China's AIDS crisis has become a hot issue at the annual session of parliament this week, with delegates urging stricter laws to curb the spread of the disease.
China is one of the three countries most at risk from AIDS outside Africa and health agencies say it could have 10 million victims by 2010 if it fails to take the scourge seriously.
"It is time for China to make laws on the control and prevention of AIDS, otherwise the country will lose the best opportunity to bring the deadly disease under control," National People's Congress delegate Shi Zuolin was quoted yesterday as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.
He said current regulations were inadequate and some were contradictory, Xinhua said.
Beijing has faced widespread condemnation for disguising the scale of its AIDS epidemic, neglecting to treat patients properly and arresting activists and journalists.
The central Henan Province was the scene of one of China's worst AIDS outbreaks in the 1980s and early 1990s when thousands were infected after selling their blood plasma and having HIV-infected blood pumped back into them.
Officials say between 840,000 and 1 million people of China's population of 1.3 billion have HIV. But experts and activists say the outbreak is far greater than official figures show.
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee (李家超) yesterday unveiled a promotion campaign that would include 500,000 free flights to lure back visitors, businesses and investors to the financial hub after more than three years of tough COVID-19 curbs. The “Hello Hong Kong” campaign was launched with dancers and flashing neon lights in the territory’s main convention center, next to its famous harbor, with a backdrop bearing the slogan in various languages including Russian and Spanish. Lee, speaking in English, said the campaign would show that the territory was open for tourism, and was aimed at boosting business and investment in the Chinese
RISING RISK: With no communication between nations flying jets closely over the South China Sea, one mistake by a pilot could quickly escalate a situation, an expert said The China Coast Guard (CCG) maintained near-daily patrols at key features across the disputed South China Sea last year, ramping up its presence as tensions over the waterway with Southeast Asian neighbors remain high, new tracking data shows. Patrols in the waters surrounding the Vanguard Bank off Vietnam, an area known for its oil and gas reserves and the site of repeated standoffs between Chinese and Vietnamese vessels, more than doubled to 310 days last year, the Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative said. The number of days Chinese ships patrolled near Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗) in the Spratly Islands (Nansha
There could be some relief to 150,000 commuters who endure hours-long waits to cross the road border between Malaysia and Singapore, Malaysian newspaper The Star reported. The Malaysian government has proposed a “single clearance system” to ease traffic along the Johor-Singapore Causeway, the report said. Such waits often require cross-border workers on the Malaysian side to wake up as early as 4am to get to work on time in Singapore. The proposal, still in its initial stages, would involve Malaysian immigration officials being stationed on the Singapore side of the causeway, with Singaporean officials stationed on the Malaysian side, in the southern
Even before his onions are fully grown, Philippine farmer Luis Angeles races to harvest the crop and cash in on eye-watering prices for a vegetable that has become a luxury item in the country. Onion prices have soared in the past few months, reaching as high as 800 pesos (US$14.67) per kilogram in Manila supermarkets, making them more expensive than chicken or pork. Some restaurants have stripped the staple ingredient from dishes, while many families already grappling with the highest inflation in 14 years have stopped eating them. To meet demand and push retail prices back below 200 pesos, the government has approved
RSS