China Reform Monitor: No. 928

October 16:

The People’s Liberation Army has developed a drug that can keep soldiers awake and active for 72 hours. The anti-sleep drug - called Night Eagle - was unveiled as one of 600 scientific achievements in an exhibition marking the 60th anniversary of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences. China Central Television cited by the South China Morning Post did not give further details about the new drug, such as its composition, how it works or its possible side effects. “Our troops will have to stay awake for a long time while being able to maintain cognitive abilities when they are deployed,” Wang Lin a researcher at the academy.

October 18:

The South China Morning Post has acquired an internal document issued by Hong Kong’s 12-member Legislative Council Commission restricting reporters’ access to members of the legislature. Journalists have objected to the new restrictions, which deny them access to the area between the legislative chamber and antechamber and a number of elevators and escalators. The order has also raised the ire of pro-democracy lawmakers who said they would push for journalists to have more access. “There should not be any unnecessary curfew for reporters. The legislature has to face public scrutiny,” said Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee a Civic Party lawmaker and Commission member. Apart from the limited access, journalists are also upset over mistreatment by security guards who formed a human chain to block cameramen from lawmakers and stop their taking pictures.

Since September, there have been six large-scale cases of food poisoning among students in Hebei, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou and Shanxi. At one middle school in Chengde, Hebei, 135 students contracted diarrhea after they drank polluted water. In Taiyuan, Shanxi, 197 primary school students contracted a food-borne illness. In Zunyi, Guizhou more than 1,000 parents protested in front of a school after finding the school canteen was serving rotten vegetables to children, according to the Guiyang Evening News. According to the Ministry of Education the recent cases of food poisoning have revealed “faults in the system” and to ensure school food quality it is necessary to have more controls on the purchase, cooking and storage of food. The steep rise in food prices is also a likely culprit. “We cannot say what is the primary cause, but one thing for sure is that we need stricter supervision to cope with the troubles that have been brought about by increasing prices,” Chen Chunming, a retired Ministry of Health official said in comments carried by the official People’s Daily.

October 19:

Sixty Chinese workers took to the streets of Novosibirsk, Siberia to protest over unpaid wages, Russia’s RIA Novosti reports. The protesters, who work for a Chinese construction company, carried banners in Chinese saying, “Give me my wages, I want to go home.” One of the demonstrators was fined 1000 rubles ($30) for organizing the unsanctioned protest according to a Novosibirsk court department spokeswoman, who said the demonstration was not sanctioned by the Russian authorities. Many Chinese workers go to Russia to earn money, but they are often poorly paid and exploited. Russian authorities have expressed concern over the growing number of Chinese settling down in sparsely populated eastern Russia, which they seen as a demographic and territorial threat.

October 22:

Citing a “major military threat” from China, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has called for the establishment of a Himalayan Regiment in the Indian army capable of fighting in difficult mountainous terrains. The Press Trust of India reports that while speaking at India’s National Development Council meeting in New Delhi, Dhumal said: “India faces a major military threat from neighboring China and the Indian Army should be made fully capable of fighting in the tough terrain.” He said soldiers in the new regiment should be drawn from youths from hilly areas so they are well conversant with tough geography and topography of the region and “are prepared mentally and physically to encounter the enemy in this region.”