A photo taken on Dec 10, 2018, shows the Wu Pao Chun Bakery in Shanghai. [Photo/IC] A bakery scheduled to officially open next week in downtown Shanghai jointly invested by a Taiwan star baker and Singaporean company Bread Talk has attracted more talk than expected, as netizens, suspicious of the brand owner's alleged pro-Taiwan independence political stance, called for a boycott of the bakery. The shop, Wu Pao Chun Bakery, on one of Shanghai's most prosperous commercial streets, Huaihai Road, is the popular Taiwanese bakery's first branch on the Chinese mainland. It has been enjoying brisk business since it started a trial operation on Friday, despite early winter drizzle that has dampened the eastern city for days and the spiraling speculation on its founder's political stance. Wu Pao-chun, the bakery's founder, was born in southern Taiwan's Pingtung county in 1970, and started his career as an apprentice baker in Taipei at the age of 15. He founded the bakery in Kaohsiung in 2010 after he earned second prize in what's considered the bread-making Olympics, Coupe Louis Lesaffre, in 2008 and won the title of Master Baker two years later. Despite the baker's popularity in Taiwan, Wu has been slow to expand. In 2016 when asked about his plan for new branches, Wu was quoted by Taiwan People News as saying, Although the Chinese market has more than 1.3 billion customers, the world's market has over 7 billion. I won't put my eyes only on China. The words have been interpreted as Wu's support for Taiwan independence and in extreme cases, some media distorted them as, I would rather go starving than open a branch on the Chinese mainland, which aroused criticism and protest by mainland netizens at the bakery's recent expansion. In response, Wu issued a statement on the bakery's website on Monday, saying he's proud of being Chinese, supports the 1992 Consensus, and wants to contribute to cross-Straits economic exchanges. He also called for a news conference in the bakery's flagship store in Kaohsiung on Tuesday, where he further clarified his stance. I am just a professional baker, and the world of the bakery is pure and simple, he said. I am happy that many young people choose this profession because of me and I feel responsible to create a better market for them. Kaohsiung's mayor-elect, Han Kuo-yu, attended the news conference in support of Wu. Master Wu is just a baker who wants to develop his business for a better life, he said. So I hope people on both sides can protect and cherish him. According to The Straits Times, Wu and Singaporean company Bread Talk signed a joint venture agreement in March to bring Wu's bakeries to Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, as well as Hong Kong and Singapore. Bread Talk took an 80 percent stake in the deal and Wu Pao Chun Food Ltd holds the remainder. basketball silicone braceletsgreen rubber bracelet meaningcustom wristbands canadablue rubber bracelet meaningrubber bracelets custom
A file photo of the People's Liberation Army Navy honor guard. [Photo/VCG] Emerging plan may feature nation's second aircraft carrier, new destroyer China will host a multinational naval activity on April 23 in Qingdao, Shandong province, to honor the 70th birthday of the People's Liberation Army Navy, according to a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense. Senior Colonel Ren Guoqiang, deputy head of the ministry's information office, told reporters at a news conference on Thursday afternoon that the activity has been approved by the Central Military Commission, and detailed information about it will be published later. The PLA Navy said in a statement on Thursday that it welcomes reporters to cover the activity and that a media center in Qingdao will start receiving journalists on April 20. Sources close to the Navy told China Daily that the activity is highly likely to comprise a massive sea parade of major ships, submarines and aircraft from the Navy, along with vessels from other countries, noting it is also likely to be even larger and more spectacular than the sea parade in the South China Sea on April 12, 2018, that involved more than 10,000 Navy personnel, 48 ships and submarines and 76 naval aircraft. Wu Peixin, a defense industry observer in Beijing, said the April 23 activity will be a good occasion for the Navy to showcase the latest hardware delivered during the past year. I am looking forward to seeing the participation of the second aircraft carrier, the Type 055 destroyer and the latest aircraft, he said. However, whether the second aircraft carrier will be ready for this parade - which is likely to be its public debut - depends on its sea trial schedule. China's second aircraft carrier - the first to be designed domestically - is reported to have begun its fifth sea trial earlier this week. Observers have speculated that the new carrier will be commissioned before April 23 so it can appear in the unprecedented demonstration of the country's naval prowess. The Chinese military said the colossal vessel displaces more than 50,000 metric tons and will have stronger fighting capability than the CNS Liaoning, the Navy's first carrier, which was refitted from an unfinished Soviet Union vessel. Meanwhile, if the Type 055 guided-missile destroyers, widely believed to be the mightiest of its kind in the world, can take part in the coming parade, they will be further testament to the PLA Navy's growing strength. The 10,000-ton destroyer, usually designated as a cruiser by foreign observers, is equipped with what are believed to be the most advanced radars and missiles in the world and has more than 100 vertical launch cells capable of firing various kinds of projectiles. At least four Type 055 ships have been built, while the first of them is said to be very close to being commissioned. An insider in China's military shipbuilding industry who asked not to be named said he hoped the electromagnetic railgun being tested by the Navy could be displayed in the coming parade. If it can show up in the parade, it will tell the world that we are the first to have deployed this state-of-the-art weapon, which will have the power to reshape the future of naval warfare, he said.
