US Website:10 Of Asia’s Weirdest Cults

While Japan is well known for its wacky cults, there is plenty of room in the rest of Asia for bizarre and occasionally dangerous new religious movements. Many thrived in Korea and Taiwan thanks to unofficial government support, when mainstream religions were associated with the democratization movement. Even in China and Vietnam, cult movement is far from unknown.
　　10.Lord God Cult, China

　　Also known as the Supreme Deity cult, this group attracted over 10,000 members in Hunan province, until leader Liu Jiaguo was unceremoniously sentenced to death in 1999. Liu was a former member of the Established King sect, until he was outraged to discover that its leader, Wang Yangming, was an ordinary human being. Quickly figuring it was a pretty good scam, he created his own personal cult in 1993 by leeching members of the Established King group and claiming to be the “Lord God” himself. Beginning with a rural base, the cult targeted young people and city dwellers, and Liu used his expanding following to enrich himself and sleep with the female members of his flock. He was eventually charged with embezzling $40,000 from supporters and raping 10 disciples, including two 13-year-olds. An imprisoned Liu readily admitted to being a fraud: “If I were a god, would I be here today?” 　　

　　9.Shincheonji, Korea

　　Known as Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, this cult was founded in 1984 by ex-evangelical Lee Man-hee. Shincheonji, translating as “New Heaven and Earth,” claims Jesus is a spirit entity that entered the body of Lee, who now claims unique understanding of the Bible and apocalypse. Lee claims that he is a prophet superseding Jesus, that the world has already ended, that we are all in the afterlife, that he will live forever, and that all other churches are controlled by Satan. Shincheonji followers are indoctrinated with Lee’s wildly original interpretation of Bible verses and engage in military-style training at night to remain sharp. Apparently, when the number of his followers hits 144,000, they will be possessed by the spirits of martyrs and take over the world. To get more warm bodies for martyr ghosts, they use tricky methods of recruitment, including the so-called harvester strategy: registering in other churches to take them over from the inside, which has led to some mainstream churches posting warnings on their doors. They target foreigners living in Korea, using attractive women as honey traps. They also organize seemingly innocent peace rallies, fun runs, free Korean classes, and drinking parties through front organizations like Mannam and the International Peace Youth Group. Behind these “funfunfun” events and pretty faces is a cult that preaches destruction for non-believers, run by a prophet accused of tax evasion and sexual harassment of teenagers. 　　

　　8.Quan Yin Method, Taiwan

　　This Taiwanese religious movement was founded by self-proclaimed Supreme Master Ching Hai, who was born in Vietnam. Quan Yin refers to a form of meditation and means “contemplation of the south vibration.” The group meditates on inner light and inner sound to know the mind of God. Quan Yin can also refer to a traditional Chinese goddess of mercy and compassion, whom Ching Hai often dresses to resemble. The international restaurant chain Loving Hut, likely the largest vegan business in the world, is a front for the cult. Every Loving Hut has a TV permanently tuned to dedicated cult propaganda channel Supreme Master TV. The network broadcasts sermons and cooking shows, complete with a dizzying number of subtitles in various languages on the bottom and side of the screen. Critics claim the restaurant exploits young followers who work for little to no pay while profits go to the cult. Ching Hai appears often on the channel, promoting breatharianism and claiming that meat-eating will lead to the end of the world. 　

　　7.World Mission Society Church Of God, Korea

　　The World Mission Society Church of God believes that a man named Ahn Sahng-hong was the reincarnation of Jesus and a woman named Zahng Gil-jah is the “Mother God” or “Heavenly Mother Jerusalem.” Prospective members are approached in the street and asked, “Do you know God the Mother?” They believe that the earthly family system is a reflection and shadow of a heavenly family system, and it follows that there is a Heavenly Father (Ahn), a Heavenly Mother (Zahng), and brothers and sisters (the rest of humanity). Despite wild interpretations of Bible verses and straight fabrications, the WMS Church of God believes itself to be the only true church established by God on Earth. They also differ from standard Christian practice in several specific ways, holding Sabbath on Saturday and teaching that women should veil their heads during worship. Critics claim the cult uses brainwashing tactics to destroy families.

　　6.Jesus Morning Star, Korea

　　Ex-moonie Jeong Myung-seok founded this cult centered around purification rituals in the 1970s, claiming Jesus was a failed savior, and the true savior was Jeong himself. Preaching that sex with him would purify sins, Jeon slept with hundreds of Korean women. Attractive young people were recruited from elite universities and lured through social clubs, sports tournaments, and Bible study classes serving as cult fronts. They were taken to a huge complex filled with phallic imagery for marathon prayer sessions in front of massive TV screens. Jeong fled Korea in 1999 after rape allegations surfaced on TV and spent the next decade on the run, raping more women through his cult in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Arrested in China in 2008, he was sentenced to a six-year prison term in Seoul. His followers don’t see much of a problem though, noting that “Jesus was persecuted, too.” 　　

　　5.Vang Chu, Vietnam

　　The officially atheist Vietnamese government has a long history of oppressing the Christian Hmong minority, but this oppression has also led to the birth of strange new religious movements, such as the Vang Chu sect in Muong Nhe district, Dien Bien province. The Vang Chu (“Lord of Heaven”) movement follows purported messiah Zhong Ka Chang, also known as Tu Jeng Cheng (“the important one”). Chang was said to perform miracles and preached for the foundation of a Christian Hmong state. Large gatherings of his separatist supporters, as well as supposed links to fiery US radio preacher Harold Camping, led to the 2011 government crackdown on the movement by local security forces. Vietnam People’s Army reinforcements dropped in by parachute. The government accused the Hmong of drug-smuggling, land theft, environmental destruction, and subversion against the government. The authorities used chemical weapons and bayonets to disperse the Hmong, beheading some of the leaders and forcing many followers to flee into Laos or Thailand. The movement remains in existence, waiting for the coming of a divinely inspired Hmong King and teaching impoverished followers that prayer will entice angels to bring them food, money, and medicine. 　　

　　4.Dahnhak, Korea

　　Operating over 160 yoga and tai chi centers in Korea and arond the world, Dahnhak was founded by Lee Seung-heun, who calls himself Ilchi, meaning “finger pointing toward the truth.” Claiming supernatural powers, he teaches a “brain respiration” process to achieve spiritual enlightenment and natural healing through tai chi exercises, massage, and meditation. Over the course of the program, however, it becomes increasingly expensive to attend enlightenment retreats and workshops and to purchase healing products and books. Devotees sometimes spend thousands of dollars. The cult even issues its own Dahn credit cards so devotees can be enlightened now and pay for it later. This is combined with a practice called “love bombing,” in which Dahnhak instructors offer positive reinforcement and counseling advice. At the same time, the cult preaches conformity using manipulative sales tactics and brainwashing, claiming knowledge is gained through physical pain. Critics of the cult are threatened with violence and retaliation against their families. The cult, which has also spread to the US, has been accused of everything from sexual assault to making practitioners drink toilet water as part of their training. 　　

　　3.Church Of Almighty God, China

　　This Chinese doomsday cult, also known as Eastern Lightning, believes middle-aged woman Yang Xiangbin or “Lightning Deng” is the third incarnation of Christ (following Joseph and Jesus Himself). Founded 25 years ago by former physics professor Zhao Weishan, who fled to the United States in 2001 claiming political asylum, the cult has grown with an aggressive recruiting drive aimed toward housewives and underground Christian congregations. They use money, gifts, and sexual favors to attract converts and then demand donations. Along with complete obedience to Mrs. Yang and pressure to abandon their families, the cult claims the Communist Party is “the Great Red Dragon” and encourage the killing of party members “possessed by its spirit.” Accused of multiple violent attacks, cult members stabbed a young boy in 2010 when his uncle tried to leave the cult.In May 2014, members of the cult beat a woman to death in a Shandong McDonald’s for refusing to hand over her phone number. Bystanders were warned to stay away, but the brutal attack was still caught on cell phone cameras. One of the attackers, Zhang Lidong, was remorseless. “I beat her with all my might and stamped on her, too,” he said. “She was a demon. We had to destroy her.” 　

　　2.Sung Chi-Li Association, Taiwan

　　This group is centered on religious leader Sung Chi-li, who claims to possess miraculous powers and the ability to create a spiritual doppleganger of himself that can appear anywhere on the planet. To prove the veracity of his claims, he’s produced photographs of himself floating above various landscapes, surrounded by rainbow colors and a nimbus of light. He sells these to his followers to fund a lavish lifestyle and real estate purchases. Sung claimed the photos were proof of “true-form realities,” manifestation of the inner Nirvana within human beings. In 1996, he was accused by the government of swindling his followers with obvious trick photography doctored with basic computer editing and then absconding with 3 billion Taiwanese dollars (almost $100 million). He was subsequently released after the High Court ruled his religious activities were protected under the Constitution. Sung has controversial links with both organized crime and the Democratic People’s Party. In 2005, he claimed to have taken DPP politician Frank Hsieh on a “spirit tour” of Paris through astral projection. Hsieh neither confirmed nor denied the claims. In 2004, Sung opened a “divine photo booth” in Kaohsiung to display his works.

