新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 08:00 2016/02/07（在线收听）

The Beijing Hour

Morning Edition

Spencer Musick with you on this Sunday, Febuary 7th 2016, Chinese Lunar New Year Eve.

Welcome to a holiday edition of Beijing Hour, live from the Chinese capital.

Coming up on the program this morning...

At least 14 people confirmed dead in the powerful earthquake that struck southern Taiwan early Saturday...

Reports saying that North Korea has accelerated its plan to launch a satellite...

Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top leaders marking the forthcoming Spring Festival with members of the public...

And coming up in the 2nd half of the hour- we will bring you a special edition of Entertainment Weekly.

All of that coming up in the next hour, but first, just a reminder there are several ways to reach out to us here on the Beijing Hour.

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Top News

Taiwan Quake updates

At least 14 people, including a 10-day-old infant, have been confirmed killed in the powerful earthquake that struck southern Taiwan early Saturday.

The island's disaster response center said more than 340 people have been rescued, 462 people are injured and over 170 are still unaccounted for.

Of the dead, most were recovered from the collapsed Wei Guan residential building in the Yongkang District of Tainan City.

The 16-story building was said to be home to 256 people in 92 households.

So far, 246 people have been evacuated or pulled out by rescuers from there.

But local authorities say there were not sure exactly how many people were still trapped under the debris, since there may be more people in the building than usual as families may have housed guests to celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.

The rescue work has continued into the night.

Cheng Chi-feng is Deputy Squad Leader of the Tainan City Government Rescue Team.

"Currently there are still four rescue teams, searching inside the collapsed building. We are using life detectors and destruction equipment. We already saved about thirty people from the building. Until now we have not yet discovered other people who are stuck inside. We will continue our rescue efforts."

Rescuers on site said they could still hear calls for help from inside the collapsed building.

At the same time, some volunteer workers have also taken part in the search at the site.

"I just came over to have a look at the situation, because I was woken up by the earthquake in the morning. Since then I have been involved in providing basic necessities to the victims. We just finished up so I came over here."

While the rescuers searched for survivors, questions were raised about the construction of the Wei-guan Golden Dragon Building, with its floors that pancaked down on each other when the 6.4 magnitude tremor hit at around 4 a.m.

"Concrete should have been kept within the steel bars if everything went right, while the bars connected to that pillar. But the bars have broken down with the concrete crushed. There wasn't sufficient power that could support the building when the quake took place."

A total of eight buildings across the historic city have collapsed and another five were partially damaged.

Apart from firefighters, the island has dispatched about 850 soldiers to the rescue site.

Volunteers are also helping locals register unreachable relatives.

Authorities are trying to find enough places at nearby hotels, temples, barracks and schools to accommodate a large number of displaced residents, with freezing weather complicating the situation.

The Chinese mainland has offered to help the island following the quake.

While addressing a Chinese New Year gathering on Saturday, Premier Li Keqiang sent condolences to the victims of the disaster.

The mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) had been in contact with Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) since around two hours after the quake.

The ARATS sent a letter to the SEF offering rescue assistance if needed.

The State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office has said the mainland is ready to provide all necessary assistance in quake relief.

The Office head Zhang Zhijun said so far no mainland tourists in Taiwan have been affected in the quake.

The mainland's Red Cross Society has offered 2 million yuan of disaster relief funds to Taiwan.

The quake has been deemed as the most severe in Taiwan in six years.

A 7.3-magnitude quake, the strongest to hit Taiwan in about 100 years, shook the island on Sept. 21, 1999, leaving more than 2,000 people dead.

NW Chinese procuratorate accuses journalist of racketeering

Investigators in northwest China's Gansu have accused a newspaper reporter Zhang Yongsheng of racketeering in response to the arrest of three journalists in January.

The procuratorate said Zhang, with the Lanzhou Morning Post, gained 5,000 yuan from blackmail by citing "clear evidence" such as a confession and video records.

Police in Wuwei city of Gansu earlier detained Zhang on Jan. 7 for soliciting a prostitute.

