Women wearing face masks walk together during heavily polluted weather in Beijing, January 30, 2013. Photograph: Ed Jones/AFP

The Associated Press

Dangerously high pollution levels have shrouded Beijing in smog for the second time in about two weeks, forcing airlines to cancel flights because of poor visibility and prompting the city government to warn residents to stay indoors.

The outlines of buildings in the Chinese capital receded into a white mist as pedestrians donned face masks to guard against the thick, caustic air. The US embassy reported a level of PM2.5, one of the worst pollutants, at 526 micrograms per cubic metre, or “beyond index”, and more than 20 times higher than World Health Organisation safety levels over a 24-hour period.

The Beijing city government advised residents to stay indoors as much as possible because the pollution was “severe”. It said that because there was no wind, the smog probably would not dissipate quickly.

Visibility was less than 100 metres (109 yards) in some areas of eastern China, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Air China cancelled 14 domestic flights in or out of the Beijing airport, and an airport in the eastern city of Qingdao was closed, cancelling 20 flights.

The disruptions came in the first week of the country’s peak, six-week period for travel, linked to the 10 February lunar new year. Every year, China’s transport system bursts at the seams as tens of millions of people travel for the holiday, in the world’s largest seasonal migration of people.

Celebrity real estate developer Pan Shiyi, who has previously pushed for cities to publish more detailed air quality data, called for a clean air act on Tuesday and said he would use his status as a delegate to the National People’s Congress to propose such legislation.

In less than three hours, his post was forwarded more than 2,300 times and received 14,184 votes, with 99.1% in favour.

Beijing also had exceptionally high pollution two weeks ago, with the US embassy readings of PM2.5 reaching as high as 886 micrograms per cubic metre.

Link to photograph of the surrent air pollution in China:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2013/01/ch
inas_skies_toxic_levels_of_p.html

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Newspapers voice more concern over the heavy smog which has hit several cities in China’s north-east, disrupting motorway traffic and airports.

Global Times says the country’s rapid development is “sounding a shrill alarm again” on pollution and backs public calls for a fireworks ban during the Chinese New Year next month.

China Central Television features the following locations around Beijing completely masked in thick smog: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Great Wall, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace and Zhongguancun district.

“It is necessary to introduce a ‘Clean Air Act’ on a national level to clarify the responsibilities of the national government at all levels, companies and the individual in air pollution control,” urges The Beijing News.

Thousands of Beijing residents have had enough and are calling for a Clean Air Act in an online vote on Sina Weibo, Xinhua News Agency reports.

Staying with news on the internet, several online users have launched a petition to ban programmers of China’s “Great Firewall” from entering the US, according to Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post.

Turning to politics, Communist Party chief Xi Jinping says countries must not assume that China will “sacrifice core national interests” in territorial disputes, The People’s Daily reports.

“Do not expect us to swallow the bitter fruit of harming China’s sovereignty, security and development interests,” Mr Xi said on China Central Television.

Mr Xi’s statement comes amid growing concerns among neighbours about China’s increasing defence budget.

Liberation Army Daily says Mr Xi also made his first inspection of the People’s Armed Police since taking command of the military in November.

A state-run think-tank expert warns in the People’s Daily Overseas Edition that the US is building a “united front” against China in the Asia-Pacific by stirring up territorial disputes and boosting military alliances and deployments.

“We obviously cannot allow this to happen and must achieve a real strategic balance in the Asia-Pacific… China has no reason to fight a lone battle and should give full play to the strategic role of Russia and North Korea,” Ren Weidong of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations commented in the newspaper.

On Japan, China Daily says Beijing is dismayed at Tokyo’s plan to amend previous official statements about its wartime history, including a landmark 1995 apology for Japan’s aggression during World War II.

‘No credibility’

Coming back to China, in an interview with The Beijing News, whistle-blowing journalist Zhu Ruifeng calls for a thorough investigation into a Chongqing sex video scandal and says more officials allegedly appearing in the secretly filmed videos have not been punished.

