US-based China watchers spoke favorably of the speech by General Secretary Xi Jinping at Wednesday's opening ceremony of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Cheng Li, director of the John L. Thornton China Center of the Brookings Institution, said his key takeaway from the report is the redefinition of the new era and new challenge. Xi, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee as well as the nation's president, spoke about the principal contradiction facing Chinese society as being between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people's ever-growing needs for a better life. Previously, the contradiction had been described as being "between the ever-growing material and cultural needs of the people and backward social production". "China is no longer backward in the mode of production. China, even in innovation, is catching up, in some areas even ahead of the rest of the world," said Li, adding that it's a brilliant way to describe China's position and challenge today. Li said he thinks the redefinition is not only appropriate but also very wise because it uses the terms "unbalanced and inadequate", terms that could refer to many things. Li, an expert on Chinese leadership, called Xi's speech "very comprehensive, very thoughtful and very balanced". Li said foreign observers, especially foreign companies, will note that market access, financial liberalization, fairness and openness in the service sector, trade and investment are all in the report. Jon Taylor, professor of political science at the University of St Thomas in Houston, Texas, said Xi's speech took in China's society and economy and its place in the world. "It had positive energy, emphasizing the role of the Party in fostering China's future development, while also touching on themes of culture, ideology and patriotism," he said. "Xi's speech marked what I would term a new era in Chinese politics. The speech clearly distinguished Xi's leadership and influence on the CPC. More importantly, Xi made it very clear that the Party will maintain a central role in China's development over coming decades." Taylor, an expert on Chinese politics, said Xi's speech sent a signal that "China will continue to pursue a deepening reform agenda and realistically address its problems" and "China has taken the driver's seat in leading the debate on climate change." charity bracelets ukcreate your own wristband24 hour wristbands coupon codemotivational bracelets for athletesblack rubber wristbands
Workers search for bone fragments from the wreckage of the salvaged ferry Sewol at a port in Mokpo, South Korea, on Wednesday. Lee Sanghack / Yonhap Via Associated Press SEOUL - DNA testing on a bone found in waters where a sunken ferry was recently raised has identified one of the nine missing passengers from the 2014 disaster that killed more than 300 people, South Korean officials said on Wednesday. Testing confirmed that the bone found on May 5 was from the remains of teacher Koh Chang-seok, said the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Most of the victims were students on a high school trip. A total of 304 people died when the ferry Sewol sank on April 16, 2014, touching off an outpouring of national grief and soul searching in the country about long-ignored public safety and regulatory failures. Public outrage over what was widely seen as a botched rescue effort by the government contributed to the ouster of former president Park Geun-hye, who was removed from office and arrested in March over broad corruption charges. Divers recovered 295 bodies from the ship's wreckage and nearby seas before the government stopped underwater searches after seven months. Finding the remains of the missing victims would bring a measure of closure to one of South Korea's deadliest disasters. In March, salvage workers completed a herculean effort to raise the 6,800-ton ferry from waters off the country's southwest coast and tow it to port in Mokpo, where investigators continue to search the wreckage. In recent days, they reported the discovery of suspected human bones that they put up for DNA testing. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said Koh's bone was not found in the wreckage, but by divers who were searching waters where the ferry was raised from. Koh's wife, Yoo Baek-hyeong, emotionally reacted in March after the ferry was raised and put on a transport vessel for what became a weeklong journey to Mokpo. He was in the dark and frightening deep seas for three years, but he's now going to Mokpo, Yoo said then. I want to find even just a piece of his hair. He would have been wearing his wedding ring. ... I want to find all of those things. The ferry's captain survived and is serving a life sentence after a court found him guilty of committing homicide through willful negligence because he fled the ship without issuing an evacuation order. Accusations that Park was out of contact for several hours on the day of the sinking were included in the impeachment bill lawmakers passed in December. Ap - Xinhua