But due to lack of evidence, the procuratorate has ordered the charges of prostitution dropped.

The investigation found that since 2009 Zhang has used negative news to blackmail organizations and individuals.

Three reporters from local newspapers, including Zhang, had been reported missing in Wuwei on Jan. 7.

Responding to suspicions raised online, the procuratorate launched an investigation in late January.

The two other reporters have since been released on bail.

North Korea brings forward planned satellite launch to between Feb. 7-14

North Korea has reportedly accelerated its plan to launch a satellite.

According to Japanese and South Korean media reports, the launch is highly likely to take place as early as today.

It's reported that North Korea has already notified the International Maritime Organization of its revised plan, with the launch date moved up to somewhere between February 7th and 14th.

Pyongyang earlier notified UN agencies that it planned to launch an earth-observation satellite between the 8th and 25th.

North Korea has long insisted that its space programme is peaceful.

But the plan triggered worries that the launch could be used as a cover for a long-range missile test by the country.

North Korea is banned from test-firing any rockets based on ballistic missile technology under UN Security Council resolutions.

The launch follows North Korea's 4th nuclear test, conducted on January 6th.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said that China does not want to see any moves taken that would further raise tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Chinese Leaders Extend Festival Greetings

President Xi Jinping and other top leaders joined more than 2,000 members of the public on Saturday to celebrate the forthcoming Spring Festival.

Premier Li Keqiang gave a speech at the ceremony.

He began by extending greetings to Chinese people around the world.

"The Year of Monkey is fast approaching. Upon this occasion of family reunions and celebrations, on behalf the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, I would like to extend greetings to all Chinese people in the mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and at abroad, and in particular, to those still working during the holiday."

Li also sent condolences to Taiwan compatriots for the strong earthquake that hit the island's sourthern part early on Saturday.

Also as part of his speech, Li Keqiang reviewed China's achievements over the past year.

He also pledged enhanced efforts this year to push forward with the country's structural reforms, especially supply-side reform.

The premier promised that securing people's wellbeing will remain a top priority of the government.

"Efforts will be made to help impoverished households, motivate the creativity of hundreds of millions of people and enhance moral awareness among public members. All this will serve to deliver to the people a happier life with more secure jobs, greater confidence in the future and a stronger sense of satisfaction."

The Chinese Lunar New Year falls tomorrow.

UN chief sends lunar New Year greetings to Chinese people

The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday sent a message to the Chinese people, wishing them a happy lunar new year, which falls on Monday.

In a video message, Ban introduced himself and said "happy lunar new year" in Chinese.

"The Year of Monkey has come. I'm also a 'monkey'. Monkey implies intelligence, agility and good fortune. So, it's a good year full of hope and energy."

Noting that this year is also the first year for implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals, he said he wishes for a good start in the Year of the Monkey.

He also thanked China and the Chinese people for supporting the work of the United Nations over the past nine years.

"I hope we can all continue to work together towards a better future. I wish you health, happiness and success in the year of Monkey. Hou Nian Da Ji. (All the best in the Year of the Monkey)"

Last year, Ban Ki-moon also sent a personalized new year greeting to Chinese people, signing his name in Chinese in traditional Chinese calligraphy.

Spring Festival Gala Anticipated

Anchor:

Performers are ready as the final countdown to this year's China Central TV's Spring Festival Gala is now underway.

CRI's Li Jianhua breaks down the coming festivities.

Reporter:

The playbill for this year's show was released on Saturday.

The 39 performances on the list will start from 8:00 pm Sunday and last into the first day of the lunar New Year.

As widely expected, popular domestic trio "the fighting boys" will make their debut at the country's most-watched variety TV show.

Singer Wang Junkai said they will use the opportunity to keep the audience well entertained.

"This is the first time that we've been invited to the gala. So exciting! We have watched the show since we were young. In our minds, the stage of the Spring Festival gala is of special significance for every performer. We will surely try our best and not let the audience down."

