WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016 INTERNATIONAL Tears and tortoises - Chinese TV unveils graft secrets BEIJING: With a tale of a dead pet tortoise given Three of those “tigers” get camera time in the Zhou “set his expectations upon protection Describing his failings, Sichuan’s Li, given a 13- Buddhist rites and a senior official shedding tears first episode Bai Enpei, the former party boss of from supernatural beings and was widely involved year jail term last year, struggled and failed to for his crimes, state television has begun airing a southwestern Yunnan province; Zhou Benshun, an in superstitious practices”, the narrator says. “After keep back tears. “From a young age I hoped that documentary that takes viewers behind the scenes ex-party chief of northern Hebei province and Li a tortoise died at his home, he specially had scrip- under the leadership of the party ... I could get of some of China’s most dramatic corruption cases. Chuncheng, a former deputy party boss of south- tures transcribed and buried with it.” Zhou even progress for society, make the people happy,” Li The eight-part series that kicked off late on western Sichuan. Bai and Li have both been con- had a nanny for his pets, investigator Wang Han said. “In the end, because of myself, I didn’t get Monday promises an unusual warts-and-all victed, while Zhou awaits trial. The juiciest details told the program. The three disgraced officials all there. I really let the party down. I let the people approach to revealing the story behind the dirty come from the probe into Zhou. Against a back- admitted their guilt in appearances on the show. It down.” The show is called “Always on the Road”, a deals and extravagant lifestyles uncovered by graft drop of images of a Buddhist temple and to the was not possible to confirm if they participated reference to the party’s vow not to relax in stamp- busters from the ruling Communist Party. sound of monks chanting, the documentary willingly, or to reach family members or lawyers ing out corruption, and further revelations are President Xi Jinping has waged a sweeping war on describes Zhou’s involvement in “superstition”. for comment. However, the party views contrition promised later in the week. The first episode was deep-seated corruption since assuming power Party officials are not supposed to practice religion and confession favorably, and officials have avoid- widely discussed on Chinese social media, with almost four years ago, vowing to go after powerful and the charge of superstition is often leveled ed death sentences if they are judged to have some saying they found Li’s tears theatrical and “tigers” as well as lowly “flies”. against the corrupt to further blacken their names. shown remorse or cooperated. unconvincing.— Reuters Vietnam and US launch Danang dioxin clean-up Army helicopter goes missing HANOI: Vietnam and the United States yes- technology heats the contaminated soil to terday launched the second phase of a temperatures high enough to break down dioxin clean-up in Danang, where millions dioxin into harmless compounds. of litres of Agent Orange were stored dur- Danang Airbase was a key site in the ing the war between the former enemies. defoliant program, and much of the 80 mil- The US sprayed the defoliant over large lion liters (21 million gallons) of Agent swathes of southern jungle during the Orange used during “Operation Ranch Vietnam War to flush out Viet Cong guerril- Hand” was mixed, stored and loaded onto las, and Vietnamese victims’ groups have planes there. The airbase is considered a long blamed the toxic residue for deformi- “dioxin hotspot”, where concentrations of ties and disease. Though Washington has toxic contaminants from Agent Orange are disputed the link between dioxin exposure well above the globally-accepted maxi- and bad health, the US government has mum standard. Victims groups say rates of committed to help clean up toxic land in cancer, birth deformities and other dioxin- the communist nation. related diseases are higher than the nation- The countries, whose relations have al average around the site. The government warmed in recent years yesterday began says up to three million Vietnamese were treating 45,000 cubic metres of soil con- exposed to Agent Orange, and at least taminated with dioxin at Danang Airport, a 150,000 children were born with birth task expected to be finished by mid-2017. defects as a result. “I am encouraged by how this project con- tinues to be a symbol of our honesty about Helicopter missing the past, dealing with what remains and In another development, a Vietnamese turning an issue of contention into one of army helicopter carrying three people dis- collaboration,” US ambassador Ted Osius appeared from radar yesterday, the defense said at the scene, according to a statement. ministry said, sparking fears of another The first phase of the clean-up, which deadly military aviation accident