Society

The head of China's state broadcaster has been replaced, a state news agency said Sunday, amid a high-level investigation into a hotel fire in the complex housing the broadcaster's headquarters.

The official Xinhua News Agency said in a brief report Sunday that the head of CCTV, Zhao Huayong, 61, was replaced because he had reached the official retirement age of 60.

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The change at CCTV follows embarrassment and economic loss from the fire at the nearly completed Mandarin Oriental Hotel next to CCTV's iconic headquarters, which was set off by an illegal fireworks display arranged and paid for by CCTV to mark the end of the Lunar New Year festivities. The February blaze killed one firefighter and completely gutted the 5 billion yuan ($731 million) hotel.

Xinhua's report did not mention the fire.

The disaster prompted mocking from some Chinese who resent CCTV for producing dull propaganda-style programming while enjoying a monopoly on nationwide broadcasting. The company also has drawn jeers for spending lavishly on grandiose vanity projects — such as the futuristic new headquarters complex, designed by Dutch architects Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren.

In April, China's Cabinet ordered a new investigation into the hotel fire, indicating a high level of political sensitivity surrounding the February blaze. Such Cabinet investigations are usually reserved for major catastrophes causing huge loss of life.

A dozen people were formally arrested in March in connection with the fire, including the former head of CCTV's construction bureau, Xu Wei. News reports have alleged that he ordered the powerful pyrotechnics be used, while ignoring safety warnings.

Xinhua says Zhao's replacement is Jiao Li, the 54-year-old vice minister for the propaganda department of the Communist Party's powerful Central Committee.
 

MSN reported this park in title "Adult theme park gets China talking about sex", just as if the park is a victory and the taboo is not in China anymore.

Today, Chinese web portal says this Adult theme park has been taken down under the overwhelming pressure of the public.

The organizer, Meixin Group, apologizes for their action of building an disreputable sex park in Chongqing city.

Two bottles of acid were thrown into a crowd in a popular shopping district in downtown Hong Kong on Saturday, injuring 30 people, police and news reports said.

It was the second such attack in five months in the neighborhood.

Television footage showed firefighters washing off victims' arms and legs before sending them to hospitals for treatment. Some had holes in their clothing.

Hong Kong Cable TV said people in the Mong Kok district had been splashed with acid, though police Superintendent Leung Ka-ming would not confirm what liquid was thrown.

Samples of the liquid will be sent to a laboratory to determine its type, fire services officer So Kam-sang said.

He said 30 people suffered burns but none was seriously injured. Police earlier said an infant was among the injured.

Mong Kok, which means "busy corner" in Chinese, is a shopping hot spot that attracts thousands of local people and tourists on weekends.

On the same street in December, 46 people suffered burns when two plastic bottles filled with acid were thrown at pedestrians. No one has been detained, despite a police reward of 100,000 Hong Kong dollars ($12,900) for information leading to an arrest.

Leung said police would combine the two cases for investigation.

"We will find out whether the two cases were done by the same person as soon as possible," Leung told reporters. "Right now, we do not rule out any possibilities."

The assailant will be charged with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, Leung added.

She looks like any other disgruntled young person. Arms tightly crossed, mouth twisted in contempt, she could be letting off steam about parents, school, or boyfriends.

But when 21-year-old Gao Qianhui sat down in front her webcam last month, she had far more important issues on her mind. Upset that the three-day mourning period for the 80,000 victims of the earthquake in southwest China had disrupted her television viewing schedule, she launched into a five-minute spew of vitriol and then posted the video online.

"I turn on the TV and see injured people, corpses, rotten bodies... I don’t want to watch these things. I have no choice.” Ms Gao sighed: “Come on, how many of you died? Just a few, right? There are so many people in China anyway.”

Within hours, Ms Gao had become the latest victim of a human flesh search engine, where Chinese netizens become cyber-vigilantes and online communities turn into the world’s largest lynch mobs.