A bilingual Global Times editorial blasts Mr Zhu for refusing to hand over the sex tapes to police from Chongqing and warns that a “lack of government credibility” is affecting “the handling of nearly every controversial issue in China”.

China Youth Daily, however, calls the police’s surprise visit to Mr Zhu’s home an “intimidating approach that will disgust people easily”.

“I can’t see my smartphone to tell what the air quality’s like.” Beijing, January 2013. Photograph: How Hwee Young/EPA

Elsewhere, a real estate tycoon from Hunan reveals to Nanfang Daily that he bribed more than 300 deputies in a failed attempt to get a seat in the provincial congress.

Former Premier Li Peng’s son has been appointed Shanxi governor despite coming under fire for his handling of disaster cover-ups as acting governor, Hong Kong’s Ta Kung Pao reports.

Also in Shanxi, The Beijing News questions how a county official who was sacked two months ago for disciplinary violations has been reinstated as an environmental bureau deputy chief.

Vehicles run slowly in heavy fog in Hefei, central China’s Anhui province, Jan. 14, 2013. Shares in a Chinese face mask manufacturer soared on January 15 as investors looked for opportunities to cash in on the severe air pollution that has blanketed large swathes of China. (AFP/Getty Images)

Suspects go on trial today for ransacking a government office and allegedly forcing the city’s mayor to wear a T-shirt with anti-pollution slogans during a mass protest against an industrial sewage pipeline project in the eastern city of Qidong last July, Global Times reports.

The People’s Daily says new caps will be enforced on levels of heavy metal contaminants in certain foods from June.

China Business News yesterday reported severe soil contamination of up to 12m tonnes of grain a year, causing annual losses of over 20bn yuan.

In Hong Kong, the government is considering making infant milk powder a “reserved commodity” to combat inflation and shortages caused by parallel trading, South China Morning Post reports

BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. For more reports from BBC Monitoring, click here. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

The size and scale of the Chinese market is phenomenal. This new investment may not be the largest around, but at close to US$1 Billion there are few other such large wine investments I know about.

Leading Chinese winemaker Changyu has disclosed an aggressive multi-billion-yuan investment plan to bid for a larger share of the country’s booming wine market.

According to a report in Tuesday’s Nanfang Daily, the plan involves the construction of a town-sized “wine park” on an area of 6,200 mu (413 hectares) in north China‘s coastal city of Yantai. 

Changyu, whose total revenue was slightly over 6 billion yuan in 2011, is aiming to pump 6 billion yuan (944 million U.S. dollars) into the facility and have it open by 2016, the report said. 

The park will feature themed graperies, a winery, a trading center and research facilities, it added.

The Chinese market is growing rapidly, and will continue to grow for some time to come as an emerging middle class starts drinking wine.

A Woman Boss sets herself on fire after the luohu wenjin plaza Property Management revokes her property by Nanfang Reporter, Feng Lei (南都记者丰雷 — 南方都市报)

Yesterday afternoon (January 12, 2012), Ms. Zou of Eastern Fengming Children’s Training, which is located on the 4th Floor, Building A of Luohu Wenjin Plaza set herself on fire to protest that the Plaza’s Property Management Firm had suddenly ended her rental contract, leaving her with over 2 million investment that cannot be recovered. At the moment of crisis, the Tianbei Fire Department and Plaza Management Firm came. According to the Management Firm, the contract stated that when the property owner needed to reclaim the property, then the renter would have to leave. According to Ms. Zou, the Property Management Firm was not the property owner and therefore has no right to evict her from the premiss.

The Woman Boss Locks the Door and Splashes Gasoline

“There’s a problem. My Boss has locked herself in a room and splashed gasoline, intending to self-immolate,” Eastern Fengming employee, Chen Lele desperately called in. She had just arrived at the company and smelled the gasoline, but when she pushed the door she found it locked. Inside, Ms. Zou was crying, “Property management is merciless. There’s no way to get my 2 million investment back and so I’m setting myself on fire.” Chen Lele immediately went downstairs to find Property Management staff and call the police emergency number.