　　1.Dhammakaya, Thailand

　　This movement, accused by traditional Theravada Buddhist clergy as commercializing enlightenment, has grown rapidly over the last few decades. It is centered on the massive Cetiya temple in Mingkok, a UFO-like dome made up of 300,000 bronze Buddha statues coated in gold and titanium. There, abbots lead mass prayers of tens of thousands of participants. The cult appeals mainly to the rising middle class dissatisfied with the “idol worship” and “magic” taught by the traditional Buddhist hierarchy, but it also reaches the royal family and members of the government. Combining ancient teachings with modern management and fundraising techniques, it has been criticized for immoral financial shenanigans, heretical teachings, false miracles, and a cult of personality around leader Phra Dhammachayo. Dhammachayo, his temple, and international Dhammakaya foundations have an estimated worth of $1.9 million in assets, leading some to accuse him of embezzlement and ripping off his followers. In 2012, a Dhammakaya abbot made headlines by claiming to know the current whereabouts of Steve Jobs, apparently reincarnated as a mid-level angel in a parallel dimension.

Chinese Cult Brutally Murders McDonald's Demon, So They Say

There is plenty to criticize about the Chinese government, but at least the country’s Communist regime has done its part to make China one of the safest nations on Earth when it comes to violent crimes. With homicide rates among the world’s lowest (approximately one fifth of what they are in the U.S, to be exact), murder is far from the every-day occurrence in China that it is in other parts of the world. And the picture I’ve painted is what makes the gruesome slaughter of the woman beaten to death inside a McDonald’s restaurant in eastern China all the more shocking. The murder was carried out this past May by members of the bizarre Chinese cult known as the Church of the Almighty God. Here’s how the event went down: Cult members reportedly entered the restaurant hoping to recruit diners to the sect. They walked around demanding people’s phone numbers. When a woman refused to give hers out, the cult’s followers retaliated with unthinkable violence. The six fanatics savagely beat their victim to death on the spot, all the while threatening horrified onlookers that they’ll be next to die should they interfere or call the police. "I beat her with all my might and stamped on her too. She was a demon. We had to destroy her,” said one of the killers during an interview from prison. He is currently awaiting trial and obviously remains unapologetic about the crime. Apparently, the Church of the Almighty God has made its mission to rid the world of “demons,” or at least feel it’s their place to do so. They must constantly be on the lookout if and when they happen to cross paths with one. And considering that one’s refusal to share her phone number is enough to qualify as a “demon” in the eyes of the cult, it’s safe to say their definition of the word is broader than most. Almost all cults thrive on programming members to think that anyone who doesn’t adhere to their beliefs or support their practices is an enemy or pure evil. Either way, it must be destroyed by the chosen few in order to cleanse the Earth by God’s will. It’s actually very common rhetoric among religious sects. But the Church of the Almighty God has taken it to a particularly sick extreme. Members of the cult are ready to kill unprovoked. They feel no remorse for their actions. Most disturbing—they’ll murder members of their own family if commanded to do so by the cult. Last year, a female follower beat her father to death, believing him to be a demon. It’s hard to imagine what kind of psychopath could possibly be behind such a twisted organization—and in fact, we may never know. The cult was formed 25 years ago by a man named Zhao Weishan. The founding principal: God has come back to Earth as a Chinese woman and the apocalypse will soon follow. Of course, the only person to have met the Chinese she-God is Zhao. But because he fled the country soon thereafter and has not been seen or heard from since, there is no way of knowing what his vision was or why a physics teacher would choose to form such a sect. In all likelihood, the Church of the Almighty God had more to do with politics than it did religion at least initially. The cult may have a religious-y anti-demon stance, weekly services and hymns, but unlike other beliefs they are also active in promoting a political agenda—staunchly anti-Communist. Perhaps Zhao decided to rebel against the Chinese government by forming a “religious” sect as a statement on the Communist party’s ban on religion. However, if he knew what his church has now become, I’m curious to know how he’d feel about it. After this McDonalds murder, they’ve started making the normally reprimandable Chinese government look like “the good guys” by comparison.

China Executes Members of Sect for Beating a Woman to Death

BEIJING — A Chinese court announced on Monday that two members of a banned religious sect had been executed for beating a woman to death at a McDonald’s restaurant in May, an episode that was caught by a cellphone camera and incited outrage across China.

　　The court, the Yantai Intermediate People’s Court in the eastern province of Shandong, reported the executions of Zhang Lidong and his daughter Zhang Fan in a statement on its official social media account, noting that the two had “committed murder and used a cult to intentionally break the law.” The court did not say when the executions took place.

　　The Zhangs were members of the Church of Almighty God, a Christian sect that the Chinese government outlawed in 1995 and has labeled an “evil cult.” They had entered the McDonald’s with other members of their church, hoping to recruit followers on the evening of May 28 in the city of Zhaoyuan. At the restaurant, they encountered the victim, Wu Shuoyan, 35, who was waiting for her husband and young son, state television reported during the Zhangs’ trial in August. After Ms. Wu twice declined to give her phone number, the group identified her as an “evil spirit” and attacked her with a chair, mops and a storm of kicks that left her dead in a pool of blood on the floor.

　　“I beat her with all my might and stomped on her, too,” said an unrepentant Mr. Zhang in an interview from prison that aired on state television. “She was a demon. We had to destroy her.”

　　The killing was recorded on a cellphone by one of several bystanders who watched the attack but did not intervene. Posted and shared widely online, the video set off a debate about the lack of help from witnesses as well as accusations that the police had been slow to respond.

　　In October, the Zhangs were convicted and sentenced to death, while three other defendants received sentences of seven years, 10 years and life in prison. The executions were carried out after China’s Supreme People’s Court approved the death penalties, as it must for all such sentences.

　　The Church of Almighty God, also known as Eastern Lightning, was founded in northeastern China in 1989 and teaches that Jesus Christ has returned to Earth as a Chinese woman who will save followers from the apocalypse. The sect has pledged to slay the “Great Red Dragon,” a reference to the ruling Communist Party. After the killing in May, the Chinese authorities began a sweeping crackdown on the sect and claim to have detained hundreds of its members.

　　A version of this article appears in print on February 3, 2015, on page A9 of the New York edition with the headline: China Executes Members of Sect for Beating a Woman to Death. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

Psychic Daniel Perez Convicted of Murder, 27 Other Charges

Sedgwick County District Judge Joseph Bribiesca on Tuesday ordered Perez, 55, to serve two life sentences, plus more than 33 years, on 28 convictions connected to a decade-long string of crimes.

Kansas commune(cult) leader Daniel Perez, 55, was convicted of the first-degree murder of 26-year-old Patricia Hughes, who was found floating in a pool nearly 12 years ago, KAKE reports.

Prosecutors claimed that Perez killed the young mom to collect $2 million in life insurance money.

He was also convicted of 27 other charges, including rape, sodomy and sexual exploitation of a child.

"We're pleased that we got the verdict, but you heard about life after life after life that was adversely affected by this man, from Texas to the Dakotas to Lee Summit, Missouri, and back to Wichita," Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said.

Authorities have said Hughes wasn't the only member of Perez's so-called family to die under suspicious circumstances. Others include Hughes's husband, who was crushed to death by a car, and a woman who was killed in a plane crash.

Why I hate League of Legends

I don't know from when the whole world started playing League of Legends (LOL), a multiplayer online video game that hit the Chinese mainland in 2011 and instantly stirred a craze among the young generation.

One friend told me that he started playing LOL to get closer to a girl he liked, who was a crazy fan of the game. But after playing for just one week, he had completely forgotten about the girl, and was instead addicted to the game.

"LOL is enough for me now, who needs a girlfriend?" he said, entirely seriously.

So why do I hate LOL?

Firstly, because it is a symbol for losers like my friend above. Every time people say LOL, the image of a man with an unwashed and unshaven face, surrounded by stacks of empty fast food boxes and a cigarette dangling between his lips comes to my mind.

I'm basically describing half of the single men I know, who waste their entire weekends in front of the computer, dreaming of becoming professional LOL players so that they can keep playing instead of going to work from Monday to Friday.

Such people will probably die alone.

Secondly, I hate LOL because it represents a form of compromise for women. Many of the women I know who play LOL started playing in order to find something in common with men they liked and to please them, which I think is kind of pathetic. A gal pal of mine once asked her boyfriend what he would choose if he had to make a choice between her and LOL. He pondered the question, and didn't reply.

"You hesitated between me and other nine male players?" my friend asked angrily.

But after a few fights, she changed strategy and began playing LOL as well. She even pretended that she liked it, in order to save their relationship.

Thirdly, I hate the arrogance that experienced LOL players show towards new players. In their world, LOL is sacred, only grown-up, skilled, and experienced players are worthy of the game. If you play badly, these "grown-up" players will spam you with preset curse words and insult you as a "primary school student."

Actually, I have been playing online computer games for over ten years. I've been a fan since the very first batch of MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) online computer games came out in China in 2003.

Building up my characters, exploring more unknown maps, beating stronger new enemies, and acquiring precious items and weapons, which form the basic mechanics of all of these games, gives me a great sense of accomplishment.

