China Ends a Chemical Era?
China and Venezuela pledged last month to phase out production of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), a family of ozone-depleting chemicals used primarily as coolant in refrigerators and air conditioners. China, one of the leading sources of black market CFCs, will eliminate CFC production by July 2007. The pledge will end the production of CFCs worldwide.
According to the World Bank, China is still the largest global producer and consumer of ozone-depleting substances, although it is working with the implementing arms of the Montreal Protocol to reduce its emissions of global pollutants.
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Olympics to Open at a Fortunate Time
PRC officials are leaving nothing to chance, setting the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games for 8:00 pm on August 8, 2008. Eight (ba) is considered a lucky number in China because it sounds similar to "prosper" (fa). Officials originally planned to open the Olympics in late August because Beijing is unbearably hot earlier in the month, but moved the opening forward to avoid conflict with the US Open, which is scheduled for the end of August.
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LeBron Wins but Nike Loses
In a pointed reminder on cultural sensitivity, China's State Administration for Radio, Film, and Television pulled a Nike television commercial from the airwaves, citing rules that require commercials to "protect national honor and traditional Chinese culture." The lesson: Be sensitive to national pride when picking advertising and media content.
The Nike "Chamber of Fear" advertisement, created by agency Wieden + Kennedy, showed National Basketball Association star LeBron James triumphing over animated, allegorical figures based on traditional Chinese figures, including a martial arts villain, two floating Chinese women throwing money, and two dragon-like monsters. The PRC government said the ad offended many Chinese viewers, presumably because it featured a foreigner handily defeating Chinese challengers.
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