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SHANGHAI (Kyodo) Two Japanese nationals in their 50s received heart transplants between 2001 and 2004 at a Shanghai hospital whose organs mainly come from death-row inmates, sources at a Taiwanese company that arranged the procedures said Thursday. Japan was seemingly unaware of the cases, as a survey released March 9 by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said there were no cases of Japanese receiving heart transplants in Asia outside of Japan. Ethical and medical concerns have often been raised regarding organ transplants in China over issues that include the use of organs of prisoners on death row and uncertain...

Senior North Korean espionage official 'may have fled to Britain after defecting' By Julian Ryall, tokyo 3 MAY 2018 • 4:51AM North Korea has launched an international manhunt for one of its most senior counter-espionage officers, who disappeared in late February and is believed to have defected, possibly to Britain, according to a media report in South Korea. The official has been identified as a Mr Kang, a colonel in his 50s with the Ministry of State Security and responsible for monitoring dissident and espionage efforts in Russia, China and south-east Asia. He disappeared from the Zhongpu International Hotel in...

North Korea is so isolated that rather than bring the Internet to its hackers, it brings them to it—in a swank hotel in China. The luxury hotel that has been called a command post for North Korean hackers would make for a unique holiday getaway and give you lots to talk about back home. “Surprisingly Great Hotel - Clean, Tasteful.... and North Korean!” says a trip advisor review for the Chilbosan Hotel in Shenyang, China. For just $53, you get “a deluxe twin room,” including a North Korean breakfast considerably more substantial than those enjoyed by the vast majority of...

A model of China's J-15 carrier-based fighter displayed by an unknown ship design & research institute indicates has revealed that the PLA Navy is modifying the landing gear of the fighter for future aircraft carriers designed with catapults, reports the state-run Global Times. The landing gear retraction jack of the new J-15 seems to be thicker compared to earlier models, said the report. The nose gear seems to be designed for catapults and arresting gear. Since the Liaoning, China's only carrier in service, is not equipped with a catapult, all J-15 fighters have to be pulled to the afterdeck for...

A bomber version of the Shenyang J-31, China's second fifth-generation stealth fighter, is likely to be designed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation in the near future to meet the demands of the People's Liberation Army Air Force, the Beijing-based Sina Military Network reported on Dec. 30. Since both the Chengdu J-20 — the country's first stealth fighter prototype — and the J-31 are currently developed as fighters with the primary mission of engaging enemy aircraft in aerial combat, the Sina Military Network stated that what the PLA Air Force needs now is a stealth aircraft that is capable of attacking ground...

China Retires All F-6 Fighter Jets A F-6 fighter jet takes off in this undated photo. [Photo: Sohu.com] China on Saturday retired all F-6 fighter jets from the active duty of its air force fleets, which has been undergoing an accelerating upgrading process with more self-developed advanced planes put into service in recent years. As the country's first-generation supersonic fighter jets, the F-6 models took up an overwhelming majority in Chinese air forces from its birth in 1964 to 1986 when the country stopped its production. The jets are still keeping the records of the longest service period in China...

/begin my translation A N. Korean Diplomat Found Dead in Shenyang (Disappeared since Oct.) Choi Yushik in Beijing 2009/11/13 Authorities looking into various possibilities A consul at N. Korean Consulate in Shenyang, China, was recently found dead in the city, raising tension among the diplomatic circles in China. A source on N. Korea in Beijing said on Nov. 12, "A consul in charge of economic affairs at N. Korean Consulate in Shenyang was found dead on Oct. 30. Chinese authorities are investigating." The consul went missing in early October, which prompted rumors. One version said he may have escaped to...

/begin my translation PLA Maneuvers with Intervention to N. Korea in Mind? 09/11/06 China's PLA is reportedly conducting training exercises designed to cope with crisis in Korean Peninsula Chinese state media, Xinhua, reported, "Total of 6,000 troops, made up of mechanized infantry brigade(3,000) from Shenyang Military District and its opponents(3,000), an armored brigade from Beijing Military District, went into training exercises against biochemical, naval, and aerial attacks. It started on Sept. 5 on a training base under Beijing Military District, located on a steppe in Inner Mongolia." 190th Mechanized Infantry Brigade of 39th Corps under Shenyang Military District finished map...

/begin my excerptChina Conducts Nighttime Missile Exercises Near Mt. Baekdu(Changbai)  Missile launch exercise of PLA (from (previous) news data) Unusual military activities in Sino-N. Korean border area (Hong Kong = Yonhap News) Chung Juho correspondent = China, which has been claiming Mt Baekdu as its territory and carrying out 'Mt. Changbai Project,' recently conducted large-scale nighttime missile launch exercises around Mt. Baekdu.  The Internet edition of Jiefang Junbao, PLA's official newspaper, reported on Aug. 1st that, around 9:23pm, July 25, an artillery unit belonging to Shenyang Military District conducted nighttime missile launch exercises under difficult weather condition. All 23 missiles launched reportedly scored confirmed hit on airborne and ground targets. The exercises included the...

Chinese defector warns Canadians of Beijing's spy operationsJIM BRONSKILL Wed Jun 29, 7:18 PM ET TORONTO (CP) - The high-profile Team Canada business missions to China during the last decade were undoubtedly prime targets for Beijing's spies, says a Chinese security official who fled his job to begin a new life. Guangsheng Han says the luggage of important foreign visitors to China is often secretly searched, Chinese delegations that go abroad frequently include spies, and foreign embassies and consulates routinely engage in espionage. "China places a lot of importance on the collection of intelligence," he said in an interview with...

/begin my translation China: Egg-sized Hails Pound Shenyang Flood in Heilungjian Province, and now hail damage in Shenyang Following the flood in Heilungjian Province, this time, egg-sized hails pounded Shenyang, another in the recent string of  unusual weather conditions in China. At 6:46pm on June 21, hailstorm started to the city of Shenyang, China, causing extensive damages. House windows were broken, trees on the street fell down. There were over 200 reports of broken phone connection.The Weather Agency in Shenyang explained, "There is no time to issue warning. Hailstorm came so abruptly." It went on to say, "Hot air near the ground and the cold air above...

'Parlor Maid' tarnishes FBI Details of Leung-Smith spy case throw bureau's handling of investigation into question Details of Leung-Smith spy case throw bureau's handling By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER Twelve years ago, a team of U.S. counterintelligence operatives flew into frigid southern Manchuria to assess Chinese spying on American diplomats. Instead, the U.S. agents came to believe their own team was tracked by China's Ministry of State Security every step of their mission, which is still classified today. The first clue was an odd elevator encounter in remote northeast China, an FBI agent bumping into a California nuclear-weapons scientist suspected...