Today's Links: IOC warns China, Shanghai subway expands and China ranks fifth in the world's millionaire race

- A letter from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued on Wednesday warned the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) to keep politics separate from sports. The letter was issued after the IOC read the remarks of Zhang Qingli, Tibet’s Chinese Communist party secretary, at a torch relay in Lhasa. "Tibet’s sky will never change and the red flag with five stars will forever flutter high above it," Qingli said, adding: "We will certainly be able to totally smash the splittist schemes of the Dalai Lama clique." In response to the IOC’s letter, China has denied injecting politics into the Olympics. While a spokesman from BOCOG refused to comment, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Jianchao insisted Zhang’s remarks were made to foster a "stable and harmonious environment for the Olympics" and were not political.
- The Shanghai Metro Company announced Wednesday that 70 trains will be added to Shanghai’s subway network by the end of the year. The addition will mean more frequent trains and longer operating hours, Shanghai Daily reports. By boosting capacity by 60 percent, the metro’s operators are hoping to appeal to those who stopped using the subway because of overcrowding.
- China now stands fifth around the world for its number of U.S. dollar millionaires, Merrill Lynch and Capgemini, the France-based consulting firm, announced in a report on Thursday. With about 415,000 people owning at least U.S.$1 million in liquid assets last year, China has now surpassed France in the rankings (France had 394,000 millionaires). The report found that Asian millionaires were more interested in buying luxury products and vacationing, while European millionaires favored spending money on artwork.
- A trial offering of free blood transfusions was launched in Shanghai’s Xuhui District yesterday. The Shanghai Blood Administration Office announced that a family can be reimbursed for blood payments if a relative donates the same amount of blood the patient receives in a transfusion. Patients from 42 families received a blood card yesterday enabling them to be reimbursed 240 yuan for 200 milliliters.
Photo by exo_sh.
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