in the also treated 45,000 cubic meters, was com- communist nation. Eleven people have pleted in May. “The long-term impact of the been killed in army air accidents this year project will be the elimination of potential alone, although the country has a strong TOKYO: A Shinto priest leads a pack of lawmakers at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo yesterday. — AFP health risks associated with dioxin expo- civil aviation record. Officials said yesterday sure from the site,” the US embassy state- they were searching for the helicopter after ment said. Osius and Vietnam’s Vice it disappeared in the southern province of Dozens of Japanese lawmakers Minister of National Defense Nguyen Chi Ba Ria-Vung Tau with a pilot and two Vinh switched on a thermal treatment sys- trainees on board. “During training the heli- tem yesterday at a ceremony in Danang, copter lost contact northwest of Dinh visit controversial war shrine where they were photographed before a mountain,” the ministry said in a statement giant mound of covered earth. The thermal on its website. — Agencies Shrine seen in China, Korea as symbol of past militarism TOKYO: Dozens of Japanese lawmakers visited a pointment over the fact that (lawmakers) have shrine itself is an accompanying museum that controversial war shrine yesterday in an annual once again sent offerings to and paid tribute at depicts Japan as a liberator of Asia and a victim pilgrimage criticized by China and South Korea, the Yasukuni Shrine, which glorifies Japan’s past of the war. Abe and other nationalists say which see it as a painful reminder of Tokyo’s war of aggression”. Yasukuni is a place to remember fallen soldiers aggressive past. The group of about 85 politi- Seoul called on Japanese politicians to and compare it to Arlington National Cemetery cians arrived at the leafy Yasukuni shrine in cen- “demonstrate through action their humble self- in the United States. “Every country pays tral Tokyo during a four-day autumn festival. Led reflection and sincere remorse for Japan’s past respects to people who died for his or her by priests, the dark-suited lawmakers entered the wrongdoings”. While Japan-China relations have country,” said Hidehisa Otsuji, who headed the main shrine building to pray for Japan’s war dead been on the mend, Beijing also had a frosty group of lawmakers. as they bowed at the threshold. The visit comes a response to the lawmakers’ visit. “We hope The site attracts many ordinary visitors who day after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe-often criti- Japan’s politicians can maintain a correct view of come to pay their respects to friends and rela- cized for what some see as revisionist views on history, and do more to promote cooperation tives who died in military conflicts. “I heard that Japan’s wartime record-sent an offering to the with and win the trust of neighboring Asian my grandfather died in the battlefield so I came shrine, but avoided a visit. countries,” said foreign ministry spokeswoman here to comfort his spirit,” said Kazuya Ono, a Yasukuni honors millions of Japanese war Hua Chunying. Earlier yesterday four Chinese 40-year-old businessman, who visited Yasukuni dead, but also senior military and political figures coastguard ships entered Japan’s territorial yesterday. “I prayed for him to be well in heav- convicted of war crimes after World War II. The waters close to disputed islands that have been a en.” Abe visited the shrine in December 2013 to indigenous Shinto religious shrine has for thorn in the side of diplomatic relations for years. mark his first year in power, a pilgrimage that HANOI PROVINCE: US Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius (centre left) and Vietnam’s decades been a flashpoint for criticism by coun- sparked fury in Beijing and Seoul and earned a Deputy Defense Minister Gen Nguyen Chi Vinh (centre right) attend a ceremony mark- tries that suffered from Japan’s colonialism and Paying respects diplomatic rebuke from close ally the United ing the start of the clean-up of dioxin contaminated-soil in central Danang city. — AFP aggression in the first half of the 20th century, Visits to Yasukuni by senior Japanese politi- States which said it was “disappointed”. He has including China and Korea. South Korea in a cians routinely draw an angry reaction from since refrained from going, sending ritual offer- statement expressed “deep concern and disap- Beijing and Seoul. More controversial than the ings instead.— AFP China president revives Long March myths to rally party US Navy warship to visit NZ BEIJING: As China marks 80 years since broadcasts and special exhibitions- the Red Army ended its epic Long March, extolling their heroism. President Xi the Communist Party is attacking revi- Jinping has put his stamp on the occa- Ending 30-year stalemate sionist history in an effort to compel rev- sion, visiting museums in the northern erence for its founding legend.