I never lacked for friends, who joined the game after me. I enjoyed the feeling of helping others and seeing them develop in the game world. I liked taking my new friends to different parts of the game world to sightsee, or maybe to ride my flying magical horse together.

Why do I hate LOL? Because if I tried doing this in LOL, I would be spammed until the end of time.
This article was published on the Global Times Metropolitan section Two Cents page, a space for reader submissions, including opinion, humor and satire. The ideas expressed are those of the author alone, and do not represent the position of the Global Times.

Cryptography comeback

In the eyes of 20-year-old Dawn Xu, a sophomore at a university in Chongqing, Morse code, which was created in the 18th century, is incredibly useful. Ever since she learned how to do it last year after seeing it used in several films Morse code has appeared in her traveling notes, diary entries and even in a birthday card to her friend.

"When I first started using Morse code, I felt like a hipster because many people didn't know about it," she said. "The more I started using it, the more I discovered it is a very special way of expressing yourself. I can send messages in Morse code to people I am very close to."

Spy and mystery movies like the recently-released Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) and Oscar-winning The Imitation Game (2014), have sparked an increased interest in Morse code and other ways of encryption, said Liu Weiran, a PhD student at the School of Electronics and Information Engineering at Beihang University who specializes in public key cryptography.

Morse code is a way of transmitting information using a series of dots and dashes for each letter of the Roman alphabet. SOS is widely accepted as the international Morse code distress signal, which is signified by three dots, three dashes and three dots.

"Though it is an ancient way of encoding and has mostly been replaced by more advanced ways in modern times, this old language has been given a second life with a lot of interesting usages," Liu said. "If people want to deliver a message, but do not want to tell others about it directly, they could code it into a message."

Liu said he has answered many Net users' questions about how to decode a message in Morse code or other ways of encryption on Zhihu, a Chinese community-based Q&A website similar to Quora.

One way to use Morse code, Liu said, is to slyly confess your love to someone. Another way is to offer a challenge to a friend by encoding information. "It is very simple and everybody can use it with a chart of International Morse code letters and numbers," Liu said.

"In fact, the best function of Morse code is for a confession of love, but I regret that I have not had a chance to experience that," Xu said. "You can write 'I Love You' in Morse code and hide it in a present. It is more special and subtle after he or she decodes the message, rather than telling him or her directly."

Xu said that she did once send a birthday card to her friend in Morse code, which successfully made her friend happy. She also sometimes writes notes to friends in Morse code so that other classmates can't read them. Xu recalled that in 2013, she wrote down her thoughts in a visitors' book in Morse code so that she didn't have to let others know what she said about a trip to Ciqikou, an ancient town in Chongqing.

"Years later if I revisited that place, I could still [easily] find the coded messages I left," Xu said.

Aside from being used in daily life, Morse code allegedly has been recently used in extreme situations. In January, Japanese reports said that Japanese war journalist Kenjo Goto, a hostage killed by the Islamic State (IS) militant group, tried to send the message 'Do not save me' by blinking in Morse code in video footage, but these reports have not been officially confirmed, according to an article published on guancha.cn, a website featuring public opinion articles, on February 2.

"Besides blinking, you can use just whatever you can think of to send a message in Morse code, like knocking your fingers on a desk," Liu said.

As for the future development of Morse code, Liu said while this old-fashioned way of communicating can bring fun and surprise to your life, it's doubtful that it will make a comeback as a mainstream trend.

Boss proposes women’s championship

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has proposed a controversial world championship for women drivers as part of Grand Prix weekends.

"I thought it would be a good idea to give them a showcase," British media on Monday quoted the 84-year-old as saying during the Malaysian Grand Prix after proposing the idea to team principals.

"For some reason, women are not coming through - and not because we don't want them," said the Briton. "Of course we do, because they would attract a lot of attention and publicity and probably a lot of sponsors.

"We have to start somewhere so I suggested to the teams that we have a separate championship and maybe that way we will be able to bring someone through to F1."

Ecclestone, who has two daughters but once infamously compared women to kitchen appliances, suggested they could race before the main event on Sunday or on Saturday.

No woman has competed in a F1 race since Italian Lella Lombardi in 1976, ­although several have secured roles with teams in recent years and others have competed in junior series and in the US.

Lombardi scored half a point in 1975 when she finished sixth in a Spanish Grand Prix shortened by a fatal accident.

The last woman to try and race in F1 was Italian Giovanna Amati, who failed to qualify with Brabham in 1992.

However, Susie Wolff is a development driver at Williams and last year became the first female to take part in a Grand Prix weekend in 22 years when she drove in Friday free practice.

Spaniard Carmen Jorda, whose ­record in other series is unimpressive, has also been appointed a development driver at Lotus.

Wolff, wife of Mercedes motorsport head Toto, gave the idea short shrift.

"It's most definitely not the right way forward," she told the Daily Mirror.

"First of all, I don't know where you'd find a full grid of female drivers who are good enough. Secondly, I have raced my whole career in motorsport as a normal competitor. Why would I ever look for a race where I was only competing against women?

"I can hand on heart say it would not interest me at all to win such a race. I would rather not be in the race ­because what am I winning? A race where they've just looked for any girl to make a grid up."

Brazilian club abandons World Cup stadium

Brazilian football club Bahia has announced plans to abandon the Fonte Nova arena, raising fears the venue could become a World Cup white elephant.

The Salvador-based club said in a statement on Monday that Fonte Nova's operating consortium had not provided satisfactory terms to continue playing at the stadium.

"Despite four months of talks, we did not receive a single proposal in which the fans of the club were valued," Bahia president Marcelo Sant'Anna said.

He added that the club was "open to negotiate new conditions that respected Bahia's fans".

A spokesperson for the stadium's operating concessionaire could not immediately be reached for comment.

Fonte Nova was revamped for last year's World Cup at a cost of around $200 million. It hosted six matches during football's showpiece tournament.

Brazil spent an estimated $3.6 billion to build and renovate its 12 World Cup venues.

Some of the stadiums, like Cuiaba's Arena Pantanal, Brasilia's Mane Garrincha stadium and Arena da Amazonia in Manaus, have no local first division football teams.

Sexagenarian Bangladeshi man spends years living in roadside tree

It looks like a bird's nest from far away, but the truth of the matter is somewhat more remarkable, if not a little bit odd.

Passersby, if they look carefully, will see that it is in fact a man and not a bird dwelling inside the nest in the tree besides a busy footpath in Bangladesh's capital city Dhaka.

Local residents say the man has spent about three years living in the small tree house.

The sexagenarian, who does not talk at all to the local residents including the street vendors under the tree, passes most of the time in the tree house beside a road in front of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association building in Dhaka's commercial Karwan Bazaar area.

Fortunately he decided to talk to a Xinhua correspondent for a while.

"I love nature, I love trees and I have made this tree house," said the man who introduced himself as Mohammad Mosharraf.

He said he has to stay in the tree to take better care of the other trees on the footpath and trees which are set along both sides of the streets of a newly constructed lake called Hatirjheel.

"It's a good place to live," he said while starting to climb the tree.

"Let me live in my tree house. Am I creating any disturbance?" he asked.

He made a bed of bamboo on the tree's branches and covered the entire tiny structure with old cloth, paper and plastic banners collected from Dhaka's streets.

Small wooden wedges have been attached with pins to make it easy to climb into the tree house, which rests on the tree's bigger branches.

Street vendors under the tree and the surrounding area say they don't even know the tree man's name.

"He eats and sleeps in the tree. This is all we know about him, " said a man selling tea on the footpath.

"We don't know much about him because he does not talk to us. But we offer him sometime bread and tea from time to time," the vendor said.

He is something of a mystery to the local folk.

"Though many call him pagla (mad) actually I have never seen him behave abnormally," said the tea seller.

"The man has simply lived on the top of a tree for the last three years."

Locals say the peculiar man stays in his tree house even when its raining or the weather is otherwise inclement.

No amount of coaxing can make him leave his tree house, they said.

Even on rainy days or when cyclones hit, he remains in the tree house, they added.

"Once we told him that we'll give him a nice place to stay, but he refused," said Saddam Hossain, another vendor.

"He said he'd rather take care of the trees."

China Focus: World's largest solar-powered plane arrives in Chongqing

Solar Impulse 2, the world's largest solar-powered plane, arrived in China's southwestern metropolis of Chongqing early Tuesday morning.

The plane departed from Mandalay, the second largest city of Myanmar, on Monday morning and arrived at the Jiangbei International Airport at 1:35 am on Tuesday.

The 1,500-km journey lasted 20 hours and 29 minutes. The plane, made of carbon fiber, landed at the airport and was greeted by journalists and local aviation enthusiasts.

The plane, with a 72-meter-long wingspan, looks like a massive kite in the sky. It hovered above the airport slowly before a smooth, quiet landing on the runway, according to a Xinhua reporter at the scene.

Airport staff then helped push the plane to a hangar, demonstrating the aircraft's light weight.

The Swiss-made plane weighs 2,300 kg, roughly the weight of a car, and travels at more than 100 km per hour. It's powered by 17,248 solar panels installed on both sides of the wings and has zero emissions.

"The journey from Mandalay to Chongqing is the most difficult section during the world tour," said the Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard, who had to fly through mountains wearing an Oxygen mask in the 3.8-square-meter cockpit.

At times he experienced minus 20 degrees Celsius temperatures in the unheated cockpit.

"China has become the top producer of wind and solar power in the world," said Piccard, 57, who was the first to complete a non-stop balloon flight around the globe in 1999.

"If you see the efforts the Chinese government has made in optimizing the efficiency of new energy, you will not be surprised the Solar Impulse 2 has drawn so much attention in China," said Piccard, who co-piloted the plane with Andre Borschberg.

The globe-trotting plane began its journey on March 9. Chongqing is the fifth leg of its 12-leg world tour following Abu Dhabi of United Arab Emirates, Muscat of Oman, Ahmedabad of India and Mandalay of Myanmar.

The plane will head for east China's Nanjing City after a short stay in Chongqing for energy storage. As thunderstorms are forecast in Chongqing over the next two days, the plane is likely to stay in the city for two or three days.

The total trip will take around 25 days, spread out over five months, with a total distance of 35,000 km.

After Nanjing ,the plane will cross the Pacific Ocean via Hawaii and is expected to return to Abu Dhabi after completing the tour.

City of Hanover receives gift ordered by Jack Ma using facial recognition payment

The city of Hanover Germany has received a gift from Chinese Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma ordered by way of a new technology which uses facial recognition to make a payment.

The city said the gift, a commemorative stamp of the second Hanover Messe in 1948, arrived at its city hall last Thursday.

On March 15, at the opening ceremony of CeBIT 2015, the world's leading IT trade fair, Jack Ma ordered this stamp with his smartphone using a new facial recognition payment technology called "Smile to Pay."

This technology, Ma said, would make it easier to buy things online. Instead of typing in a password, consumers could authorize the payment by scanning their faces with smartphones.

According to Alibaba, this technology is being tested and will be used in its global payment system in the future.

"Smile to Pay" was one of the cutting edge technologies and products that Chinese exhibitors unveiled at this year's CeBIT exhibition. As a partner country of the trade fair which showcased the digital economy this year, China presented its ideas and vision about the future development of information and communications technology, receiving favorable feedback from industry insiders.

British Ebola patient cured by Chinese-made drug released from hospital

A British Ebola patient who was successfully treated with an experimental drug MIL 77 developed by Chinese scientists has been released from hospital on Friday, local media reported.

Anna Cross, a 25-year-old British army nurse, is the first Ebola patient to have received treatment with the Chinese-made drug MIL77.

It's uncertain how much credit the drug should take in the recovery, as more research needs to be done to confirm its effects, said an expert from Royal Free Hospital, where Cross was treated.

A paper published in the Chinese Journal of International Pharmaceutical Research said MIL77 has similar antibody combination with Zmapp, which took the spotlight in Ebola treatment. Zmapp is developed by San Diego-based Mapp Pharmaceuticals Inc..

MIL77 has completed the preclinical studies for emergency use, the paper said.

A couple of Ebola patients had recovered after taking ZMapp, but the exact effects still couldn't be confirmed, the paper said. The United States started large-scale clinical trials for ZMapp in February.

The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa has killed more than 10,000 people, out of the some 25,000 infected since 2014, according to World Health Organization's latest report on Monday.

‘Home’ tops box office

Animated children's flick Home, about an unpopular space alien forced to flee his own kind, took up residence over the weekend at the top of the North American box office, estimates showed Sunday.

The computer-generated movie, featuring Jim Parsons as the voice of "Oh" the extraterrestrial and Rihanna as his Earthling friend, landed $54 million in its first weekend out, box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations reported.

Trailing by $20 million, comedy Get Hard, about a prison-bound white executive (Will Ferrell) who hires a black car washer (Kevin Hart) for lessons on surviving the slammer, debuted in second place with $34.6 million, despite criticism from some corners for racist and homophobic jokes.

Dystopian thriller Insurgent, the second film adaptation based on Veronica Roth's best-selling Divergent series, fell to third with $22 million, after its debut at No.1 last week.

Meanwhile Disney's live action Cinderella remake worked its magic in fourth, earning $17.5 million, with Lily James as the enchanted princess and Cate Blanchett as her wicked stepmother.

Indie horror flick It Follows, which opened weeks ago but debuted over the weekend in wide release, took fifth place with $4 million.

Sixth went to British spy spoof Kingsman: The Secret Service, with $3.1 million in its sixth weekend out.

Action flick Run All Night, featuring tough guy Liam Neeson playing a hit man going up against the mob, was seventh with $2.2 million.

Sequel The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, featuring Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Richard Gere, raked in just under $2.2 million to earn eighth place.

Religious drama Do You Believe took ninth with $2.15 million and Sean Penn action movie The Gunman fell into 10th with $2 million.

Spring Equinox

Every time the mass media talks about contemporary dance in China, topics always seem to focus on the negative side: the art form's limited audience, performances that are difficult to understand and hard working dancers struggling to make a living. The last point is especially high profile as even dance celebrities like Jin Xing need to take jobs as TV hosts or judge reality shows to support their dance troupes.

However, Willy Tsao, who many see as the father of contemporary dance in Hong Kong, argues that the media's portrayal of contemporary dance is far from true.

"Slim but healthy, that's contemporary dance's current situation," Tsao told the Global Times.

Natural growth
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of dance troupe Beijing Dance/LDTX, the troupe's dancers have choreographed a series of performances for their fans and themselves.

Spring Equinox 2015 gathers together 14 young artists' personal works, including solos, duets, trios, and group dances. The show, part of the larger Solar Term Series Showcase, is separated into two parts: the first of which premiered over the weekend, while the second is scheduled for this weekend.
For a decade now, the Solar Term Series Showcase has provided a platform for young choreographers to share their ideas and creativity with audiences. Some works that have been performed over the years have been more conceptual while others focused more on experimenting with new possibilities of movement and incorporating different styles into a performance.

The troupe performed to a full house during the weekend's performance. The artistic director for the show, Tsao sat in the back row clapping loudly after every single dance routine.

"I don't know what their (the dancers') futures hold, but at this very moment they proved their drive and dedication to the art," Tsao told the Global Times after the performance.

Tsao numbers among the early artists who brought contemporary dance to Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. He founded the City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDD) in 1979. Since then, CCDD has created more than 200 original works, toured around the world and cooperated with artists from other art disciplines.

For Tsao, who had been studying overseas, CCDD was about coming back home. According to him, during the 1980s he just went with the flow and as more opportunities opened up in Guangdong Province, Tsao was invited to expand his troupe to the province's capital of Guangzhou. Later during the 1990s, he continued along this path to Beijing where he later established LDTX.

Relax and enjoy
Playing a leading role in the field as well as being a witness to its changes, Tsao has found that the biggest change over the past three decades has been how the environment has evolved from a bureaucratic culture into a market-led culture.

Back in the day, performances all had to be approved by government officials, but later dance troupes suddenly found themselves on their own, having to secure funding and find audiences by themselves.

Audiences also changed. People became so obsessed with money that they could barely stay still for a show. Phones were going off all the time and anything anyone ever talked about was stocks, money, cars and houses. Meanwhile, investors were only concerned with how much money these non-governmental dance troupes could make.

Many troupes weren't used to these changes at first, but over time more non-profit dance organizations like LDTX have found a way to keep up by building long-term relationships with art funds and securing governmental support as well as commercial sponsors. As China's rapid growth began to slow, people also began spending more time thinking about their quality of life and became more willing to spend an hour in a darkened room enjoying a performance.

Not a competition
Every year, Tsao's dance companies organize the Beijing Dance Festival and the Guangzhou Dance Festival, during which they invite artists from different parts of the world to perform and hold workshops in the two cities.

One of his principles has been to never to invite famous brands.

"Famous brands have their own stage at the National Centre for the Performing Arts," he said, going on to explain how Chinese people like to make everything a competition in which they select what they see as the very best. However in Tsao's eyes contemporary dance should be an art that is about differences and diversity. In this art, dance is a mirror that reflects the lives of young dancers and choreographers and therefore every routine is completely unique.

In his opinion, taking in a show isn't so much about whether a performance is good or bad, but more about a person's personal preferences and feelings at the time. People who have just been through a breakup may find content about romantic relationships moving, while people who have an interest in dance may pay more attention to the details of a performance, such as a dancer's movements and poses.

"Hong Kong audiences have seen a lot. They ask why Hong Kong doesn't have a Pina Bausch or a Lin Hwai-min. But I ask 'Why does Hong Kong need a Lin Hwai-min?' and 'Why doesn't Germany have a Helen Lai or Willy Tsao?'" he said, explaining the confidence he has in contemporary Chinese dance.

While he agrees that Pina Bausch deserves her fame because so many people study her and interpret her art, he also feels that people should also be studying and interpreting the works of Chinese artists.

"Beijing is a great place for such research," he said, adding that current and young artists have more to contribute to the development of contemporary dance in China than the study of dance theater or Butoh.