On receiving a tip, this Nanfang reporter went to the scene where he say that the Tianbei Fire brigade had already arrived. Over ten firemen went into the building to save Ms. Zou. Representatives from the Wenjin Plaza Property Management Firm, Huajiahong also went in to help. Eastern Fengming is on the fourth floor, the glass door had been locked and the strong sent of gasoline drifted out. A woman wearing yellow clothes lay in the middle of the gasoline and refused to open the door.

Policemen Prevent Reporter from Conducting Interviews

Although the fourth floor was not locked, nevertheless Officer 058724 of the Cuizhu Precinct, Luohu District Police Force repeatedly interrupted Nanfang Daily reporter’s efforts to conduct interviews, telling Chen Lele not to speak with the reporter and instructing street police to hustle the reporter away from the scene. Upon seeing that the street police weren’t obeying him, the Cuizhu police officer became angry and screamed, causing Ms. Zou to become even more emotional inside the room. At this moment, the firemen broke the door open. Ms. Zou immediately ran into an office to commit suicide. The firemen rushed in after her to convince her not to commit suicide. However, Officer 058724  ignored Ms. Zou, instead focusing his attention on this reporter.

The sent of gasoline still filled Eastern Fengming and the firefighters worried that a spark might detonate the building. About 10 minutes later, the firemen found a porridge can that was filled with gasoline. The firemen confirmed that gasoline had been poured into a sink. On further investigation, there was no leaking gas and that the dangerous situation had passed. In addition, according to a fireman, Ms. Zou had stopped crying. The firemen left carrying the porridge can of gasoline.

Property Conflicts led to “Self-immolation”

Ms. Zou explained that in 2009 she and Huajiahong Property Management signed a contract. Based on the terms of the contract, she invested 2 million in interior design. However, several days ago, the Property Management decided to break the contract in order to rent the fourth floor to a Hotel chain, requiring her to move out by January 20. However, she had only been working for a little over two years and had yet to earn back her capital investment. The Property Management Firm’s decision to unilaterally break the contract meant that she had no way to recover her losses. She repeatedly tried to negotiate with them, but in vain. Consequently, she had walked to the end of the line and could only commit suicide (走投无路、万念俱灰，只好自焚).

Property Management spokesperson Mr. Lei said that according to the contract, whenever the was a change of ownership or the property owner revoked a premiss, the entire contract ended. The rented was required to evacuate the premiss. As the Property Management was revoking the premiss, Ms. Zou should immediately leave. However, not only did Ms. Zou refuse to leave, she also tried to set herself on fire.

Ms. Zou said, “How could I have known the Property Management Firm was so evil; I’ve been swindled. The property rights to the fourth floor don’t belong to the Property Management company, so whatever the contract was based on, the contract is void. Moreover, when we signed the contract, the Property Management firm said it was for five years. But today they say I have to leave. Their word is worthless. It was only when forced to evacuate the fourth floor that I realized how I had been swindled, What’s more, the Property Management company hasn’t offered any compensation.

Huajiahong Property Management spokesman, Mr. Lei said that the fourth floor didn’t belong to the company, but the property owner had hired the Huajiahong to manage it, even signing a power of attorney letter. Thus, the Firm had the authority to rent and revoke property rights according to the contract. However, when the Nanfang Daily reporter asked to see the contract, Mr. Lei used the excuse corporate secret to refuse permission. Ms. Zou said that if it was time to move, the Property Management firm should have offered compensation, otherwise she would not leave the premiss.

Postscript. As I was reading this article, I realized that it echoes rumors about the Urban Management Bureau (城管). Specifically, many complain that City Maintenance hires former soldiers, who are less educated and more prone to violence than other members of the Municipal Administration. As a consequence, they tend to usurp rights that they don’t actually have, deciding which hawkers can stay or go, for example. Likewise, Property Management Companies often hire “enforcers”, who need to be appeased in order for a business to run smoothly.