The past Spring Festival Galas have each featured a song that promotes family love and that has quickly become popular with the public.

This year, singer Tong Tiexin and actor Yang Yang will sing a new song named Father and Son.

Tong Tiexin, who will act as the father, explained his understanding of the lyrics.

"As a son, he loves and cares about his parents. And it's more true for the parents. People say that most fathers and sons are tolerant to each other for most of the time. When they watch TV and listen to this song, Father and Son, I hope young people will be reminded of their father. If their father is not by their side, that they may send a message of just a couple of words to their parents. I think that is the power of this song."

This year's show may also bring a sense of nostalgia.

A Mongolian family that performed song called Jixiang Sanbao back in 2006 will return.

This year, the family will return to the gala's sub-venue stage in their hometown of Hulunbeier in north China's Inner Mongolia.

Wurina is the mother of the family.

"Jixiang Sanbao came out of our hometown ten years ago and it allowed a large number of people to know us. Ten years later, our family came back to the sub-venue in our hometown. It is a great honor for us."

Also, their new song "the Spring Comes" will be performed in Mandarin instead of Mongolian.

Also different from ten years ago, the couple will sing with their daughter this time, rather than their niece who appeared on the show a decade ago.

The CCTV New Year's Gala was first held in 1983.

Commonly abbreviated in Chinese as Chunwan, it has a yearly viewership of over 700 million.

As usual, this year's show will be closed with a performance of the song "Can't forget tonight", originally performed by famous singer Li Guyi.

But Liu Xiao Ling Tong, who is deemed the country's best monkey portrayor, will miss the gala despite earlier calls from the public for his participation.

For CRI, this is Li Jianhua.

Taiwan earthquake update

The death toll of a powerful earthquake that struck southern Taiwan early Saturday reached 17 by 5:15 a.m. Sunday, according to the local fire agency.

Previous reports said 462 people were injured in the quake. Over 350 people have been rescued in Tainan city. The rescue is still underway.

Tech savvy travellers use ride-sharing app

Anchor:

China's tech savvy travellers are increasingly using an online ride-sharing app to make it home in time for New Year celebrations.

Faced by inflated plane ticket prices and a scarcity of train seats, desperate travellers are coming together via an app called 'Hitch' to share the long journey home.

CRI's Luo Bin has the story.

Reporter:

35-year-old single mother, Chen Xiao, who works in real estate development in Shanghai, is busy packing for her journey home.

She's planning to spend Chinese New Year with her three-year-old daughter and the rest of her family.

It's a journey that billions of Chinese people like her undertake every year in the run up to the Spring Festival holiday.

But this year she won't be flying, taking a train, or even a bus.

She'll be driving the 1,400 kilometre journey back home to Xi'an in northwest China with people she met through an online ride-sharing service.

"If I try to buy plane tickets, I can't be guaranteed that the day I want to leave I will get a flight, and train tickets are really hard to buy, so I decided to drive back. But if I'm driving on my own it's too lonely, so I thought I would try this ride-sharing app and pool some people together."

Established at the end of last year, taxi-hailing service Didi Chuxing began offering an inter-city, ride-share service called 'Hitch'.

It allows people travelling between the same cities to find fellow passengers with whom they can share the journey - and the expense.

Chen Xiao will be sharing her trip with Li Jin, a software developer from Tongchuan city in Shaanxi Province.

"I originally had a plane ticket home, but because of work it looked like I might not make it and so cancelled the flight. Now it's pretty tight and there are only business class tickets, which are more expensive. I was going to buy a business class one, but then saw that Didi had a rideshare service between cities. So I thought I'd try it and phoned the driver, Ms Chen. She said she still had a free space, so we agreed and now I'm using this way to get home."

For Didi, the move into ride-sharing represents an aggressive campaign into an ever-larger number of travel services.

Beginning with simple taxi-hailing, they moved into private-car hailing services and are now offering a carpooling function for both daily city commutes and inter-city travel.