"Tomorrow's masters will come from this current generation. And what they are doing and thinking is what we should be looking at."

Televised melting pot

Even if the available source to watch ABC's comedy series Fresh Off the Boat is still limited in China, this American TV show that focuses on Asian American families has won generally positive reviews among Chinese viewers.

On media site douban.com, the show holds a score of 8.3/10 with 35 percent of users giving it five stars out of five and 47.4 percent giving it four stars.

Based on well-known entrepreneur Eddie Huang's book Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir, the show depicts the story of young Eddie and his family after they move from Washington D.C. to Orlando and the cultural clashes they experience as they try to live the American Dream.

Personally, I'm glad to see a show focusing on Asian-Americans, a large group that lives in the US, especially when the characters are loveable and the punch lines are decent and not offensive. Many other Chinese viewers also expressed similar excitement upon seeing Asian characters take the lead role in a US TV series.

Of course seeing Asian entertainers in Western films and TV shows is nothing new, but this is the first time that a Chinese family are front and center on their own show.

Years ago, I never really felt happy whenever I saw Asian roles in American shows, since most of the roles were minor roles, stereotypes, unlovable or they chose an actress who, in a sense, may come across as a beauty to Westerners, but is no where near as beautiful as the stars we have here.

However this trend seems to have reversed itself. Ming-Na Wen, who appeared on NBC's ER during the 1990s, is now a main character on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., while Maggie Q was the lead on Nikita. Their depiction of charming Asian women of great character has earned them fans in China and around the world.

But now, after different shows have depicted various minority families in the US, Fresh Off the Boat is a milestone work that brings Asian into the spotlight. More importantly, many Chinese who have experienced living in the West feel connected to the stories depicted on screen: the family run restaurant, the mother trying to make new friends with locals despite differences in culture and Eddie's attempts to fit in at school.

Some jokes come across as a bit typical, such as those that revolved around Asian parents' strict requirements when it comes to studying. Even though Eddie gets straight A's on his exams, his mother - a typical Chinese "tiger mom" - heads into the school and yells at the principle because classes aren't difficult enough.

However, although these jokes may seem to be a bit of a stereotype, they haven't come across as offensive to me. Maybe because they're all based on writer Eddie Huang's personal experiences, they come across as funny because they are true.

However, not every show focusing on oriental culture has been a success. Netflix's Marco Polo seems to have fallen into an awkward situation both in the West and the East.

With the previous success of House of Cards and a $600 million budget, Marco Polo was expected to be an "Oriental Game of Thrones." However, it only holds a rating of 4.7/10 on Rotten Tomatoes, while on Douban even the nude scenes couldn't save the show from receiving a low rating of 5.8/10.

The story comes across as more like a fantasy show than a period piece, since many of the show's details don't line up with real history. Many have also found the story less than appealing with some in China claiming "the only good thing about the show is the traditional Chinese painting-styled opening."

In the end it comes across more like a Westerner's ideas about Asian culture, and not a show for people actually from Asia.

Artists seek to ink best tattoos at Vancouver tattoo show

Lovers of body art gathered in Vancouver over the weekend at the city's annual tattoo and culture show, seeking to make an artistic addition to their bodies, while top artists from around the region competed to create prize-winning tattoos.

A major part of the show each year is a series of competitions among the artists with judges selecting the best tattoo in categories such as "the best sleeve" or "the best large color." And on Sunday night, for the grand finale, judges are going to choose what they are calling "the best tattoo ever."

Andrew Graham, a tattoo artist from Calgary in Alberta province, said a great tattoo artist needs to cultivate their own style while matching their designs to a body part that would accentuate their image and design.

"You want to try and let the 3D of the body add to the shape of the tattoo. Just try to make it fun, make it interesting. Make it new. Not the same thing you have always seen every time," he told Xinhua.

Local tattoo artist Jeremy Riley said that the key to a good tattoo is planning well to create a thoughtful design.

"I have seen tattoos that were executed not that well but the design was so good that it carried over beyond the way the person tattooed it. Because you can outline a perfect tattoo, but if the design is terrible, that tattoo is never going to be as good. It never meets its potential," he added.

Jacalyn Wilchuck, a tattoo lover, developed her taste for body art during her travels in Southeast Asia. She said once she got a taste for tattoos, she started to develop her own theme, and could not stop at just one.

"It is just a way of expressing yourself artistically I guess, right. We only have this body for a limited amount of time so why not decorate it?" she said.

Cherry blossom wars: Japan, South Korea or China?

Did Japan's hallowed cherry trees actually originate from South Korea?

"The beloved someiyoshino variety of cherry trees isn't really from Japan, but actually from South Korea's Jeju Island," reported a South Korean newspaper.

"Japanese cherry trees are actually Jeju's royal cherry trees. Japanese just took them and cultivated them," said the Daily Sports.

Dr. Takeshi Kinoshita, a Teikyo University professor who specializes in botany, questioned why South Korea made similar claims almost every year when the blossom came into bloom, the Japan Times reported.

The professor writes on his website that no scholars recognized someiyoshino trees originating on Jeju and this is apparently a distorted interpretation. He explains that someiyoshino trees are a species created by crossbreeding oshimazakura and edohigan cherry trees and oshimazakura aren't native to Jeju.

Meanwhile, a group in China has weighed into the debate, saying it was first found on Chinese soil.

He Zongru, chairman of the China Cherry Industry Association, said this fact has been recognized by a Japanese scholarly book, saying that cherry trees were first imported from the Himalayan Mountains in China during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).

Zhang Zuoshuang, an official at the Botanical Society of China, was quoted as saying that among the 150 types of wildly-grown cherry blossoms around the world, more than 50 could be found in China.

Dr. Takeshi Kinoshita at the China Cherry Blossom Association said: "To put it simply, cherry blossoms originated in China and prospered in Japan. None of this is Korea's business."

Happy 126th birthday, Eiffel Tower!

Some 126 years ago, the Eiffel Tower opened its doors to the public for the first time. The enormous metallic structure is now a globally recognized, iconic piece of architecture.

But how much do you really know about the giant hunk of metal? Aside from the fact that it is incredibly tall, probably not much.

So today, on its 126th birthday, we thought it would be the perfect occasion to consider the interesting, and at times quirky, history of this amazing landmark:

Construction on the tower began on January 26, 1887, and took two years, two months, and five days to complete.

The tower was initially only supposed to stand for 20 years.

Painting the tower required 60 tons of paint (and still needs a fresh coat every seven years).

It is named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, who also designed the Statue of Liberty.

Many artists and architects in Paris had protested the construction of the tower, and even wrote a petition against it.

The Eiffel Tower shrinks. Seriously, it's been measured. In the winter it is approximately four to eight inches shorter.

Welcoming around 7 million visitors each year, it's the most visited monument in the world that have to pay for. (The Empire State Building only draws around 3.5 million visitors each year.)

Jubilee Bridge opens early for the passing of Lee Kuan Yew

The bridge linking Merlion Park and the waterfront promenade in front of Esplanade, which was supposed to open next month, was opened on Sunday to allow Singaporeans to bid farewell to Singapore's founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, said Singapore's National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan on Tuesday.

Khaw Boon Wan noted on his Facebook that the construction of such a bridge had been suggested by Lee Kuan Yew when he visited Marina Bay in 2004. Lee had observed that the walkway along Esplanade Bridge was too narrow and thought that a friendlier connection should be provided.

"As we use this new pedestrian bridge to enjoy Marina Bay, let' s reflect on the vision and the hard work of Mr Lee and our founding generation," said Khaw.

Plans for the bridge were first announced in 2009 and construction began in 2012. The bridge was meant to be open to the public from April, but its opening was brought forward on Sunday to cope with the crowds who lined the existing Esplanade Bridge to bid farewell to Lee Kuan Yew.

Running alongside to the existing Esplanade Bridge, the new pedestrian bridge forms part of the 3.5 km waterfront promenade around Marina Bay. The bridge will remain open and will be officially launched in November as the Jubilee Bridge to commemorate Singapore's 50th birthday.

17 killed, 20 missing in wake of N. Chile floods

The death toll from recent heavy rains, flooding and mudslides in northern Chile has climbed to 17, while 20 people remain missing, the Interior Ministry's National Emergency Office (ONEMI) said Monday.

"The number of deaths from last week's floods and downpours in the regions of Antofagasta, Atacama and Coquimbo was raised to 17, with the number of missing people maintained at 20," ONEMI Director Ricardo Toro said.

The unofficial, as yet unconfirmed number of missing was at 89, Chile's 24 Hours news network reported.

Authorities have acknowledged the number of victims will continue to rise as flood waters subside, allowing cleanup crews to remove debris and access previously isolated towns.

"The outlook is bleak," Chile's President Michelle Bachelet said on Friday.

Northern Chile was declared a catastrophe zone after torrential rains Wednesday dumped the largest amount of rainfall in 80 years, flooding inland towns and roadways, isolating communities and disrupting basic services, such as water and electricity.

Chile's desert Atacama region, where residents are unaccustomed to heavy rains, registered 14 of the fatalities, and Antofagasta, the remaining three.

