China's Hunan Province, the local government shut down a chemical plant suspected of being responsible for the poisoning. It was also requested that a local public security bureau investigate its owner. The chemical plant is suspected of discharging untreated water and dust.

However, the measures taken by the government to investigate this lead poisoning incident cannot remedy the miseries already suffered by these children and their families. The highest lead density recorded in the local children was 322 micrograms per liter of blood, far above the national standard of 100 micrograms per liter for children.

This lead poisoning case is only one in a slew of pollution incidents that have come to light across the country in recent years. Local governments' neglect of environmental protection is to blame.

In order to prevent similar incidents from occurring, local governments should strengthen supervision of factories. This includes assessing a factory's environmental impact at the time of its launch and supervision of its production process thereafter. Officials must bear in mind the public's health and actively protect the environment as opposed to taking action after serious pollution incidents occur.