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Song Tao, head of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, and Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang, attended the opening ceremony of the cross-Straits youth ice and snow festival in Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, on Thursday, China Central Television (CCTV) reported.

During the opening ceremony, Ma noted that the festival offers Taiwan youth a rare and valuable life experience. Despite the icy and snowy external environment, the exchanges between youth from both sides of the Taiwan Straits are warm and vibrant — a phenomenon we hope to see,Ma said.

Ma emphasized that such enthusiastic interactions can melt even the hardest ice and snow, deepening friendships and paving the way for a brighter future across the Straits, according to the report.

A delegation of young people from China's Taiwan island led by Ma is in Harbin for a nine-day cross-Straits youth exchange program running from December 18 to 26.

The cross-Straits youth ice and snow festival, scheduled to take place from December 18 to 24 in Harbin and other cities in Heilongjiang, is featuring a range of activities, including the screening and awarding of short videos created by young people from both sides of the Straits, alongside immersive winter sports experiences. 

About 1,000 individuals from Taiwan, primarily young people, are expected to participate in the event, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Wang Ping-chung, a Taiwan political news commentator and former spokesperson of the New Party, told the Global Times that through exchanges between young people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, it is increasingly important for them to realize that people on both sides share a close kinship, and that the future of Taiwan is closely intertwined with the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Through Ma's visit, more people in Taiwan are expected to learn about the city of Harbin, and a wave of enthusiasm for ice and snow is expected to rise on the island in the future, Wang said.

Apart from attending the opening ceremony of the cross-Straits youth ice and snow festival, the delegation led by Ma visited Harbin Electric Corporation on Thursday. They listened to the introductions of the latest developments in China's energy industry and technological advancements, the Global Times learnt at the scene.

On Thursday morning, Song and Ma experienced snow carving and participated in the building of an "Ice Great Wall" in Harbin. Ma and young people from Taiwan also recited a poem about snow from the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Ma and his delegation are expected to visit Southwest China's Sichuan Province on December 22 after the trip in the northeastern region, according to udn.com.

The visit to mainland provinces of Heilongjiang and Sichuan is Ma's third visit to the mainland in two years. In April 2024, Ma took along some Taiwan youth to the mainland for a trip he described as "journey of peace."

An elder has spent some 500,000 yuan ($68,000) online purchasing counterfeit collectibles, as live-streamers marketed the items with claims of miraculous effects and high value, exploiting reputations and emotional appeals for sales. The police have initiated an investigation into the live-streamed collectible scams targeting the elderly.

According to Liu Dan, the daughter of the elder, the products her mother purchased mainly fall into two categories. One includes amulets, ornaments, and jewelry with auspicious meanings, while the other consists of calligraphy, paintings, coins, porcelain, and stamp albums. Both types of items were sold for prices ranging from a few dozen to several thousand yuan (approximately several to hundreds of dollars).

For instance, an ordinary scroll, labeled with a "pawnshop seal" and identified as a "painting master’s scroll," was sold for 899 yuan ($123) during the live broadcast. Similarly, a piece of jade encased in a cloth bag was sold for 999 yuan ($137) after being attributed with auspicious meanings.

According to Liu's estimates, her mother has spent over 300,000 yuan ($41,000) on the collectibles. Additionally, she was later deceived out of more than 200,000 yuan ($27,000) under the guise of "recovering the collectibles." In total, she was defrauded of over half a million yuan ($68,000).

During pre-sale activities, live-streamers build a “positive energy” image by sharing emotional stories of helping resolve disputes and mediating family conflicts. Afterwards, they affectionately refer to the elderly as "dad and mom" or "uncle and aunt," thereby bridging the gap between themselves and the elderly, laying the groundwork for fraud.

Once they have earned the trust of the elderly, live-streamers start recommending a variety of products. For instance, when selling items like bracelets, they claim miraculous benefits, such as promoting family health, well-being, and career success. When promoting jade, coins, and bronze artifacts, they allege those items have significant potential for appreciation.

Live-streamers claim that purchasing those items is just for the elderly to preserve them, promising future exhibitions where the items would be bought back at higher prices. However, the high buyback prices advertised by the live-streamers are nothing more than a deceptive lure. They use the tactic to extract high fees for exhibition tickets and appraisals.

Liu has taken her mother to the police to report the fraud. Police authorities are investigating the case, categorizing it as a fraud targeting the elderly.

The National Supervisory Commission (NSC) carried out in-depth probes into vanity projects, leading to the rectification or suspension of over 700 "unnecessary landscaping" projects, said a report shared during the most recent session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, according to People's Daily on Monday.

On Sunday, the committee's 13th session of the 14th NPC Standing Committee heard a report about addressing corruption and misconduct that directly affects the general public, from Liu Jinguo, director of the NSC.

The report said the NSC focused on efforts to tackle formalism and bureaucratism, aiming to ease the burdens on grassroots governance. It highlighted the NSC integrated approaches of improving disciplinary mechanisms, strengthening oversight and rectification, and publicly disclosing typical cases. The NSC conducted on-site inspections and unannounced visits across 13 provinces, regions, and municipalities.

The report detailed stringent investigations into excessive and frequent inspections and vanity projects, with 32 cases publicly disclosed. Nationwide, over 700 "blindly pursued landscaping" projects were halted or rectified as a result of these efforts.

One case in the report described how Xixian county in Xinyang, Central China's Henan Province, mandated the trimming of roadside weeds and wild trees to an exact height of about 10 cm during rural environmental improvement efforts, sparking significant public outrage.

The NSC conducted covert inspections and direct oversight, culminating in punitive measures against nine officials, including the Vice Mayor of Xinyang and the Secretary of Xixian County Committee of the CPC. The case was publicly disclosed nationwide.

In other cases, the NSC severely dealt with problems such as Liu Kewen, former Secretary of Hejing County Committee of the CPC in Northwest China's Xinjiang, who wasted resources by invalidly painting rural roadside walls white, and Cheng Zhiyi, former Secretary of Jiangjin District Committee of the CPC in Southwest China's Chongqing, who delayed addressing substandard drinking water quality in towns and villages, resulting in its deterioration over time. 

The NSC emphasized that these cases underscore the need for cultivating a proper perspective on governance and metrics of success among officials. 

Iris photography has emerged as a popular trend among youngsters, with many netizens and vendors posting related photos online, according to a report from China Youth Daily on Wednesday. However, experts cautioned that the new trend should be approached with care from both a legal and health perspective.

The process of capturing iris photographs is similar to eye exams conducted in hospitals. Individuals rest their chins on a tray while strong lights on either side illuminate their pupils. A camera positioned directly in front then takes a close-up shot of the iris, producing a unique image of the person's iris.

However, there are also concerns about the safety. "The iris, like a fingerprint, contains unique personal information through its texture," said Xu Ming, a professor at the college of cybersecurity at Hangzhou Dianzi University. 

Also, it is recommended to avoid strong light as much as possible and not to stare at light sources while taking photos, said Yu Pingping, director of the ophthalmology department at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine.