Liu Shinan is China Daily's assistant editor-in-chief. He writes commentaries on social and cultural issues.
A few days ago, the standing committee of the Hunan provincial committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) announced a decision on how local governments would receive leading officials from the provincial government. Red carpets and banners will be banned in ceremonies welcoming the leading officials, the decision said.
People's Daily Online and News of the Communist Party of China yesterday published results of a survey they conducted on netizens' assessment of young cadres, those who are 45 or younger who occupy leading posts in government and CPC departments.
To boost commercial consumption in rural areas during the economic slowdown, the central government is encouraging makers of home appliances to promote sales of their products in the countryside.
A few days ago, the government of Daxing district, Beijing municipality, handsomely rewarded four entrepreneurs for their employment of local workers.
It was apparently a case of "absence from duty" - 23 teachers from a high school in Chongqing suspended classes for three days early this month to take a trip to Hainan, a subtropical tourist attraction.
Finally the truth came out in the "hide-and-seek" case that has aroused much media attention across the nation. After an initial false report by prison authorities and an unsuccessful investigation by a panel consisting of "representatives of netizens", the Yunnan Provincial Procuratorate announced last Friday that Li Qiaoming, the inmate who died in a prison in the province on Feb 8, was actually beaten to death by "prison bullies".
A sense of justice is the minimum standard for morality in any society. If that sense is corrupted, the society is in danger of moral deterioration. Our society seems to be showing signs of a weakening sense of justice, as revealed by the following incident.
Early this month, an event in Wuxi, Jiangsu province attracted public attention across the country. A 13-year-old girl attempted to kill herself in the naive hope her liver could be transplanted to save her father from dying of cancer. The girl's actions moved hundreds of thousands of people to comment on the Internet.
Sparks from fireworks were suspected to have caused the fire that lasted six hours from Monday evening until the early hours of yesterday morning and nearly destroyed the newly built Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Beijing. The incident triggered a new round of argument in the Chinese capital in favor of prohibiting the practice of celebrating festivals with fireworks.
Premier Wen Jiabao expressed optimism about China's ability to battle the impact of the current global economic crisis and emphasized the importance for the world to maintain confidence against the crisis during his recent European tour.
Internet news portals reported yesterday that about 100,000 rural migrant workers in Guangdong province were on the G321 Highway to Sichuan, Guangxi, Guizhou and other inland provinces riding motorcycles to return to their homes for the upcoming Spring Festival holidays. Looking at the photos of heavily-clad men carrying their wives and oversized luggage on the back seats of the vehicles, I felt tears welling up my eyes.