Tag: China

News Primary

China’s Xi Jinping Could Become President For Life

Under the current laws in China, the country’s president, Xi Jinping, would have to give up his job in 2023.

Now, he is trying to change that law.

That is causing some people to be concerned that he may try to become a “dictator” and retain power for many years.

The issue is about China’s “term limits” for its president. In other words, one person can only be president for a certain length of time–in this case, 10 years (two terms of five years each).

Xi Jinping became president in 2012. His term would end in 2023, although he could choose to continue on in another high-level job in the government. But he appears to have decided that he would rather remove term limits altogether, which means that he could choose to be president for the rest of his life.

News Politics

Students Protesting In Hong Kong

Many young people are protesting in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is part of China. However, for 155 years it was owned by Britain; it was returned to China in 1997. While it was under British rule, Hong Kong became quite different from what is known as “mainland” China. Hong Kong operates, in many ways, more like Europe or North America.

Environment Science

Pollution Shuts Down Chinese City

The air pollution was so bad in Harbin, in China, on October 21 that the city was forced to close roads and schools, and to cancel hundreds of flights from its airport.

News reports said the smog (a mixture of smoke and fog) was so thick that people couldn’t see more than 10 or 20 metres in front of them.

According to unofficial reports, people could not even see the person standing next to them.

The city’s website said: “You can’t see your own fingers in front of you.”

Residents said there was a “burning” smell in the air.

Many people covered their noses and mouths with scarves or masks.

The pollution was blamed on several factors.

Science

Chinese Space Mission Will Last 15 Days

A Chinese space capsule, carrying three astronauts, blasted off on Tuesday. It is on a 15-day mission.

The Shenzhou 10 capsule will dock with a space lab called Tiangong 1.

While on the Tiangong 1, the Chinese crew plans to deliver a series of educational talks to children.

China’s education initiative is designed to spark kids’ interest in space exploration.

The astronauts will also conduct dozens of experiments while they are in space.

News Sports

Fourteen-Year-Old Golfer Shines At Masters Tournament

This year’s Masters golf tournament was very exciting.

The Masters is the most important golf tournament of the year for professional and amateur golfers.

This year an Australian golfer won the tournament.

Adam Scott beat Argentinian Angel Cabrera in a “sudden-death playoff.”

On the difficult 18th (last) hole, Scott made a great shot that seemed unbeatable.

To tie him, Cabrera would have to make a seemingly impossible shot. Scott went to the clubhouse, with everyone fairly certain he’d won.

But that feeling was very brief.

Animals News Science

Giant Pandas Arrive In Toronto

Two giant pandas arrived in Toronto on March 25 to begin a 10-year visit to Canada.

The pandas will spend five years at the Toronto Zoo, and then move to the Calgary Zoo for another five years. They are on loan to Canada from the Chinese government.

The pandas travelled by plane from their native China, along with several kilograms of bamboo shoots, boxes of apples and their favourite toys. The trip took 15 hours.

The pandas were greeted at the airport by a large crowd, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Zhang Junsai, the Chinese ambassador to Canada. A high school band played “O Canada” as the pandas’ crates were unloaded.

News Politics

Syria’s “New Constitution” Ignites Further Conflict

Syria is a country in the Middle East.

Many Syrians have been protesting against its government, which has been accused of doing terrible things to its own people.

The leader of Syria is President Bashar al-Assad.

The fighting between the Syrian government and its opponents this year has been intense and very violent.

Many Syrians want al-Assad to step down as leader. They want to be able to elect a new leader. (Bashar al-Assad’s family has ruled Syria for more than 40 years.)