Wang Mingze is a spokesperson of Didi Kuaidi.

"We launched this matchmaking function (in order to help us) make this inter-city car sharing service become another (regular) method of transport alongside planes, trains and public transport. We want to be included in this list because for Chinese people getting home at Spring Festival is the most important thing."

The Hitch app has seen 300-thousand people use its service within the first week of Spring Festival travel.

It's estimated that by the end of the festival period, more than one million will have pooled their journeys home and back again.

For CRI, this is Luo Bin.

Survey on China-Festival Spending

A new survey is suggesting Chinese people intend to spend an average of close to 29-thousand yuan each to usher in the Year of the Monkey.

This figure is more than 50 percent higher than last year's figure of nearly 19-thousand yuan.

The survey was conducted by the Singapore-based United Overseas Bank.

It also shows that the number of Chinese citizens planning an overseas holiday doubled to 22 percent compared with 11 percent last year, with Southeast Asia as one of the top travel destinations.

More than half of the respondents said they will spend more on "red envelopes", or gift money sent during the holiday.

The same survey also show that respondents appear to be more prudent this year. Among those receiving "red envelopes", three quarters said they would save the money, nine percent higher than last year.

However, the number of those who plan to invest decreased by two percent to 43 percent.

China's southernmost island to launch civil flights

China's southernmost Yongxing Island in Sansha City is planning to launch commercial flights, after a civil aircraft for Spring Festival arrived on Saturday.

Hainan Airlines on Saturday provided the first civil flight for 150 passengers to Yongxing Island, the seat of the Sansha government.

Launching civil aviation on the islands and reefs in the South China Sea is considered vital to safeguard the islands and help provide supplies to the people living there.

Ren Jiaojiao went to the island to see her husband who has been stationed on the island with the navy.

They had not seen each other for a whole year and she felt lucky to get this chance.

"I think it's great as I can visit my husband. Also, I've never before been to Yongxing Island."

In the past, travelers had to spend about 10 hours on a ship to get to Yongxing Island.

Regular commercial flights to Yongxing and other islands will cut this time to about 90 minutes.

Local authorities say the launch of the civil aviation business is one of the city's many efforts to improve the quality of life there, and it will not be long before flights become routine for family members during the holidays.

Sansha City mayor Xiao Jie has spent all of his Chinese New Year holidays on the island since taking office.

"I hope living conditions on the island can be further improved in the future. And I wish through this visit, the people of Sansha can feel greater happiness in having a more festive New Year."

Yongxing Island Airport will serve as a crucial hub in the South China Sea.

High-end technical talents in high demand in China

Anchor:

Veteran technical workers and engineers with working experiences in different sectors are being sought after in China, as the country is upgrading its manufacturing sector.

CRI's Guo Yan reports.

Reporter:

The phone lines are running hot ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year at the China office of the world's largest professional networking platform LinkedIn.

Job seekers are scanning the horizon for new opportunities and many of them are in the manufacturing sector.

Cecilia Wang, head of the LinkedIn Think Tank notes that talented technicians are badly needed in the upgrading of the　manufacturing sector.

"When China is turning from a low-end producer to a manufacturing giant, three types of talents are badly in need. First of all, they need technicians with edge-cutting technology. Secondly, they also favor well-educated factory workers and engineers. Thirdly, the talents most needed at the moment are versatile ones. Since many industries are undergoing upgrading and integration, companies are eager to recruit people with working experience in different sectors and with different backgrounds."

China's manufacturing activity contracted for the sixth straight month in January, with its manufacturing purchasing managers' index or PMI edging down to just over 49.

Many Chinese factories are struggling with oversupply, fiercer competition, and weak demand.

The government has unveiled a ten-year national plan, "Made in China 2025", designed to upgrade the country's manufacturing sector.

Global recruitment service provider ManpowerGroup said the plan will take time to feed into the job pipeline.

The company's quarterly report showed the manufacturing, finance and real estate sectors will take a mild pace in their recruitment.

They also listed the sectors posing great potential.