Some 26,406 people have been driven from their homes, and 5,084 are being housed at emergency shelters.
In Atacama, authorities said 5,000 homes suffered major structural damage.

Students’ unlikely path to jihad

Tasneem Hussein was a soft-spoken university student in Khartoum when the transformation slowly began.

After returning to Sudan from Britain to study pharmacology, she swapped her jeans for the head-to-toe niqab covering. But no one expected to hear reports of her abandoning her studies and a privileged life to help Islamic State (IS) wage jihad in Syria.

Last week, the 23-year-old told her parents she would be spending the night with relatives.

The next day she sent a Whatsapp message saying she was studying for a Masters exam at the university library, according to a person close to the family, who declined to be named due to the sensitivities of the matter.

In fact, Hussein went to Turkey with a group of other British-Sudanese medical students en route to Syria, ostensibly to back IS.

To many people, the group that now controls large areas of Iraq and Syria is notorious for beheading Western captives and burning a Jordanian military pilot alive. It imposes strict Islamist rule in its fiefdoms, including repressing women. But for some youngsters like Hussein, it may have had an appeal.

She used to "join us in parties and occasions with neighbors. She used to wear jeans and then two years ago a big change happened and she started wearing the niqab," said the neighbor, who saw Hussein the day she left for Turkey and did not detect anything unusual.

Unlike Britons indoctrinated by militant ideology in mosques in the United Kingdom, Hussein and her comrades were introduced to fundamentalist thought at religious lectures in their university.

Their journey to Syria illustrates the complex challenges Western and Arab states face in trying to contain the appeal of IS, which has succeeded in attracting young European-born Muslims to their ideal of a medieval caliphate.

This group, which included both medical students and new graduates, are worlds apart from the stereotypical profile of many militants - poor, disaffected, angry, youths.

Most of them come from well-to-do families who have no connection to extremist circles in Khartoum. Hussein's father is well-known in Sudanese society and is the head of one of Sudan's largest government hospitals.

Neighbors say the family lives in the elite Riyadh district in a three-storey villa with a large garden on a tree-lined street where several luxury cars are often parked in the driveway.

"Before her transformation, Tasneem was an open, moderately conservative girl like the rest of her family," said the person who is close to the family.

When she wore the niqab, her parents apparently questioned her decision, but failed to realize she was on a dangerous path.

Conservative Sudan
Sudan, which hosted Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden in the 1990s, promotes a conservative brand of Sunni Islam which may appease hardline groups.

Long-ruling President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, who came to power in a 1989 coup, introduced Sharia law, creating an official tolerance to Islamism.

The University of Medical Sciences and Technology (UMST), where the group studied, was founded by Khartoum Governorate Health Minister Ma'amoun Houmeyda, a known Islamist.

A walk across campus showed most students wearing Western attire, unusual in the conservative country. But UMST has also hosted firebrand clerics like Sheikh Mohammed al-Jizouli who has given sermons supporting IS and called on people to "leave the bleachers and go to seats of martyrdom."

Jizouli was arrested a few months ago and it was not immediately possible to verify whether anyone in the group had listened to his sermons, but it is likely.

Ahmed Babaker, UMST's dean of students, said the group got together in an apartment in an upscale area of Khartoum and that it was recruited by Mohammed Fakhri - a Briton of Palestinian origin - who left for Britain after graduating from UMST and from there went to Syria and joined IS.

The neighbors and friends Reuters spoke to all seemed to lay at least some of the blame on the Islamic Civilization student organization which brought clerics like Jizouli to deliver sermons calling for jihad.

"After two students travelled to Mali to join religious groups, we halted the activities of the clerics," Babaker said.

While the university was not shutting down the group, it said it was starting awareness programs.

Disbelief
Britain's security services estimate that about 600 Britons have gone to Syria or Iraq to join militant groups, including the man known as "Jihadi John," who has appeared in several IS beheading videos.

IS's attempt to create a theocratic Sunni Muslim 'caliphate' by violent means has attracted thousands of recruits from Europe and elsewhere.

"The government is extremely disturbed about reports that this group of young people left to join Daesh because the normal situation is for these students to be in university halls, said Sudanese Investment Minister Mustafa Othman Ismail, using a derogatory Arabic term for IS.

"The activities of these groups are growing and they carry out recruitment operations," said Sudanese analyst AlHadi Mohammed al-Amin.

"Sudanese youths go and fight in Somalia, Mali, Libya, Syria and Iraq. This phenomenon is on the increase and the Sudanese government is not too concerned with fundamentalism because they do not represent a danger to the government itself."

"Some of them told their parents over Whatsapp after they left Sudan that they would not get embroiled in jihad with Daesh but that they had gone to provide medical services for the mujahideen," students who knew some members of the group said.

A Turkish member of parliament said last week that the group travelled to Syria to work in hospitals controlled by IS.

New policies set to boost China’s property market

Chinese authorities on Monday announced a relaxation of mortgage rules for second-home buyers and a tax exemption for home transactions, moves that could help to support the sagging property market, experts said.

For home buyers with an outstanding mortgage who are applying for another commercial mortgage to buy a second home, the minimum down payment will be cut to 40 percent, according to a statement jointly released on Monday by China's central bank, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

The minimum down payment for second-home purchases is currently between 60 and 70 percent, with the level varying in different areas.

The statement also said the minimum down payment for first-home buyers using public housing funds will be cut to 20 percent. Currently it is set at 30 percent.

The minimum down payment for second-home buyers without an outstanding mortgage and using public housing funds will be 30 percent, the statement said.

The new moves are intended to support people's ability to improve their living conditions and also to promote stable and sound development of the real estate sector, the statement noted.

No timetable was given as to when the new policy will enter into force.

"The down payment cut was prompted by the cooling property market," Hui Jianqiang, research director with real estate information provider Beijing Zhongfangyanxie Technology Service, told the Global Times Monday.

Average new home prices in 70 major Chinese cities saw a 5.7 percent year-on-year drop in February, the sixth consecutive monthly fall, according to a Reuters calculation based on data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on March 18.

"Faced with a slowing economy, China needs to stimulate consumption, and encouraging home transactions is one of the most effective ways to do this," according to Hui.

The real estate industry contributed 6 percent of China's GDP in 2014, but recent property price data has shown a continuing slowdown in the market, weighing on economic growth, according to a research note e-mailed to the Global Times Monday by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ).

"Real estate developers' major task in 2015 is to sell their existing inventory and the down payment cut will help with this," Zhang Hongwei, research director at Shanghai-based property consultancy ToSpur, told the Global Times Monday.

The 40 percent down payment will increase residents' demand for improving their living conditions, as well as boosting property turnover and accelerating the sales of existing inventory, according to ANZ.

Also on Monday, Chinese authorities announced an exemption from capital gains tax for homes bought at least two years ago, according to a statement jointly released by the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation.

Exemption from the tax - which is set at 5.6 percent of the difference between the original and the new price - used to apply only to homes bought at least five years ago.

"The tax exemption will increase the supply of second-hand homes in the market, which could prevent a possible home price surge caused by the down payment cut," Hui said.

The tax exemption and the down payment reduction are supplementary to each other, and they form a package of polices that are as favorable for the property market as the policies released by the central government in 2008, according to Hui.

Developers of middle and high-end properties may benefit from these new policies, according to Zhang of ToSpur.

"Such companies have faced a sales decline due to the previous down payment and capital gains tax rules, but now there is a possibility for them to see an improvement," Zhang said.

The lower down payment will boost demand for better homes in China's first- and second-tier cities, so some property developers may show renewed interest in these cities, Zhang noted.

Japan says not to join AIIB by deadline: report

Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said Japan will not join the China-proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) by the deadline of March 31, local report said Tuesday.

Speaking at a press briefing after Tuesday's cabinet meeting, Aso said that Japan has to maintain caution toward the AIIB, according to Japan's Kyodo News.

Japan, which follows the United States, keeps such cautious attitude toward the AIIB despite urges from many experts and business leaders that Japan should have a positive manner to the new development bank.

More than 40 countries have filed applications for the AIIB's founding membership, including other world's major economies.

The AIIB, which will support infrastructure projects in Asia, is expected to be officially established by the end of this year. The application deadline is March 31 and the founding members will be confirmed on April 15.

Guangdong Rising makes new bid for PanAust

China's Guangdong Rising Assets Management launched a fresh $850 million bid to buy copper and gold miner PanAust, but priced its offer at one-quarter less than 10 months ago, underscoring the rout in mineral commodities, Reuters reported on Monday.

Analysts said the renewed bid demonstrated an ongoing appetite among Asian enterprises to take full ownership of Australian-listed assets, rather than buy into passive partnership roles.

"We are seeing the Chinese take an active role in the Australian sector, particularly in resources," said Gavin Wendt, a analyst for Sydney-based MineLife. "These represent long-term investments."

Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd (CKI) bought gas pipeline company Envestra for A$2.2 billion last year, while Chinese investors have also been active in property markets.

PanAust said on Monday it had received a letter from 22.5 percent shareholder Guangdong saying it plans to offer to buy all remaining shares at A$1.71 each ($1.32), valuing PanAust at A$1.1 billion. The offer would be 26 percent below the A$2.30 a share it offered in May 2014.

