Anthony
(6) Deadly Tornado Hits South China Tornado
[CND, 04/14/98] Seventeen people died and more than fifty were injured in
a tornado that struck south China's Hunan province on Saturday, said AFP.
The state radio reported that over 7,500 village homes were destroyed in
the cyclone. The report said that twenty-eight boats were capsized in the
Shuifu reservoir. Hail stones, some as heavy as four pounds (2 kilograms)
carried by high winds, damaged over 20,000 homes in Zhaoqing and Qingyuan,
according to reports from the Chinese-language daily Ming Pao. The paper
further said these unexpected natural disasters have amounted to $35.7
million (300 million yuan) in economic losses. (Sue BRUELL, YIN De An)
____ ____ ____
(9) Beijing Moves to Save Precious Farmland
[CND, 04/15/98] A one-year ban on non-agricultural use of farmlands has
been extended until April 1999, according to a Wednesday report by AFP
from Beijing. Recently, real estate development firms have been buying up
precious areas of arable land for housing and other projects. Natural
forces, such as soil erosion by wind and water, also degrade China's
available arable farmland.
ZHOU Yongkang, the newly-appointed Minister of State Land and Natural
Resources, warned about unresolved problems in extending the protection of
farmland for another year. As quoted by China Daily, he said there are
"difficulties of handling cases of illegal occupation of state land for
construction projects by local authorities." He cited protests by peasants
who lose their plots to real estate developers working together with local
authorities. However, Zhou mentioned an exemption: massive development of
low-income housing "and other key projects with special state permission."
(Sue BRUELL, YIN De An)