Society

China said Wednesday that it hopes the United States will be more objective and fair when assessing its efforts to protect intellectual property rights (IPR).

Ministry of Commerce spokesman Yao Jian made the remarks when commenting on the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR)'s recently released "Special 301 Report" regarding IPR protection. China remained on the office's Priority Watch List this year.

Twelve countries, including China, Canada, India and Russia, were on the Priority Watch List, indicating that the office believes these countries have insufficient IPR protections or enforcement.

A court in southeastern China's Fujian province has ordered the country's biggest gold miner, Zijin Mining Group, to pay a criminal fine of $4.6 million for toxic mine spills that highlight the challenges of policing heavy polluters with close ties to local authorities.

A company vice-president and the manager, deputy manager and environmental protection officer of the mine were detained in connection with the spills at the Zijinshan Gold and Copper Mine nearly a year ago, which poisoned a river, killing off fish and devastating the area.

Longyan City Intermediate People's Court rejected the company's appeal against an earlier ruling fining it 30 million yuan ($4.6 million) for a "serious offence related to environmental pollution," Zijin Mining said Wednesday in a notice to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The court ordered the company to pay the balance remaining after taking into account administrative fees already paid, and five defendants were given prison terms of between 3 years to 4 1/2 years in the case, it said without specifying details.

A sandstorm which hit Shanghai on the first two days of May has significantly increased the level of respirable particles in the city and made Shanghai one of the most polluted city in the country, with Shanghai’s air pollution index 87 points higher than that of the runner-up on May 2.

Shanghai seemed to be covered with a grey lid on May 2. The air was full of dust, leading to poor visibility. The buildings in the city proper looked vague in the dust, and the cars parked outside were covered with a thick layer of dust.

The Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center (SEMC) said that as the sea wind blew the dust back to Shanghai, the city’s respirable particulate matter index rose to 500 at 4 a.m. on May 2, and the air pollution in the city reached “severe” levels. According to a diagram drawn by the SEMC, Shanghai has been in “severe” air pollution levels for the past two days.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) announced Tuesday that drug syndicate members, believed to be behind the recruitment of the late Filipino drug courier Elizabeth Batain, have been arrested.

PDEA said the arrests were made early Tuesday at around 4:45 a.m. in a buy-bust operation in a fast food establishment at Matalino corner Malakas Streets in Quezon City.

PDEA Director General Jose S. Gutierrez, Jr. identified the suspects as Nigerian Samuel Egbo y Chukwueloka, 34, and Korean Yunji Choi, 22 years old.