PanAust shares, which have fallen in line with weaker copper and gold prices, jumped 40 percent to match the latest offer price, a four-month high for the stock.

State-owned Guangdong first approached PanAust in April 2014 and then sweetened its offer in May 2014.

PanAust, which rejected the May bid as too low, said it would consider the fresh approach but noted it was made at a time when PanAust's stock and copper and gold prices are near five-year lows.

PanAust mines copper in Laos and paid $125 million in late 2013 for the rights to the Frieda River copper project in Papua New Guinea.

It cut 5 percent of its workforce in January as copper traded around its lowest level in half a decade.

Guangdong urged shareholders to accept the all-cash offer, warning that PanAust may need to raise additional capital to get the Frieda River project into production, potentially sending its shares lower.

Analysts expect PanAust to spend between $1.5 billion and $1.8 billion to develop a mine producing 100,000 tons of copper annually from Frieda River and 160,000 ounces of gold.

"Given the time that's elapsed since the last bid and the fact it's coming from a Chinese enterprise, it's unlikely PanAust will see another offer coming out of the woods," said MineLife's Wendt.

PanAust said it is being advised by Rothschild and Herbert Smith Freehills in relation to the third Guangdong approach.

Ocean theme park under construction near Shanghai Disneyland

An ocean theme park is under construction in Shanghai's Pudong New Area, only a 25-minute drive from the city's Disney Resort.

Construction on Haichang Polar Ocean Park kicked off on Sunday. With planned investment of 3 billion yuan (482.74 million US dollars), the park will cover 190,000 square meters and include 12 display venues, four marine animal interactive programs, and three theaters, said Wang Xuguang, president of developer Haichang Holdings.

The park, located near Dishui Lake, Shanghai's biggest artificial lake, will feature various marine animal species and is expected to receive over 6 million visitors per year after completion, Wang said.

Chen Mingbo, vice head of Pudong District, said transportation between Haichang and Shanghai Disneyland will be improved.

Haichang Polar Ocean Park is scheduled to open in 2017.

Over 500 Chinese evacuees from conflict-torn Yemen arrive in Djibouti

More than 500 Chinese evacuees from conflict-ridden Yemen have arrived at the Djibouti port as the situation continues to deteriorate in Yemen.

A People's Liberation Army Navy fleet, which had been carrying out escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters, was dispatched for the evacuation on Sunday, according to China's Ministry of National Defense.

The first group of 122 Chinese nationals were evacuated from the Yemeni city of Aden and arrived in Djibouti on Sunday night.

The remaining 449 Chinese nationals and six people of other nationalities left the Yemeni coastal city of Al-Hodayda on Monday and have arrived in Djibouti.

Security sharply deteriorated in Yemen since early March when conflicts erupted in several provinces in the country's southern regions.

The Shiite Houthi group launched attacks on Aden city, which President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi declared as temporary capital after he fled weeks of house arrest by the Houthis in Sanaa.

Last Thursday, a Saudi-led coalition started airstrikes on Houthi targets in Sanaa and other cities, saying the multinational action was to protect Hadi's legitimacy and force the Houthis to retreat from cities it seized since September 2014.

An eye on the sky

Equipped with a set of binoculars, a flashlight and a notebook, Zang Erjun set out into the wetlands at the Caohai National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Guizhou Province, shrouded in morning mist. Observing through his binoculars, he saw a flock of large, whitish-grey cranes standing in the water. "In half an hour, they will fly into the mountains," he said.

Patrolling the wetland, monitoring bird species, preparing feeds and warding off occasional bird hunters - this has been the daily life of Zang, the 59-year-old ranger at the reserve, for the past 18 years.

Located in the mountainous areas in Weining autonomous county of Yi, Hui and Miao ethnic groups, the reserve is the wintering area for black-necked cranes, classified as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The population of black-necked cranes has been in decline due to the loss and degradation of wetlands.

In Caohai, however, their numbers are growing thanks to the implementation of an integrated program of conservation and development. Zang said he recorded just over 300 black-necked cranes in 1997, the year when he started his job at the reserve. In 2014, the number has risen to around 1,000.

US unwilling to pour more money into Afghan rebuilding

Half a year since a national unity government was formed in Afghanistan, the government is still confronted by deteriorating security situation and vulnerable economy even after the Afghan National Army (ANA) took over responsibility for national defense in January. To prevent the situation from worsening, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah paid a visit to the US on March 21 and met with US heavyweights including Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and Secretary of Treasury Jacob Lew.

Apparently, Kabul expected more aid from the US to help stabilize the country. After meeting with Ghani and Abdullah, Kerry hailed the talks as "productive" and said the two countries shared "a commitment to security and peace and a desire to promote prosperity and social progress." Washington announced that by the end of 2015 roughly 9,800 US troops would remain in Afghanistan instead of 5,500 as originally planned, and that the US would keep its military bases in Kandahar and Jalalabad open. The US would also provide $800 million to bolster US-Afghan relations and Afghan economic reforms and fund Afghan security forces at least into 2017.

These aids can alleviate the pressure on Ghani's unity government moderately, but in addressing challenges facing Afghanistan, the US will only play a limited role.

US President Barack Obama and his administration are not able to meet Ghani's vision. After decades of warfare, the unity government is keen to strengthen the country's security and boost its economic development, and enormous investment is needed.

In January, the Afghan parliament's lower house approved the 2015 budget totaling $7.6 billion, with almost $2.4 billion from domestic fiscal revenue and the rest from international aid. The financial gap is nearly 70 percent and grows drastically every year. Although Washington is able to fix the gap, it expects the unity government to achieve its goals on its own.

In fact, there has been no substantial improvement witnessed in Afghanistan's security situation since NATO forces arrived in 2003. Instead, violence and terror attacks appeared to be gradually increasing. On the 2014 Global Terrorism Index, Afghanistan's score rose from 5.83 in 2002 to 9.39 in 2013. The US even weakens its hostility toward the Taliban to help improve security in Afghanistan.

Besides, the issues in Afghanistan can only be tackled through multilateral cooperation. World powers like Britain and the Soviet Union attempted to control Afghanistan but failed, and Afghanistan was known as the "graveyard of empires."

The US is highly aware of the importance of cooperation since 49 countries in all had participated in its anti-terror operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2014. The reconstruction of social and economic order is essential to Afghanistan, but it is also a huge project of international cooperation that requires the US to work with its Western allies and other powers as well as Afghanistan's neighboring countries.

This was pointed out by the US Congress in a February report. Of the $4.1 billion annual spending by the ANA, $2.3 billion was provided by the US, $500 million by the unity government and $1.3 billion by the international community.

Moreover, it may better serve the US policy on Central Asia to let the Afghan problems linger. The US backed the New Silk Road Initiative to facilitate the economic ties in Central and South Asia and to gain an upper hand in competing for bigger influence with Russia in Central Asian countries. After the Ukraine crisis, it has become more obvious that the US wants to weaken Russia's weight in Central Asia. As Afghanistan serves as a trump card, it benefits the US that Washington keeps the problems under control before finding an alternative.

All in all, the US refers primarily to its own national interests in dealing with Afghanistan. Unless an alternative scheme that can meet its demands for national interests emerges, Washington will be unlikely to help Afghan unity government to achieve its goals.

Ghani unlikely to find easy salvation in Washington

Afghanistan is passing through a critical juncture. Challenges on the ground are numerous and are being left unaddressed or at the mercy of the international community. Afghans eye at the global players for salvation. In the recent past, international support for Afghans has shrunken tremendously. One of the major contributors on which the Afghan government depends heavily is the US, but there have been many ups and downs in bilateral ties.

Relations between Washington and Kabul witnessed a setback when the then Afghan president Hamid Karzai opposed the US troops over nighttime raids on civilian homes and denied to sign the much sought Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA). Karzai made the deal conditional. For him there was no use of the BSA sans return of peace and stability to Afghanistan, and it is the US that holds key to Afghan reconciliation process.

Though the national unity government (NUG) in Afghanistan has signed the BSA, the expectations of Afghans have not been met. Afghan security forces still need training and weapons to neutralize existing and potential threats. Most importantly, without the support of Washington, peace cannot return to the war-hit country because the US is a party to the war.

To garner support, President Ashraf Ghani went on an official visit to the US. Ghani's top priority was to convince the White House to play a role and help Kabul to reach a settlement with the Taliban. Without release of the Taliban detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention center, the insurgent group will not budge from its current position.

But the Taliban have made clear that they are not engaged in the negotiation process with the NUG, terming reports about resumption of talks as propaganda by the Ghani-led government to divert public attention from insecurity. Probably the reason behind this trust deficit is an absence of sureties on the part of the Obama administration, because the militant group needs some guarantees that only Americans can provide. One of the major demands of the Taliban is to get political recognition in the UN and a lofty share in the current setup.

Another objective of Ghani's visit was to get significant military support in order to quell the emerging threat of the Islamic State and thwart terror attacks by local militant outfits in post-withdrawal period.