Jason Wang is managing partner of Experis, Manpower Group China.

"High-end CNC machine tools and robots, shipping equipment and also the biopharmaceutical and high-performanced medical, aviation and aerospace, I think those industries are all very prospective."

Official data shows that China created over 13 million new jobs for urban residents last year, exceeding target of 10 million.

For CRI, this is Guo Yan.

Four-nation meeting agrees to set date for Afghan peace talks this month

The third round of the four-nation talks aimed at ending Afghanistan's 15-year war have concluded in Islamabad.

The meeting ended with a call for direct negotiations between the government and the Taliban by the end of February.

The attendees included representatives from Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and the United States.

The Quadrilateral Coordination Group's meeting has agreed to continue regular meetings in the future.

A roadmap for peace has been agreed upon, but it offered no details on what incentives the government might offer the Taliban.

The last direct talks between Kabul and the Taliban broke down after one round last year following the announcement of the death of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

10 killed as deadly suicide blast hits southwest Pakistan

At least ten people were killed and 40 wounded as a suicide blast hit near a military convoy in Pakistan's western city of Quetta on Saturday.

A 12-year-old girl was among the dead.

Pakistani Taliban spokesperson Muhammad Khurasani says the group, also known as the TTP, claimed responsibility for the attack in the capital of the province of Baluchistan.

Police say the attacker rode a bicycle into a convoy belonging to Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Corps.

Sher Afgan, major general of the Frontier Corps says they will hunt down the attackers.

"We need some time for the investigation on who carried out this attack. But you should know that these people have weakened so much so that they now attack soft targets. But we will eliminate them with the people's cooperation and restore peace in Baluchistan."

Both Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack shortly after the blast.

A number of attacks also occurred during the first and second round of the quadrilateral talks on Afghan peace process, which were held in Pakistan and Afghanistan in January.

Syrian FM warns against foreign military intervention

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem has warned against the intervention of foreign ground troops in the country.

"Any ground intervention on Syrian soil without the agreement of the Syrian government is an attack and it is the duty of every Syrian to resist this attack and I have said that we regret that those who do so will return to their countries in coffins."

The comments came after Saudi Arabia said earlier this week said they were ready to send troops as part of a U.S.-led military campaign against Islamic State militants.

Al-Moualem said a ceasefire in Syria was very unlikely until the borders with Turkey and Jordan have been sealed.

Rebel groups fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have received supplies via both Turkey and Jordan.

Al-Moualem also said Syria would not accept any preconditions to return to the Geneva talks.

"Syria goes to a Syria-Syria dialogue without any preconditions. We will not implement any preconditions regardless of which side they come from. If the humanitarian issues concern anyone, it concerns the Syrian government before anyone else."

Al-Moualem blames the foreign-backed opposition groups for the failure of the first rounds of talks, which started last week and were later suspended until February 25th due to a lack of progress.

Weather

Beijing will be sunny today with a high of 8 degrees Celsius. Clear tonight and a low of -1.

Shanghai will be sunny with a high of 9, cloudy tonight and a low of 2.

Chongqing will be cloudy with a high of 16 and a low of 6.

Elsewhere in the world, staying here in Asia,

Islamabad will be cloudy with a high of 21.

Kabul, cloudy, 6 degrees.

Over to North America,

New York will be overcast with a high of 8 degrees.

Washington, overcast, 9 degrees.

Honolulu, slight rain, 23.

Toronto will also have slight rain with a high of 3 degrees.

Finally, on to South America,

Buenos Aires, cloudy with a high of 37.

And Rio de Janeiro will have slight rain with a high of 30 degrees Celsius.

That’s it for this weekend edition of the Beijing Hour. Our main headline before we go.

At least 17 people confirmed dead in the powerful earthquake that struck southern Taiwan early Saturday...

On behalf of the Beijing Hour staffers, I'm Spencer Musick. Stay tuned for a special edition of entertainment weekly, and join us for our next edition of the Beijing Hour, to open a window to the world together.