Business Briefs

■ Entertainment
China attacks video game
China banned a Swedish-made computer game for "distorting history" by depicting Tibet and other Chinese territories as independent countries. Hearts of Iron, set in World War II, is the latest in a series of foreign computer games to run afoul of China's government by clashing with its official history. The game, made by Paradox Entertainment of Stockholm, depicts Tibet, Manchuria and the Xinjiang region of China's northwest as independent and Taiwan as a Japanese colony, the official Xinhua News Agency said Friday. Hearts of Iron was banned for "distorting history and damaging China's sovereignty and territorial integrity," said a Ministry of Culture order quoted by Xinhua. China ordered makers this month to submit online games for government review, complaining that many are too violent or sexually explicit or threaten national security. In March, censors banned a Norwegian computer game that they said damaged China's reputation by depicting a mercenary conducting sabotage on its territory and shooting at Chinese soldiers.

■ Tourism
Singapore gets new flights
Tourist-hungry Singapore beefed up its air links with China yesterday as a fifth passenger airline from China started flights to the wealthy Southeast Asian city-state. Shandong Airlines flew its maiden international flight into Singapore's Changi Airport in the afternoon, a statement from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said. It will be followed by a twice-weekly service. The frequency of flights to Singapore from China has mushroomed in recent years as the country's economy booms and its millions of citizens are more able to stretch their wings. China's government has made it easier for Chinese to get passports and foreign currency, and it has increased the number of approved destinations for Chinese tour parties. Additionally, many countries have eased restrictions on visas for Chinese nationals.

■ Entertainment
Chinese kids to get moral TV
China ordering its television stations to launch children's channels with wholesome, educational programs in a campaign to clean up what communist leaders regard as unhealthy Western-influenced popular culture. Each provincial-level station is to create such a channel by 2007 to help improve "ideological and moral standards" for China's 367 million children, the official Xinhua News Agency said yesterday. Broadcasters were told this month to have announcers stop mixing English words into their Chinese and to drop programs that promote "Western ideology."

■ Telecoms
Vietnam to lay new cable
Vietnam lay a new fiber-optic cable to Hong Kong to avoid a repeat of this week's chaos when more than 300,000 Internet subscribers were affected by a damaged underwater line, state media said. Nguyen Huu Khanh, director of Vietnam Telecom International, said in the Tuoi Tre daily that Prime Minister Phan Van Khai had given the green light to the US$150-million project. A new cable would also be built to Singapore later, he said. The country is currently connected to Hong Kong and Thailand by two cables. But on Monday, damage to the cable near Hong Kong caused havoc for more than 300,000 Internet subscribers. Internet traffic was partially restored Wednesday via an alternative network. FPT Communications said the damaged cable would take at least 10 days to fix.