"...During the emergency rescue operations, the area was very complex, and there was a marsh below, so it was very difficult to do our best job. We also had to deal with all the other train cars, so (the earth-moving equipment operator) buried the front car below, covering it with earth, and it was mainly just a case of dealing with the emergency. This was the explanation he offered. Whether you believe it or not, I certainly do. more ›

• A regional newspaper photoshopped out the label “路政巡查” [Road Administration Patrol] from a vehicle that had hit and killed a 16-year-old in order to distance the accident from the government. People were pretty displeased when they found out. [Chinasmack]
• China has pretty darn good coverage even in its rural areas. Estimates hold that 99.86% of the country's administrative villages have telephone service, 91.5% have internet. [Xinhua]
• In 2040, the Chinese economy will reach $123 trillion, or nearly three times the economic output of the entire globe in 2000, according to Robert Fogel. [Foreign Policy]

• The list of U.S. cities er... places hoping for a new and exciting relationship with Chinese tourists now includes Hawaii, California and Las Vegas [USA Today]
• Can China's new plans to curb the carbon intensity of its economy really help break the impasse at Copenhagen and kick start the stalled U.S. senate? HA! Dream on. [WSJ]
• Of all things China wants to be, a global burden-sharing partner of the U.S. is not one of them. "We do not approve of the notion of G-2," Premier Wen said, adding that China has a long ways to go "before it becomes a modernized country." [AsiaTimes]

• China, Japan, S Korea agree to push forward Six-Party talks [China Daily] "China, Japan and South Korea agreed here Saturday to continue pushing forward the Six-Party talks aimed at realizing denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
• Tiananmen 20 years later: A survivor's story [AP] Twenty years after China's military crushed dissent around Tiananmen Square, the details are still fresh in Qi Zhiyong's mind. The acrid smell of tear gas. The people run down by tanks. The dizzying pain when a bullet tore through his left leg.
• Graft in China Covers Up Toll of Coal Mines [NYTimes] "Under China’s authoritarian system, superiors reward subordinates for strict compliance with targets set from above, like reducing mine disasters... Work-safety officials in Beijing complain that even more than in other industries, death tolls from accidents at coal mines are often ratcheted down or not reported at all. That is because of the risky profits to be made — by businessmen and corrupt local officials — exploiting dangerous coal seams with temporary, unskilled workers in thousands of illegal mines."

The above is from a report about the cancer patients affected by the corrupted medicine from Shanghai's Hualian Pharmaceutical. According to an article from Jan. 10:

Under the guidance of and with the participation of a joint investigation team set up between the Ministry of Health and State Drug and Food Administration, concerned departments in Shanghai identified the cause of the accident: Hualian's staff mixed Vincristine Sulfate into Methotrexate for injection and Cytarabine for injection, and this caused damage to the drugs and made them unqualified and unusable.