Exiled Tibetans elect new leader

Do you wanna dance

Dalai Lama

Thousands of Tibetans worldwide vote Sunday for a new leader who hopes eventually to become the new face of the struggle for freedom in China, a cause embodied for decades by the Dalai Lama.

The famous and celebrated monk, now 75, announced 10 days ago that he wanted to retire as political head of his exiled government and hand power to an elected leader who could continue the fight after his death.

Chinese workers seek more in Apple supplier's plant poison case

A Taiwan-owned plant making parts for Apple Inc said it is offering around 80,000 yuan ($12,177) as compensation to each of the 115 workers hit by chemical poisoning but some of the affected Chinese workers said the sum was not enough.

Wintek, owner of the factory in east China's Suzhou industrial park, said it has reserved 10 million yuan for compensation to the workers affected by the chemical hexyl hydride, and will pay more if the illness continues.

But two workers contacted by Reuters on Friday said that the 80,000 yuan offered by the company to each worker so far was not sufficient.

"Don't tell me 80,000 yuan, even 800,000 yuan will not be enough," said Hu Zhiyong, a 26-year-old worker.Hu, who said his daily medical expenses are over 800 yuan, added that his major demand is future health care after he leaves the company, as well as an apology from Apple.

Reuters reported earlier this week that some of the workers had sent a letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, urging the company to help address their grievances.

Wintek has said it used hexyl hydride, also called n-hexane, from May 2008 to August 2009, but stopped after discovering it was making workers ill.

The company used the chemical, which evaporates faster than alcohol, to speed up production. It has gone back to using alcohol.

"We have accrued all liabilities," said Wintek's finance director, Jay Huang, on Friday. "If they discover any continued illness in the future, we will compensate as required by law."

The company has set aside the 10 million yuan as a provision.

According to Wintek, 91 workers have finished assessments on their health condition and 24 are still in the process of being assessed, and it estimates each will get around 80,000 yuan in compensation.Another 22 have been cleared of any poisoning.

Hu said Wintek will bear all legal responsibilities and compensate affected workers even after they leave the company if they are diagnosed with continued illness.

Li Wanxin, a 19-year-old worker, said the company has initially offered her 2,223 yuan in compensation: 1,500 yuan for medical expenses and 723 yuan as a living allowance. She said this was sufficient for now but wants more.

Li said she has yet to receive the money because she needs to complete a final check-up required under labor laws to ascertain that she was indeed affected by poisoning while working at the plant.

Central Taiwan opens shipping farm products to China

According to latest news, around 5 containers packed with agricultural products which cost around NT$13 million were delivered to Taichung Port for shipment to Laioning region. This is the very first time that the central Taiwan city will sell farm products to Northeast China.

In the meantime, the containers, packed with honey murcotts, a type of tangerine, mushrooms, honey, plum wines, and Lishan tea, were sent to the city's port after a deal on the sale of the agricultural goods was inked by officials from Taichung and the Chinese province.

While talking to media, Taichung Mayor Jason Hu said, “It was the first time a province in northeastern China has bought agricultural goods from Taichung, and I anticipated that Liaoning would make an additional NT$27.5 million in purchases.”

According to him, “We described Taichung and Liaoning as highly complementary, and we target to see friendly interaction take place between the two sides from now on.”

China Bans Smoking in Movies and Television

As per the recent news, mainland China has announced to ban smoking scenes in movies as well as television serials, with the feeling that it will help to reduce smoking in the upcoming generation.

Figures show that it will help its 300 million smokers to drop that habit.

However, the declaration was made by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT).

While talking to media, an official from the department said, “A survey conducted among 11,000 middle school students in Beijing showed nearly 33% wanted to try smoking after seeing actors lighting up on television.”

Further, the report states, tobacco is the top killer in the country -- the world's largest tobacco manufacturer and consumer -- and smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke exact high medical and social costs.

According to the figures released in the study, around 3.5 million Chinese could die from smoking-related illnesses each year by 2030 as against to the 1.2 million in 2005, if strong steps were not taken.

Japanese Economy fell to 3rd place behind China

According to some recent reports, Japanese flag Japan's "lost decade" has left a lasting impact.

The country has lost its place as the world's second-biggest economy to China, figures out later is expected to show.

During the period of last three months of the last year and the complete year gross domestic product figures will be revealed by Japan at 0850 in Tokyo on Monday (2350 GMT Sunday).

However, the country's economy has been tasted a drop in exports as well as consumer demand, while China has enjoyed a manufacturing boom.

At its present rate of growth, analysts see China is all set to over take the United States as the world's top economy in about a decade.

While talking to media, Tom Miller of GK Dragonomics, a Beijing-based economic consultancy said, “It's realistic to say that within 10 years China will be roughly the same size as the US economy.”