In 2019, the illegal wildlife trade reached staggering levels. Pangolin scales and ivory were being trafficked in massive quantities from Africa to Asia, exposing a network of crime syndicates operating at an industrial scale. The sheer volume of these shipments marked a disturbing milestone, one that revealed the global reach …
Even as nuclear powers the world over observed a moratorium on nuclear tests, China tested its first mobile intercontinental ballistic missile -- capable of hitting targets in Asia, Russia and even parts of the US -- in a bid to fortify its missile programme. The solid-fuel 3-stage missile, known as …
Who will dispense justice in Hong Kong once the British pack up and leave? The issue has evoked a heated debate between Britain and China. Britain is all for setting up the independent Court of Final Appeal, which she claims is designed to protect the rule of law after China …
Natural musk from the musk deer is now being replaced by an artificial variety made by Chinese scientists working on this project since 1976. Musk is an ingredient in 295 Chinese medicines, with the industry using 4,000-5,000 kg every year. The musk deer is an endangered and protected species in …
THE Chinese may not have found a cure for treating cancer, but what they have is the patient's well-being in mind. The Western drug researchers have reached a plateau in their attempts to find a magic pellet, but the Chinese doctors have utilised their traditional knowledge of herbs to improve …
BOTANISTS will now have easy access to information on Chinise flora. An English version of the Chinise Florae Republic Popularis Sinicae,documenting about 30,000 Chinise plant species, has been jointly published by the Science Press in Beijing and the Missouri Botanical Garden. It will also be available on floppies, tapes and …
China is opening its doors to the world in every sense of the phrase. In mid-February, the official Guangming Daily reported that the country had declassified 90 per cent of its scientific and technological secrets under new rules and regulations. The official explanation for the move is that the old …
Microsoft, the US computer software giant, has firsthand experience of its products being pirated in China. Despite burgeoning demand for personal computers -- China imports between 500,000 and 700,000 a year -- the company's application programmes have bombed in the Chinese market. One pirated compact disk crammed with Microsoft programmes, …
STILL reeling from an unsuccessful bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) just before it became operative on January 1 this year, China has nevertheless signalled its intention to keep plugging away. But with the US sticking to its stubborn stand on intellectual property rights and greater trade access, …
The Chinese government is all set to take action against "fraud scientists". From 1995, stricter controls will be imposed on scientific achievements to weed out fraudulent breakthroughs from genuine discoveries. This was announced by Han Deqian, vice-minister, State Science and Technology Commission. As many as 33,000 research cases are sent …
China now wants to ensure birth of only healthy babies. It has adopted a law on Maternal and Infant Health Care, designed to "improve the quality of births". The law aims to upgrade maternity and child health facilities. It envisages pre-marital check-ups. If the results are unsatisfactory, the couple would …
THE Chinese government hails it as the second largest construction since the Great Wall. Premier Li Peng is its staunchest advocate. Environmentalists condemn it as an environmental disaster waiting to happen. This is the Three Gorges, the mammoth hydroelectric dam that will harness the turbulent Yangtze river with a 185-metre …
China's recent decision to ban tobacco advertising may send the ambitions of international cigarette giants up in spoke. With a population of nearly 1.2 billion and one of every three smokers in the world, the Chinese market offers new opportunities for majors such as Philip Morris and RJR Nabisco who …
The car revolution has finally swept over China. The leaders of China's Communist Party have unveiled a plan to expand the automobile industry and boost private purchase of cars, once considered an aberration in the land of bicycles and handcarts. The production goal for vehicles by the end of this …
Cheetos, the crispy American cheese puffs, have come to China minus the cheese. Residents of Guangdong province of China, where the $1 million venture has been launched, have reportedly turned up their noses at the "cheesy taste". Pepsico, the maker of Cheetos, is now offering 2 flavors, Savory American Cream …
THIS is the 6th in the World Resources series -- which provides information on environment and development -- and has a special focus on people and the environment. These chapters deal with natural resource consumption, population and the environment, and women and sustainable development. A 2nd section has a regional …
The Chinese government is determined to dig deeper to extract more oil, gas, copper and other key minerals to keep up its present pace of development, says Xinhua, the official news agency. The country's ministry of geology and mineral resources is planning to survey 200 million ha of land before …
CHINA's explosive economic growth rate has wreaked havoc on its environment. The signs are everywhere: from the algae-clotted Chao Lake in Tangxi, Hefei's putrid tap water, to the acid rain-ravaged Great Wall and smog-covered Benxi in Manchuria. Vaclav Smil, a professor at the University of Manitoba in Canada, believes that …
THE Chinese government, on the face of it: the saga of a mere mortal whose ideas on democracy and free speech exposed a state at its Draconian best begins on February 28, 1989. A book, condemning the construction of the world's largest dam in the Three Gorges area of the …
A CHINESE herb, Artemisia annua, say scientists, has yielded a wonder drug -- artemether -- which is 3 times more effective than quinine in treating malaria that is resistant to most drugs. They have also found that artemisinin, an oil extracted from the plant, has cut to about 1/5th the …
THE results of the recent analysis of a skull excavated 10 years ago from cave deposits at the Jinniushan site in China reveal that it is the oldest specimen of Homo sapiens found in the country (Nature, Vol 368, No 6466). The skull, along with an almost complete skeleton, was …
