Briefs, January 22, 2013

'Re-education' labour camps to go this year

"Re-education" labour camps are set to be abolished this year, state media yesterday quoted a senior legal official as saying. Chen Jiping, deputy director of the China Law Society, was quoted by the China Daily as saying that a key meeting had agreed to limit use of the system until it could be scrapped by the National People's Congress (NPC). "Ending the system requires the approval of the top legislature which originally endorsed laojiao in 1957," the paper said. The annual session of the NPC is due to be held in March. AFP

Protest over 'blunders' in hospital tragedy

Dozens of relatives of a young woman who died at a hospital in Jianli county, Hubei , after complications from a caesarean section protested beside her body in the hospital's foyer on Friday, accusing doctors of committing medical blunders. Photos and a video clip featuring hundreds of relatives and passers-by gathered outside the hospital were posted online, with some showing protesters dragging a man in a police uniform from a police car, cnhubei.com affiliated with the Hubei Daily, said. Choi Chi-yuk

More flights between Taiwan and mainland

The number of direct flights between Taiwan and the mainland will rise more than 10 per cent this year to 616 flights every week. It has been agreed to add 58 flights to the present 558 weekly flights, said Lee Wan-li, deputy director-general of Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration. The mainland will put eight more destinations on the map, including Lijiang , in Yunnan , while Taiwan will add Chiayi city in the island's south, Lee said. AFP

Chairman Mao spoof among banned TV ads

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) banned 55 TV commercials, saying adverts recently broadcast during some TV programmes violated regulations. Among those banned was a watch advertisement that used the name of Mao Zedong , violating a SARFT regulation that forbids the use of state leaders' names in advertisements. Other ads for dieting solutions and breast enlargement were banned for false or misleading content. Xinhua

Municipalities rapped for heritage failures

Eight cities and towns were singled out by authorities yesterday for failing to properly preserve historically and culturally significant heritage. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the State Administration of Culture Heritage said in a circular that insufficient efforts to protect heritage have led to serious damage. The eight were Liaocheng , Handan Suizhou , Shouxian, Junxian, Yueyang , Liuzhou and Dali . Xinhua