It is an open secret that the Afghan security forces direly need modern military equipment and financial support. Currently, the Afghan Air Force is not in a position to fill the gap left void by the NATO forces. Indeed, it is the main cause of surge in military casualties. Although Obama announced he would leave 9,800 US troops in Afghanistan until the end of this year, this will not significantly help the Afghan security forces. What will happen next year after the pullout is a question that troubles the already troubled Afghans.

To some extent, Ghani succeeded in getting the essential support needed, because the US defense ministry promised to provide six new MB-530 choppers, transport aircraft and 20 Super E29 fighter jets to the fledging air force of Afghanistan.

On the economic front, Afghanistan is caught in the pit of despair and needs the US as its economy is dependent on donations. Over the last year, Kabul has asked Washington for financial assistance twice to pay salaries of civilian servants. In this regard, Ghani's visit met with little success as American tycoons are not ready to invest in the country. Furthermore, the US government is reluctant to funnel the amount that it did before, because the taxpayers are questioning transparency in spending and the effectiveness of the anti-corruption drive.

It is clear that the NUG is hapless and it would be difficult for Ghani and his team to turn the situation in its favor because the US is tired of fighting the Afghan war. It is also true that Washington is not in a position to bring the Taliban to negotiations table because it will not compromise over its interests in the region when dealing with Afghan insurgents.

Therefore, Ghani's pursuit of peace and economic stability with the US is likely to end without fruitful results.

AIIB application tests Taiwan’s political openness

During a brief meeting with President Xi Jinping on Saturday, Vincent Siew, the head of Taiwan's delegation to the Boao Forum as honorary chairman of the Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation, expressed Taiwan's wish to join the Chinese mainland-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Siew conveyed the message at the behest of Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou, who said on Thursday that he is in favor of joining the bank and Taiwan should actively participate in it.

The island's interest in potential membership of the AIIB has received a positive response from the mainland. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters that the mainland is willing to strengthen communication with Taiwan and when it comes to the name Taiwan could use to participate in the AIIB, it could be in accordance with international practices.

As of Monday, 44 economies, including staunch allies of the US have applied to join the AIIB as founding members. Taiwan faces a dilemma over whether to apply for membership of the bank. On one hand, it is afraid of being marginalized in the new round of regional economic integration, thus not wanting to miss the opportunity; on the other, it's hesitant to move forward because of divisions within the island and fear of US objections.

The mainland holds an open attitude toward Taiwan joining the AIIB. For many years, it has continually reiterated that it is willing to share development opportunities with Taiwan. The obstacles which could hinder Taiwan's possible membership in the AIIB lie in the island itself, rather than in the mainland. Taiwan's main opposition Democratic Progressive Party so far has not divulged whether or not it endorses the idea of joining the AIIB. Some scholars have forecast that there will be strong resistance from opposition parties and radical activists.

Some in Taiwan are stuck with narrow-minded political views. They have an unwarranted anxiety that closer ties with the mainland could eventually trap the island. This sabotages cross-Straits economic cooperation and blocks the economic growth of Taiwan. Protests against the cross-Straits service and trade pact last year are an example.

It's noticeable that regional economic integration is a global trend and the mainland is one of the main driving forces. Many major economies have overcome political suspicions and actively joined the AIIB. The reason why Taiwan has long been plagued by a stagnant economy is that it is not open enough to cooperate with the mainland.

Participation in the AIIB will help Taiwan tap business opportunities in infrastructure investments in regions like Central Asia and Europe. If the island fails to seize this opportunity, it will miss the next wave of development.

Hyping dissidents leaves anti-China Western critics with egg on their faces

Amnesty International, headquartered in the UK, honored Ai Weiwei, the controversial Chinese artist, with the 2015 Ambassador of Conscience Award for his alleged contributions to human rights development in China.

It has become a norm that various Western NGOs award Chinese dissidents, followed by Western media's hypes in a relay like goods on the production line.

In China, more people know of Ai Weiwei's political stance rather than his arts achievement. Few people in China can understand his performance art, but he is hailed as a master of art in the West, for obvious reasons.

Some Chinese artists know how to play trick and benefit from it by defying political systems while being exploited by the West.

The number of Chinese dissidents given awards by the West has climaxed in recent years. It is said that China's rise boosts these anti-system dissidents' prestige.

For a certain period in the future, this trend will continue, but it showcases China's prospects of being prosperous and strong.

Indeed, this technique used by the anti-China forces has had some impact earlier. It served like a mega-bomb when Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010.

However, Western NGOs of all sorts have repeatedly done the same, and show an inclination to hype themselves through provoking China, ending up ruining themselves.

That Amnesty International awarded Ai Weiwei the Ambassador of Conscience Award sends the same message as it if treated China as a target for denunciation.

It is the Western extremists' most cunning way of disgracing China to praise people like Ai and to deceive people that political defiance in China is the highest reflection of conscience.

The prizes are likely to instigate those awardees and other dissidents in China, but they have a diminishing influence on Chinese society and ruined their own reputation.

These awards are the last option that Western forces can adopt in countering China and have gradually become a means of self-entertainment.

In China, there are a great number of people who take real action for human rights development. They may be unknown to the public, but they are indispensable to the country's reforms.

However, Western human rights awards overpass them and only focus on the dissidents, which is obviously aimed at China.

These awards will by no means stand up to the historical test, and they add no glory but instead a stain to these dissidents.

These human rights prizes are just political games, and the participants are nothing but actors being manoeuvred. With the increased progress made by China, these "actors" would rather defy facts, ignore common sense and make themselves odd.

These awards draw attention by creating confrontation, which is a sign of degeneration in the global era.

Chinese society is so large and complicated that Western organizations like the Amnesty International can hardly understand.

However, they think themselves qualified to score social reforms in China, unaware of their lack of experience and senseless behavior.

One Belt, One Road includes benefits for all

Since taking office, Chinese President Xi Jinping has been seeking aggressively to put his own stamp on policy and is setting a strong foundation for the next decade of national development. Internally and externally, Xi is trying to straighten the ship of state. This can most readily be seen domestically in the aggressive, and arguably fairly successful, anti-corruption campaign.

As Xi seeks to increase China's prestige and impact on the world, he must think and act far more strategically. One of his early bids toward this goal was the announcement of the "One Belt and One Road" strategic concept.

In actuality, the "One Belt and One Road" project is composed of two individual initiatives, which in and of themselves largely include a reorganization of China's existing bilateral trade and development relationships, with proposed connections to China's multilateral or regional relations helping to bind them together.

In China, more than in the US or Europe, international undertakings may have an important impact or require meaningful reform on the domestic front. This appears to be particularly true of the "One Belt and One Road" initiative, consisting of both the "Silk Road economic belt" and the "21st century maritime Silk Road."

The three-decade-long period of double digit economic growth, largely based on cheap production, appears to be entering the draw down stage, forcing some long needed reforms to the fore.

The integration of international and domestic policies requires that Xi institute reforms in policy and in structure in order to support the developmental goals that he has for the "One Belt and One Road" initiative. Due to these new economic conditions, China's domestic producers are ever more willing and interested in seeking out new markets for their goods, while the government in Beijing seems increasingly willing to make some of the required systemic changes to help keep trade growing. Both of these are good things for the world economy and should be supported.

As for the international implications for the "One Belt and One Road" program, there has been some trepidation from the US and other powers. Many in China take a traditionally Marxist constructionist view of this, in that it isn't so much the form of the policy, but rather its intentions.

According to Xinhua, during his trips to Central and South Asia, Xi emphasized the essential nature of the program as establishing a win-win condition for all nations involved. He stressed that China does not seek to become a hegemon in Asia, and rather is seeking to help the nations of central Asia develop economically.

From the Chinese perspective, a stronger and more developed Central Asia is beneficial to both ends of the Silk Road, that is to say both China and Europe, as well as those in between, i.e. Central Asian states and those nations with open ports on the maritime Silk Road.

By developing Central Asia, China is hoping to bring stability to the region. Stability, as we all know, is one of China's leading strategic imperatives and is a central goal of most of Chinese policies, domestic and international. If China truly seeks to wield its influence to improve stability and prosperity for all those partnering in this endeavor, then it truly may be an all-win achievement.

In pursuit of this goal, China is willing to put its money where its mouth is. China has pledged to support its "One Belt and One Road" initiative with a fund of $40 billion, primarily directed at establishing and improving infrastructure in countries who sign on to this program. This has the benefit of improving the host nation's ability to engage in trade and commerce, and allowing China and Chinese companies to take advance of both the newly developed local markets, as well as benefit from the easier and cheaper flow of goods facilitated by this new and improved infrastructure.

China is also seeking to promote an Asia-Pacific free trade deal in order to help stimulate trade across the "One Belt and One Road." This proposal, however, was seen by some as a competitor to the US-led initiative called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). As such, diplomatic pressure has reportedly been applied to American allies and partners to keep the focus on the TPP, which has taken the wind out of the sails of the Asia-Pacific free trade deal.

This is unfortunate, because in the modern interconnected world of international trade and commerce, there are ever-overlapping frameworks, agreements, and institutions, all of which can work in harmony to improve economic ties, increase commerce, and generally raise the standard of living for all peoples involved.