• Read about the tragic accident, and about China, in 5 pictures:

Sadness and outcries poured in on Weibo, while CCTV’s Evening News made no mention of it. The photo below on the left shows candles lit by residents in Dongfanghong Square (东方红广场) in Lanzhou (兰州), the provincial capital city, and on the right is a shot of the front pages of four papers in the same city the following day.

• 王克勤/Wang Ke Qin/(Investigative journalist known for his exposure of tainted baby milk powder, mishandled vaccines, land seizures, dangerous mines, the spread of HIV through blood transfusions , etc.)/: Guangcheng is a blind man, an ordinary Chinese farmer, and he travelled, struggled and persevered, enduring so many ordeals for the rights of other people. He has done so much more than any of us. Because of this, Guangcheng is one of the people in the land of China whom I admired the most. Guangcheng, to a large extent, I believe is a messenger from God. He is my inspiration and model for life, someone I want to emulate continuously. (video link)

• 邝飚的灰色幽默/Kuang Biao’s gray humor/(cartoonist for Nanfang Daily) : For Guangcheng’s birthday, I have been wanting to do something for him. Having racked my brain for days, I thought, well, I would draw a portrait of him. “Guangcheng’s Portrait” is completed today, a belated present for him. Brother Guangcheng, are you still alive? This cartoon is also dedicated to all the courageous men and women who have braved Dong Shi Gu. History will not forget that you are irrigating this miraculous land with your blood …

(Note: Having accidentally cut the link to this item, I went back to Weibo to look for it only to find it was no longer there.)

• yizhuducao一株毒草 / A poisonous weed/yi zhu du cao/(netizen)/: Ai Weiwei: I am doing so [referring to his legal challege against the “taxes” and “fines” levied on him by the government] to let the entire society and the government know that no one can use law as a means of retaliation to destroy a man who thinks differently. They can’t use their dirty tricks to suppress a free-expressing artist. If a nation uses fake law to shut people up, it has no future. Both aesthetically and morally, you [referring to “they”] have already lost. You may win a battle because you have power, but you will lose the war.

• 于建嵘/Yu Jianrong/(Professor at the Rural Development Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)/I just gave a lecture [to a group of officials] in Tsinghua University. An official from Jiangsu told me that everyone understands that China’s current problems must be solved by establishing fairness and justice, democracy, and the rule of law. The problem is, leadership on all levels wouldn’t dare. When asked why, he said, “Interests. Political and economic interests. No one in power now really wants to sacrifice their own interests for the future of the country and the people, because, absent of democracy, they can enjoy a monopoly on power; absent of the rule of law, they can pillage by violence.

Nov.12 11:57 from iPhone client  Repost(12728)| Comment(4087)

• yancaiwm三俗猫/Three-Vulgar Cat/san su mao/(netizen)/: Hu Xing Dou [胡星斗, economist]: Three numbers that shake China-60% of millionaires are either in the process of, or are preparing for, immigration abroad; 40% of billionaires want to immigrate to the US; and 90% of the descendants of the rich-and-powerful are already living in the US.

5:37AM Nov15  Favorite Retweet Reply

• 王冉/Wang Ran/(investment banker in Beijing)/: Traffic in the intersection underneath the bridge once again turned into a pot of congee. Sometimes I find this amusing: With the intelligence and the mind of today’s Chinese, are we incapable of passing through an intersection that has definitive traffic lights in an orderly manner?

Nov 18 07:14  from texting  repost(50)| comment(70)

• @wanghaoxuan王昊轩/Wang Haoxuan/(netizen) : The CCTV hostess Zhang Quanling made a Weibo post this morning: “We have a foreign correspondent here named Xu Shengyi. Last year, as soon as she was assigned to Pakistan, Bin Laden was killed. Recently she was sent to Libya where many of our reporters had toured before her.  The minute she got there, Gaddafi was dead. So we are all wondering now: Where is she going to be sent next? Syria or Iran?” Thousands of comments have since poured in, asking almost unanimously, “Can she be posted back in China?”

9:46AM Nov 18th Favorite Retweet Reply

• Cartoon of the week: