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Pennies from heaven? Chinese investors buy worthless 'meteorites'
Staff Reporter
2014-12-07
A 2060kg meteorite displayed at 10th International Cultural Industries Fair in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, May. 17. (Photo/CNS)
The growing market for meteorites in China has attracted numerous vendors and swindlers wanting to earn windfall profits by offering plenty of fake and misleading space rocks, according to Guangzhou's Southern Metropolis Daily.
Only a few of the rocks end up in the hands of collectors or are used for scientific research and exhibition, while most are sold and resold at ever increasing higher prices, according to the report.
Wang Xueliang, a Dalian businessman, is one of the few people willing to share their experience of being defrauded and has become an online whistleblower for the illegal practice, the report stated.
Wang bought a rock weighing several hundred grams in 2009 and put it up for certification at an event organized by a meteorite association. He was happy to hear the stone was certified as "special" and worth 10,000 yuan (US$1,630) per gram. He subsequently splashed out about 50,000 yuan (US$8,130) for a "real" meteorite certified by the association.
Wang quickly discovered that he had difficulty selling the "real" meteorite, which was claimed to be worth 10 million yuan (US$1.63 million). After having it assessed by several astronomical institutions, he was heartbroken to find out it was not from space after all.
Angered, Wang sought out other members of the meteorite association. They too had been defrauded, and it was eventually discovered the whole thing was a scam perpetrated by the chairman of the association. The chairman had intentionally misled the group, telling them they could get rich by investing in meteorites. Every member had to pay in 600 yuan (US$98) to join the association and about 1,000 to 3,000 yuan (US$163-US$490) in other fees. Two years ago, the association had more than 500 members.
An entrepreneur in Jiangsu province in eastern China had intended to open a meteorite research center but he also fell victim to a scam, resulting in 90% of the center's rocks later deemed fake, according to Wang.
The market is flooded with fake meteorites and the tagged prices are constantly rising. A small, ordinary meteorite is priced at more than 80 million yuan (US$13 million), according to Zhou Ziqiang, the head of a Chinese meteorite website.
Trapped workers rescued; 'swindlers' in suicide leap; bird flu is back
PUBLISHED : Monday, 08 December, 2014, 3:20am
UPDATED : Monday, 08 December, 2014, 3:20am
A trapped worker is supported by rescuers after being rescued from the collapsed expressway tunnel under construction in Longyan, Fujian. Photo: Xinhua
CHONGQING
Fake beggars arrested
Four men from Anhui have been caught begging on the pretence of being migrant workers who were owed their pay and needed money to return home, the Chongqing Evening News reports. Police found that the men in fact came to Chongqing by plane from Nanchang, Jiangxi, on November 28 and had already earned thousands of yuan by begging in the city's downtown area. One man was even using an iPhone 6.
Big deposit, small change
A woman deposited 100,000 yuan (HK$126,000) in 5-yuan banknotes and 1-yuan coins at a local bank over the weekend, the Chongqing Morning Post reports. The woman said the money was alimony from her ex-husband after their divorce. The bank had to assign 30 employees to count the money.
FUJIAN
Trapped workers rescued
Rescuers on Saturday morning freed 21 workers who were trapped for more than 35 hours in a collapsed tunnel in Longyan city, news website Gmw.cn reports. The men had been working on a 30-metre expressway tunnel when it collapsed early on Friday morning.
Ex-deputy mayor expelled
Former Fuzhou deputy mayor Shi Xiaoyu has been expelled from the Communist Party and had his retirement benefits cancelled for "severe disciplinary and legal violations", the provincial portal of Chinanews.com reports. Shi, 61, reportedly engaged in adultery and took bribes of more than 2.3 million yuan during his term in office between 2006 and 2012. He retired early last year.
GUANGDONG
Viral infection detected
An imported case of chikungunya fever was detected at a Shenzhen checkpoint on November 24, the city's Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau said on Friday. Four cases of the mosquito-borne viral infection that causes joint pains have been detected at the Shenzhen Bay checkpoint so far this year. Nearly 780,000 suspected cases of chikungunya fever were recorded in the Caribbean Islands, Latin America and South America between last December and October.
Fake homeowners in court
A couple stood trial at the Shenzhen Municipal Intermediate People's Court recently for using forged estate documents to swindle 10 homebuyers out of 10 million yuan, the Guangzhou Daily reports. Prosecutors said the couple used the fake certificates as pledges for money to repay their gambling debts between April 2012 and October last year. A verdict is still pending.
HEILONGJIANG
Endangered tiger spotted
The endangered wild Siberian tiger, one of the world's rarest animals, was spotted on a highway in Luobei county, Hegang city on Saturday evening, news website Chinanews.com reports. A villager who spotted the tiger took photos of it as it crossed the road. Traces of wild Siberian tigers have been found in the province since June, thanks to decreased human activity in forests and habitat restoration.
Drug traders busted
Police have cracked down on a gang of more than 40 people in Mudanjiang city for using drugs and trading in methamphetamines, Xinhua reports. The gang reportedly bought 360 grams of drugs from a producer in Shanxi province at 180 yuan per gram between last December and October, and then sold the substance to other drug users at up to 800 yuan per gram.
SHAANXI
'Swindlers' in suicide leap
Xian police have found that a couple who jumped off a cliff with their mothers on November 24 had allegedly swindled several people out of nearly 200 million yuan, news website Hsw.cn reports. The pair, both 32, committed suicide with their mothers at the Huashan resort area. They left a suicide note with a Taoist nun, and the message led the police to their bodies. After learning of the couple's death, victims called the police saying they had thought the pair were suppliers to a local supermarket giant and had lent them a lot of money. The case is under investigation.
Highway crash kills four
Four people died and two were injured in a traffic accident in Yulin city on Friday night, Xinhua reports. A van carrying six people crashed into the back a trailer on an expressway linking Inner Mongolia and Guangdong. Four people in the van died on the spot and the other two were taken to hospital, where both are in critical condition.
SHANGHAI
Bird flu is back
A 38-year-old Shanghai man was on Saturday confirmed to have contracted the H7N9 bird flu in the city's first such case since summer, news website Eastday.com reports. The municipal commission of health and family planning said the man was being treated but did not offer any additional information.
Birdcatchers nabbed
Three men have been arrested for illegally catching 62 migratory birds at Shanghai's Dongtan Wetland Park, news website Shanghai TV reports. It is migratory season for the birds, and a large number usually arrive at the Yangtze River Delta. Many people in the region keep birds as pets, fuelling a trade in illegal trapping, particularly in the delta wetlands, which are important habitats for East Asian migratory fowl.
SHANXI
Oldest pagoda gets a fix
The authorities are putting 7 million yuan into repairing the 958-year-old Yingxian Wooden Pagoda in Yingxian county, Xinhua reports. The 67-metre five-tier pagoda is the oldest and tallest of its kind in the world. It was built in 1056 with brackets and sockets and no nails. The repair work began on Thursday and is expected to be completed within 11/2 years.
'Mine your safety' drive
The provincial government will carry out a six-month safety inspection campaign on 1,077 coal mines across the province from this month to May, news website Sxrb.com reports. The campaign is aimed at avoiding accidents in coal mines, and those found to be below safety standards will be shut down.
ZHEJIANG
Fumes poisoning denied
Zhejiang Normal University has denied an online rumour that it exposed students to formaldehyde fumes in its recently renovated dormitories, causing 20 students to develop serious health issues, CCTV news reports. The university said the work done in the dorms met safety standards. An increasing number of students are now calling for further checks into the incident, but local authorities have yet to respond to their demands.
Rumour-monger punished
A 23-year-old man in Dongyang city has received a 10-day detention for spreading rumours through mobile phone apps that a 19-year-old woman had given HIV to 324 men since September, news website Zjol.com.cn reports. More than 100,000 internet users read the comment in the span of just two days.
Around the Nation: Run on rail tickets
PUBLISHED : Monday, 08 December, 2014, 8:45pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 09 December, 2014, 1:59am
Passengers share a crowded train carriage travelling from Ningbo to Chengdu at Lunar New Year in January. Photo: Reuters
ANHUI
Boy in shower upset
A young mother who took her five-year-old son into a public shower in Huangshan got an angry reception from other women, including one who posted photos of the woman and her naked son online, the Anhui News reports. When confronted, the mother said: “If you’re not happy with a boy in here, don’t come in here.” The photos sparked a lively online discussion about public shower etiquette.
Transgender jailed
Famed transgender personality Chen Meiling has been sentenced to three years in jail for extortion and fraud, the Star News reports. Chen, an Anhui native, was born a man and had an arranged marriage at the age of 22. At 28, he disappeared and had a sex-change operation that made headlines. Between 2011 and last year, Chen had several relationships with men whom she met online and claimed to be pregnant, extorting up to 11,000 yuan (HK$13,900) for “abortion money”.
BEIJING
Bad impersonations
Municipal prosecutors in Beijing are seeing more cases of people impersonating government officials or relatives of officials to get money or sex, the Beijing Times reports. The People’s Procuratorate of Chaoyang district reported 47 such cases from 2011 to last year, nine of which involved people pretending to be military officials. In one case, a man bought a fake army uniform and credentials for himself, passed himself off as an officer online, had sex with two women numerous times and scammed them for money.
Rail tickets sold out
Nearly all train tickets from Beijing to major cities like Chengdu, Guangzhou and Wuhan for the first day of the Lunar New Year sold out in minutes, The Beijing News reports. This year, passengers can buy tickets 60 days in advance and tickets went on sale at 8am Sunday. For example, the cheaper “hard seat” and “hard sleeper” classes from Beijing to Chengdu sold out in less than three minutes. Travellers made an estimated 3.6 billion trips during Lunar New Year this year, the report said.
GUANGZHOU
Suicide bid kills bystander
A man who attempted suicide by jumping off a building survived but struck and killed another man on his way down, the Southern Metropolis News reports. On Friday, a shop owner heard a thump and saw two men lying on the pavement outside her store. The man who jumped was clutching his waist and screaming for help, the shop owner said.
Plenty to chew on
This year’s week-long Guangzhou International Food Festival attracted more than 2 million visitors and clocked up sales of almost 200 million yuan the Yangcheng Evening News reports. The festival, which ran from November 28 to Sunday in Panyu district, had 202 booths selling a large range of local food and snacks.
FUJIAN
Student leaps to death
A female student at the Fujian Vocational College of Bioengineering jumped to her death on Sunday, Xinhua reports. The woman was an engineering management student due to graduate in May. Shocked friends said the tragedy was totally out of character. Police say there were no suspicious circumstances.
Villages end marriage ban
Eight villages in the province have abolished a prohibition on marriages within the group of communities, Zjol.com.cn reports. The provision was abolished at the end of November and had been in place for more than 400 years. The provision had left many young people in love who weren’t allowed to marry.
HENAN
Vocal judged removed
A judge in Luohe has been disciplined and removed from his post after complaining about political interference in one of his cases, the Beijing Times reports. The judge found a man guilty of not repaying a debt of 1.25 million yuan last July, but the defendant appealed. In September, the judge told reporters that the man was a relative of top provincial officials, and that the head of the courts pressured him about the case. The court released a statement on Sunday saying the judge was drunk when he commented on the case, causing “serious detrimental effects”.
Tanker blast kills 2
A tanker loaded with diesel oil crashed in Luoyang, causing a fire that killed two people and injured another, the Henan Business Daily reports. The truck lost control on a hill and rolled, leaking fuel that exploded. The blaze damaged houses and destroyed construction equipment worth 3 million yuan.
LIAONING
Pupil’s head slammed
A teacher smashed the head of a second-grade pupil against a wall as a punishment for speaking in class, People’s Daily online reports. Seven-year-old Xiao Dan suffered severe headaches but was too afraid to complain about her teacher until the following day. Doctors found she suffered internal bleeding, and drained 165ml of blood from a haematoma in her head, and said she may have long-term brain development problems. The teacher was suspended and the school has agreed to pay 60,000 yuan to the parents.
Dancing on the ceiling
The Liaoning “Snow World” winter-themed attraction as opened its doors to the “upside down house”, Xinhua.net.com reports. All furnishings in the room are inverted and fixed on the ceiling to create a feeling of defying gravity.
SHANGHAI
Tycoon village head
A former head of a village near Wenzhou who accumulated 132 residential properties in Shanghai has been identified in the nationwide anti-corruption crackdown, Zjol.com.cn reports. The property holdings of the 60-year-old man were revealed when he was sued for failing to repay a loan. The man owns many small flats in Songjiang district, which were mortgaged for more than 70 million yuan.
3D printer for space
The Shanghai Academy of Space Flight Technology, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology, has developed a 3D printer for use in space, Xinhua reports. Senior engineer Wang Lianfeng said the printer used a double laser and could print objects up to 250mm long, high and wide.
ZHEJIANG
Worker uses his head
A 41-year-old labourer in Cixi became an internet sensation after he was spotted riding a motor scooter balancing a 600g bag of cement and a dog on his head, the Today Morning Express reports. He developed his unusual skills while working at a factory where the stairwells were too narrow to carry anything except on his head. Pictures posted online show him training by head-butting a punching bag, carrying bags of cement on his head and watching TV upside down.
Beggars belief
Photos taken by a reporter have caught out an able-bodied man disguised as a double amputee while begging for coins on the streets of Wenling, China Daily reports. The beggar appears to have no legs, and moves about on a wooden board with four wheels. The man, when asked if he was going through hard times, yelled at the reporter to stop disrupting his business. After he finished begging, he crawled to another street, put his tattered clothes in a bag and caught a bus home.
Wrong number! Yunnan's 'ancient' hand-set building ridiculed
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 09 December, 2014, 9:51pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 10 December, 2014, 1:43am
The new mobile telephone-inspired building in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province (see story below). Photo: SCMP Pictures
BEIJING
Probe into girl’s death
Beijing police are investigating the death of a young girl who had been in the care of a man identified as a foreigner, the Beijing Times reports. The girl, aged 8, was one of 11 Chinese children who had been in the man’s care illegally. She died in hospital from pneumonia and kidney failure. A doctor said she also had heart problems and was severely malnourished. The foreign man had cared for the children, most of them disabled, since 2004 without formally adopting them. The other children are now at a state facility for juveniles.
Lifetime responsibility
The Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has proposed that anyone who works on a construction project in the city could be held responsible for future problems with the buildings, the Beijing Times reports. If structural faults occur in a building before the end of its intended life, then staff – from building workers to architects, engineers and project managers – could be held accountable. The commission is seeking public opinion on the proposal.
HENAN
Money to burn
A business in Luoyang is burning old banknotes to generate electricity, the Dahe Daily reports. A tonne of used banknotes yields 660kWh of electricity, according to the report, and all the province’s worn-out paper money would, in a year, generate the same power as burning 4,000 tonnes of coal. Old banknotes are used for making newsprint and advertising flyers.
Medical staff attacked
Medical facilities and staff in Xinyang have been attacked in recent days, the Dahe Daily reports. In one incident, staff including a pregnant nurse were beaten. %A nurse on duty at another hospital saw coworkers attacked and emergency equipment damaged. Another nurse and a colleague visited a patient at home late at night and were set upon by angry relatives who threatened to kill them if the patient didn’t recover. The nurses recommended hospital admission, but the family refused and beat them up.
JIANGSU
Joke taken to heart
A 17-year-old student from Lianshui county tried to kill himself because of a joke that went bad, the Yangtse Evening Post reports. On Monday, police broke into a flat smelling of gas and found the unconscious teenager on a bed with a knife nearby. When resuscitated, he told police that his neighbours joked that he must be adopted because his parents were always away. After a while, he started believing the taunts and decided to end his life out of sadness.
Smart parcels
Taicang is promoting smart parcel pickup machines, Jschina.com.cn reports. The machines, similar to ATMs, allow couriers to safely store parcels that recipients can retrieve with a unique passcode. The machine offers other services such as bill payments and public transport cards.
LIAONING
Fired for kicking reporter
An urban control officer who kicked a journalist in the stomach in Shenyang has been fired, the Xiandai Jinbao reports. On Sunday, a journalist saw the officer sitting in a parked government car playing computer games. When the reporter asked the officer if that was appropriate, the officer leapt out of the car kicked him.
Leopards maul Tigers
Liaoning’s provincial basketball team, the Liaoning Henye Leopards, defeated the Jilin Northeastern Tigers 87-85, marking their 16th consecutive win in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league.
SHAANXI
Poor display of characters
An exhibition in Taiyuan entitled the “wall of culture”includes 33 mistakes in the works of famous Chinese poets like Li Bai, Chinanews.com reports. The errors involve the use of characters that sound the same but have different meanings to the one that should have been used. Internet users renamed the exhibit “the embarrassing wall of culture”.
Man finds family dead
A man returned home in Xian on Monday night to find his mother, wife and two-year-old child had been killed, Chinanews.com reports. During the afternoon, money from the man’s bank account kept disappearing mysteriously. When he arrived home, his house was on fire and smelled of gas. Inside he found his family dead in a pool of their own blood. Police are investigating.
SHANDONG
Man dies in ‘shootout’
A man has been killed in a gunfight with police in Qingdao while resisting arrest, Iqilu.com reports. Police were responding to a call about an armed man trying to steal a car, when the suspect raised his weapon. The officers returned fire, hitting him twice. It was then discovered that the man was not carrying a firearm, but an old nail gun that was banned for being too powerful.
Baby suffers rare reaction
An 18-month-old child is in hospital in Heze with a rare condition that destroys skin in a similar way to burns, Iqilu.com reports. He was admitted about two weeks ago with a persistent fever. Instead of getting better, top layers of skin started to peel and bleed, and the boy lapsed into a coma. Toxic epidermal necrolysis was diagnosed, a condition usually caused by a reaction to drugs. It can be treated in a burn units, but the mortality rate is between 25 to 30 per cent.
YUNNAN
Girl’s near miss
Police in Ningbo , in Zhejiang were alerted to the case of a 13-year-old girl who had been sent from Yunnan for a possible arranged marriage to a 29-year-old man, the Xiandai Jinbao reports. Police received an emergency call from the girl, who claimed she had been kidnapped in her home province. Suspecting a case of child trafficking, police found the girl was staying with distant relatives, who said she had come to meet a potential husband. That same afternoon, the 29-year-old unmarried man arrived to the meet her, but he immediately said she was too young.
Wrong number
A large building in Kunming shaped like a mobile phone has attracted much public comment, most of it negative, Youth.cn reports. The main criticism of the newly completed 13-storey building on Huancheng Road is that its design – from a mobile handset a decade old – doesn’t reflect the new smart phone generation.
ZHEJIANG
Wandering implants
A 36-year-old woman in Lanxi has been told that strange growths that appeared around her stomach and pelvis are the remnants of Amazingel breast implants she received five years ago, Zjol.com.cn reports. The patient said she received injections of the gel that gave her C cups at a cosmetic surgery clinic the day after her boyfriend criticised her small breasts. The gel was linked to complications in patients and banned in China eight years ago.
Tourism show in India
Zhejiang’s provincial tourism bureau opened its second promotion in the Indian capital, New Delhi, yesterday, the People’s Daily reports. The theme of “Poetry and Painting in Zhejiang” represents the culture and history of the region.
me too..............
Top Communist Party paper puts Zhou Yongkang in 'traitor' class
Article says former security chief no different to executed cadres, raising spectre of death penalty
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 11 December, 2014, 1:14am
UPDATED : Thursday, 11 December, 2014, 5:21am
Staff Reporters
Former security chief Zhou Yongkang. Photo: AP
The Communist Party's top mouthpiece has likened disgraced security tsar Zhou Yongkang to past party "traitors", all of whom were executed.
An article released through People's Daily's WeChat account last night said Zhou's deeds made him "no different from a 'traitor'", a reference that prompted speculation that the former member of the innermost Politburo Standing Committee could face the death penalty.
The party announced on the weekend that a graft probe had uncovered evidence that Zhou had violated political, organisational and confidentiality rules, and was involved in corruption.
But many observers were also surprised to see Zhou accused of leaking party and state secrets.
The top penalty for leaking state secrets is seven years but a corruption conviction can bring a death sentence.
The People's Daily article cited the examples of Gu Shunzhang, the head of the party's intelligence services in the 1920s who defected to then ruling Kuomintang in the 1930s.
He was later executed on the orders of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek for secretly setting up a new party.
The article also referred to more recent "traitors", citing three senior People's Liberation Army personnel who sold military intelligence to Taiwan. All three were executed.
"The word 'traitor' is rarely used in peacetime, but … corrupt elements who betray the party's purpose, violate discipline and tarnish the party's image … are no different from 'traitors'," the article read.
Political commentator Johnny Lau Yui-siu said the article might underscore the extent of the damage Zhou has done to the party.
"In deciding whether Zhou will get a death sentence, the party needs to assess the possible impact on other retired party leaders … which may affect political stability," Lau said.
But Renmin University political scientist Zhang Ming said the term was "traitor" was supposed to be for defectors, and the article's rhetoric could be a bit exaggerated.
"The PLA Daily described [disgraced top general] Xu Caihou as the 'nation's evil'. Zhou may not receive a death sentence," Zhang said.
Beijing police bust huge 'underground banks'
Source: Xinhua Published: 2014-11-14 22:37:21
The Beijing Police said on Friday that they had busted over ten "underground banks", which were used to illegally trade foreign currency and transfer money across borders.
The cases involved nearly 140 billion yuan (about 22.6 billion US dollars), the police said.
More than 400 police in September were dispatched to undertake the operation, which resulted in the arrest of 59 suspects; the seizure of over 800 bank cards and more than 100 Internet banking digital certificates; and the freezing of 264 bank accounts.
A man surnamed Yao initially came under the police's radar in February. Every transaction involved the exchange of yuan equal to 50,000 US dollars, the maximum limit an individual can purchase within the country annually. He had used various bank accounts to send the money abroad.
Over the past year, he transferred more than five million US dollars overseas.
The police dug out "underground banks" hidden in the districts of Chaoyang, Dongcheng and Xicheng in Beijing. Through this breakthrough, illegal trading procedures, capital flow, business networks and other shady activities were uncovered.
The suspects transferred money online or by cellphone rather than trading in cash. They often operated business from their own homes and borrowed, rented or bought others' bank accounts.
"Underground banks", which run without financial supervision, not only threaten the economy and financial security, but also encourage smuggling, money laundering and state assets embezzlement, said a spokesman for the Beijing Police.
Further investigation is underway.
Chinese police target train ticket scalping ahead of festival
Source:Xinhua Published: 2014-12-11 9:42:09
Chinese rail police have launched a campaign targeting train ticket scalping ahead of the upcoming Spring Festival travel rush.
The campaign kicked off on Dec. 7 when China Railway Corporation (CRC), operator of China's rail network, began to sell train tickets for the travel period known as "Chunyun," according to a statement by railway police Wednesday.
They pledge to crack down on online scalping by setting up a special squad of investigators as more and more travelers choose to buy their tickets via the Internet, the statement said.
Police have increased patrols around railway stations. Meanwhile, they also encourage the public to report scalpers to them, the statement said.
The campaign is scheduled to conclude on March 16, 2015, the last day of the 40-day Chunyun.
Ticket scalping is a major problem around big holidays like the National Day holiday in October and Spring Festival.
"Chunyun," sometimes called the world's largest human migration, is the hectic travel period surrounding traditional Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations, known as the Spring Festival.
The festival is China's most important holiday of reunion, with hundreds of millions of people traveling to their hometowns to spend time with relatives, putting huge stress on the transportation system.
During Chunyun 2014, about 266 million trips were made on railways, up 12 percent from the previous year.
The upcoming Spring Festival falls on Feb. 19.
Chinese official sacked over adultery
inhua, December 5, 2014
An official in east China's Fujian Province was removed from his post on Thursday after his affair caught public attention on social media.
The announcement was made by the Fujian Earthquake Administration on China's Twitter-like Weibo.
A Weibo user accused Zeng Fei, an official in charge of Party affairs in the administration, of having an affair with her for more than two years, sparking public disapproval on the microblogging site.
The official Weibo account of Fujian Earthquake Administration posted a letter signed by Zeng Fei, who said in the letter that he felt very sorry and would report the issue to the organization.
A number of officials placed under Party investigation in China's ongoing anti-corruption campaign were reported to have committed adultery.
I emerge as the victor. Unbeatable.
Chey! PAP IB Molanyong
You called me? I'm having diner lah!
Hope your dinner was good.
So are u a sprinter or long distance runner? cos it's a 2200m race.
Around the nation: Camel rakes in the bucks
PUBLISHED : Friday, 12 December, 2014, 10:14pm
UPDATED : Friday, 12 December, 2014, 10:14pm
A couple makes 100,000 yuan a year from charging tourists for taking photos with their camel. Photo: SCMP Pictures
BEIJING
Driver’s fatal error
A driver hit and killed a woman after he accidentally stepped on his car’s accelerator instead of its brake, The Beijing Times reports. The man was backing up his SUV near Lianhuachi West Road on Thursday night when he suddenly accelerated and hit the woman passer-by. She was rushed to hospital but died of a ruptured liver and excessive bleeding.
Trading in culture
The China Beijing International Cultural & Creative Industry Expo opened on Thursday, China News Service reports. The event – hosted by the culture ministry, the State General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, and the Beijing government – promotes cultural trade and innovation.
CHONGQING
Woman’s donations stolen
A Chongqing woman who received donations after being seriously injured in an attack by a jealous colleague, has had the money stolen by her boyfriend, the Legal Daily reports. The woman made headlines in July after her colleague – who suspected her of fooling around with her boyfriend – mutilated her breasts. Her plight won sympathy across the nation, and donations poured for her. But her boyfriend absconded with the money.
Finder, not keeper
A man who found 10,000 yuan (HK$12,600) at a bank counter turned the money in to police without hesitation, Xinhua reports. The money belonged to a 70-year-old woman from Jiangbei district, who had withdrawn 30,000 yuan from her bank account but accidentally took only 20,000 yuan, leaving the remainder behind. She returned to the bank soon after, but the money was gone. She called the police only to find out that the honest man had already turned in the money.
GUANGDONG
Comb killer jailed
A Dongguan court has sentenced a woman to 12 years’ jail for stabbing her boyfriend to death with a comb, the Yangcheng Evening News reports. The woman had been fighting with her drunk boyfriend on January 8 when she took a plastic comb from her dresser and stabbed the man in the chest. Her boyfriend died of an aortic rupture.
Teen mum kills baby
A 19-year-old girl from Huizhou city has been arrested for infanticide, Xinhua reports. The teenager had given birth to the baby girl in a factory dormitory in April, but killed the newborn because she was not mentally prepared to be a mother. The case is ongoing.
HENAN
Ancient tombs uncovered
More than 50 ancient tombs dating back to the Han (206BC-AD220), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties – together with over 200 pieces of potteries and ironware – have been unearthed at a gas pipeline construction site in Jiaozuo city, Henan, Gmw.cn reports. Archaeologists said the discovery would help shed light on ancient people’s lifestyles and customs in the region.
From abbot to professor
Henan University has sparked controversy online over its move to hire an abbot as an honorary professor, The Beijing News reports. The university’s dean of philosophy and public administration, Zhang Xiangdong, said the abbot would teach the religion, philosophy and history of temples, but internet users questioned the unorthodox practice of hiring a “religious” teacher.
HUBEI
School on shaky ground
Authorities in Wuhan have shut down a construction project near a high school campus after a photo of pupils wearing security helmets in class sparked an outcry, the Yangtse River Daily reports. The pupils complained that the school building often shook when workers at the site 20 metres away started digging. The project to build two skyscrapers was temporarily suspended.
Chopsticks stuck in neck
A 12-year-old boy from Hanchuan city has survived an operation to remove a pair of steel chopsticks from his neck, Cnhubei.com reports. The boy was leaving the school cafeteria, carrying a lunch box and a pair of chopsticks, when a scooter hit him, causing the chopsticks to pierce his neck. The utensils did not damage any major arteries and doctors removed them successfully.
JIANGSU
Camel rakes in the bucks
A couple who charges tourists for taking photos with their camel, makes 100,000 yuan a year from their business, the Nanjing Morning Post reports. They have visited eight provinces, charging 10 yuan for each picture with the animal. The couple liked their business not just for the good money but also for the chance to travel.
Massacre ‘unforgettable’
Scholars are continuing to advance their research into the Nanking Massacre to “promote world peace”, Xinhua reports ahead of the event’s 77th anniversary today. “Sins can be forgiven but history cannot be forgotten,” a researcher said about the 1937 mass slaying of Chinese civilians by Japanese forces in Nanjing. Tensions rise between China and Japan each year whenever the anniversary of the bloody massacre comes around.
JILIN
Seizure after scolding
A Jilin bus driver passed out after a passenger scolded him for more than 13 minutes, the New Culture View reports. He had accidentally closed the bus door before an 80-year-old woman could get on the bus, and when he reopened the door for her, she began yelling loudly at him. He did not respond and suffered a seizure after putting up with about 13 minutes of intense verbal abuse.
Partners in tourism
The Jilin Tourism Bureau is working with the Fujian Tourism Bureau in Xiamen to expand their tourism activities and destinations, Fjsen.com reports. They two bureaus will integrate their online and offline systems to jointly explore the untapped tourism market.
SHANGHAI
Hotel for the elderly
A three-star hotel in Shanghai has been converted into an elderly-care home, the Shanghai Daily reports. The Honye Hotel received financial support from the local government for redevelopment when the hospitality sector slowed and there was a shortage of elderly-care homes. The Honye Senior Home has 10 nurses for its more than 70 residents, who each pay up to 6,000 yuan a month.
Man dumps baby in hotel
Shanghai police are looking for a man who abandoned his 10-month-old baby in a hotel this week, the Shanghai Daily reports. The man checked into a hotel on Tuesday and left without the child the next morning. Hotel cleaning staff found the baby in the room and notified the police. The police, who retrieved CCTV footage of the man and his hotel check-in information, have returned the infant to the man’s parents.
Around the nation: Ex-gymnast make his return – as street performer
Also, 'sanitary pads' for men that's good for the prostate and thrill-seeking diners get more than they bargained for as sky lounge's glass floor cracks
PUBLISHED : Monday, 15 December, 2014, 8:21pm
UPDATED : Monday, 15 December, 2014, 8:21pm
Former gymnastics champion Zhang Shangwu is back performing stunts on the streets - this time in the Shanghai subway. Photo: SCMP Pictures
BEIJING
‘Sanitary pads’ for men
A manufacturer of health-care products has designed a “sanitary napkin for men” that it claims can cure prostate inflammations, CCTV reports. The napkin comes with a chip that releases negatively charged ions to heal those afflicted with swollen, inflamed prostates, the firm said. It has also designed a shoe pad that it claims can cure heart disease.
Bogus walnuts
A street vendor has been exposed for selling fake antique walnuts, The Beijing News reports. Urban management officers found him selling the walnuts – a popular collectible – at 200 yuan (HK$253) a pair without antique certification. The paint on the nuts was faded and had seeped into the cloth they were wrapped in. The officers cracked open one and found a plastic ball inside.
HENAN
Traffic police imposter
A 27-year-old man has been detained for posing as a traffic police officer and collecting fines from drivers in Zhengzhou, Dahe Daily reports. Police found the man, dressed in police uniform, at a crossing, stopping all non-local trucks and imposing fines on them. One victim said the man did not say why he was being fined but demanded 100 yuan from him.
Extravagant denial
A detective chief from Ningling county has denied online accusations of indulging in extravagance, the Southern Metropolis Daily reports. Ningling police had earlier posted on Weibo a picture of him speaking at a meeting. Internet users pointed out that he was using a Montblanc pen, wearing a Burberry T-shirt and holding a Vertu luxury phone. The detective chief clarified that his wife had bought him the T-shirt for less than 100 yuan and he used a Samsung phone.
HUBEI
Search for lost phone
A woman who lost her phone on a bus in Wuhan insisted on having all passengers searched before they could alight, Xinhua reports. The woman called the police and asked them to search the bags and pockets of all the bus passengers. Half of the passengers refused as it intruded on their privacy; the others were searched but nothing was found.
Meal for thrills
Diners at Wuhan’s first sky lounge – a glass compartment suspended in the air by a crane – had a brush with death when a corner of the glass floor cracked, Cnhubei.com reports. Eight diners were having lunch in the sky lounge when a camera hanging above the table fell to the floor and caused it to crack. No one was injured. The lounge owner said there was no danger as all diners had to wear a safety belt attached to the crane.
QINGHAI
Killed and burned
A woman forced into prostitution was killed, dismembered and her corpse burned outside a courthouse in Xining after she tried to escape from the foot massage centre she was bound to, Qinghai Television reports. Security guards at the court called the police after they found human feet among the ashes. Initial investigations showed the 25-year-old had been beaten to death by her colleagues under their boss’ order.
Motorist’s balancing act
A motorist in Huangyuan county was detained after he overloaded his three-wheeled motorcycle with six primary school pupils, Qhnews.com reports. Police acted on a tip-off from a primary school. They stopped the motorist shortly after he left the school with the six pupils onboard. The pupils’ parents had paid the man to take the children home after school because they did not have the time to do it themselves, the report said.
SHANGHAI
‘Wi-fi thief’ app robbed
A popular smartphone application that steals Wi-fi passwords had its database stolen by a rival app developer, the Shanghai Morning Post reports. The Shanghai-based firm, which collects and shares public Wi-fi passwords, found its database of over a million passwords hacked into by external users. The stolen data – worth about a million yuan – was traced to a Nanjing-based IT firm, whose owner admitted he stole the data to develop a similar app. The owner and six employees were detained.
Gymnast back on streets
A former gymnastics champion has returned to performing stunts on the street for money, People.com.cn reports. Zhang Shangwu, who won the men’s rings final in the 2001 Universiade, retired in 2003 after he broke his Achilles’ tendon. In 2011, a tycoon gave him a job after finding him begging in Beijing, but Zhang has since quit. Photos online showed Zhang performing a headstand in the Shanghai subway. He also made headlines a few years ago when he sold his Universiade gold medal for just 100 yuan.
SICHUAN
Pregnant teen’s leap
A pregnant teenager leapt off a bridge into a river after a fight with her boyfriend on Sunday, Newssc.org reports. After she jumped, the boy went into the water and pulled her to shore. The girl, who is two months pregnant, was not hurt.
Toddler left behind
A couple left their three-year-old son in a taxi after an argument on their way home, the Chengdu Business Herald reports. The driver waited over an hour for the parents to return before taking the child to a nearby police station, but the boy was too young to tell the officers where he lived. When the father went to the same station to report the missing child 20 hours later, the officers were just about to transfer the boy to an orphanage. It turned out that the couple each thought the other had taken their son home.
SHANDONG
Catch of the day
Fishermen from Jiaozhou city have caught a giant deep-sea fish of an unknown species, the China News Service reports. The 50kg, 1.46-metre creature, which was caught in Jiaozhou Bay, was stored at a market in Qingdao because no one knew how to price the fish.
Nurses all booked
All private maternity nurses in Zibo city have been booked until March because parents want their babies to be born in the auspicious Year of the Horse, Qilu Evening News reports. Maternity nurses’ pay in Zibo has risen to 6,000 yuan. A nursing agency owner said nurses had to be booked at least a month in advance.
ZHEJIANG
Drunk teen goes missing
A 19-year-old girl who has been missing since Thursday was last seen drunk and taking a taxi home, the Qianjiang Evening News reports. The teenager had texted her cousin before boarding the cab, saying she was drunk and would be home soon. But when the cousin called her an hour later, her mobile phone had been turned off. A surveillance camera failed to capture the taxi’s number plate as it was too dark at the time.
‘Fresh air’ on flight
A passenger onboard a flight from Hangzhou to Chengdu, Sichuan, opened the plane door before it took off on Sunday to “get some fresh air”, the Southern Metropolis Daily reports. Photos taken by passengers showed the man sticking his head out of the safety door. The maintenance team rushed to fix the safety door and the flight took off on time, Hangzhou airport staff told the paper. The airline has yet to penalise the passenger.
Around the nation: 'Illegal' clubs by palace
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 17 December, 2014, 4:52am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 17 December, 2014, 4:52am
Historic buildings and parks are banned from housing or operating clubs and commercial entertainment venues. Photo: Reuters
Anhui
Couple die in shop fire
A couple died after a grocery store in Hefei caught fire in the early hours of Monday morning, the news website Anhuinews.com reports. A security guard on patrol nearby saw heavy smoke rising from the shop. The couple was found dead in a bedroom on the second floor when firefighters arrived. The fire is thought to have started in a pile of towels and batteries. The owner of the store said the victims were his sister and brother-in-law. They moved to the city two weeks ago for work and left their six-year-old son behind. Police are investigating the cause of the fire.
Peeping Tom arrested
A 50-year-old man from Hefei has been detained by the police after he was found to have filmed his woman flatmates taking showers, the news website Anhuinews.com reports. The man shared a three-bedroom apartment with two women for about six months. The women found a hole in a door the size of a bottled water cap when they were taking a shower last week and caught the man filming with his smart phone outside. They called the police and the man was arrested.
Beijing
Guards planned to rob
A security guard who planned to go on a robbing spree with two of his workmates turned himself in and reported their plans to the police, the Beijing Times reports. The three security guards at a company in the Fengtai district decided to rob drivers of luxury cars at night because they were unhappy with their low wages. They bought model guns, ropes and tape from online stores. One of them got cold feet and went to the police. His workmates were arrested while they were waiting for him at a meeting place.
'Illegal' clubs by palace
The authorities are investigating two temples near the Forbidden City in the centre of the capital that are alleged to house private luxury clubs and restaurants, Xinhua reports. Historic buildings and parks are banned from housing or operating clubs and commercial entertainment venues. Xinhua reporters went to the temples near the former imperial palace and found that guest rooms allegedly cost 4,500 yuan (HK$5,700) a night. The report said the city government had promised to investigate the clubs last year, but little appeared to have been done.
Henan
Jumped to flee fire
Witnesses said customers fleeing from a fatal fire at a karaoke bar in Changyuan county early on Monday morning had to jump from third and fourth-floor windows as there was no emergency exit, the news website People.com.cn reports. Eleven people died in the blaze. Neighbours said windows at the business facing neighbouring homes were sealed with wooden boards after complaints had been made about the noise. The local government said the venue did have a fire safety licence. The owner of the karaoke bar has been detained.
Children tied to tree
A homeless shelter in Gushi county near Luan has created controversy online after photographs were posted of two children tied to a tree in a yard, the Southern Metropolis News reports. The report also described worn out blankets and beds being used at the shelter. A member of staff said the children were tied up because they had behavioural problems and there were concerns about them "running around". The centre houses 20 homeless people, including the two children. An official said the centre was new, its management inexperienced and that although the children were tied to a tree, they could still "move around".
Hubei
Body 'missing student'
A body found on a river bank in Jingzhou is believed to be that of a 22-year-old missing college student, The Beijing News reports. Witnesses who found the woman's body said it did not appear to have been in the water long and there was blood on her forehead. The spot where the body was found is five bus stops away from her university. Police are investigating.
Unhealthy bonuses
A psychiatric hospital in Wuhan was found to have paid its doctors more if their patients spent a longer time there, the Hubei Daily reports. A yearly inspection at the Chu Kang Mental Hospital discovered that doctors were given bonuses on top of their monthly salary according to the number of hours their patients were in hospital. The city's health bureau said it was worried doctors would make patients stay in hospital longer than necessary.
Hunan
Cash thrown in face
A 29-year-old woman from Hengyang has tried to divorce her millionaire husband after he beat her and regularly threw cash in her face to insult her, the Sanxiang City Express reports. A court heard she lied about her age and married the man, 15 years older than her, when she was 16. He admitted beating her after he found she had an affair. The court rejected her plea for a divorce.
Missing boy found dead
A 17-year-old boy who went missing on a train travelling from Beijing to Xinhua county near Loudi two weeks ago has been found dead in a psychiatric hospital, the news website Dahe.cn reports. His body was cremated by the time his parents traced him to the hospital last Friday. His father lost touch with the boy after he took a nap as the train stopped in Xinyang in Henan province . Surveillance video later showed that the boy was brought to a police station nearby. He was transferred to a psychiatric hospital after he appeared to be mentally unstable and "attacked" staff. Four days after he was sent to the hospital, a nurse found him dead in bed. His parents said the boy had no mental illness and they have asked the police to investigate his death.
Sichuan
Self-sufficient farmer
A 72-year-old blind man who has lived alone for 30 years has refused to move to a home for the elderly as he said he did not want to trouble the authorities, the news website Newssc.org reports. The man from Tongjiang county near Bazhong still farms and gets a small government subsidy, most of which goes to medication.
Child killer appeals
A woman from Dazhou who was convicted of killing two toddlers is seeking to have her suspended death sentence overturned, the Chengdu Business Herald reports. The lawyer of the woman said they would appeal because the woman has schizophrenia. A court heard she beat her neighbour's children into a coma and threw them off a cliff. The woman told the court she was annoyed by her neighbour's renovation project and decided to kill their children in revenge.
Yunnan
Cancer patient jailed
A man with advanced liver cancer has been jailed for 5½ years in Kunming after he robbed a friend of 13,000 yuan to pay his medical bills, news website Yunnan.cn reports. The man was an employee at an iron and steel company and was diagnosed with cancer in March.
'Ideal fiancé' fraudster
A man from Kunming has been jailed for a year for swindling a friend on the messaging service WeChat out of 21,000 yuan, the news website Yunnan.cn reports. The woman thought the man would make an ideal future husband for her daughter as he said he was a member of a SWAT team in the city. He told her he had failed a civil service entrance exam and needed the cash to bribe officials. Police found he had spent the cash on smartphones and watches.
Shanghai parents caught using watches to spy on teachers
Staff Reporter
2014-12-16
Students at a classroom in an elementary school in Hebei province, Dec. 2. (File photo/Xinhua)
When a mother of a student in one of Shanghai Pudong New Area's primary schools began talking about material that was still being taught before the student's class had ended, investigations turned up a remote network monitoring (RMON) watch on the student's wrist. The watch was able to record and transmit what the teacher was saying in real time, reports Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po.
The teacher's privacy has been violated, lawyers said. But more investigations revealed that quite a few parents have been monitoring their children's teachers around the city, and more are interested.
The teacher, surnamed You, found out on WeChat that her student Xiao Yu's mother was talking about what You had taught on the same day earlier in class. You wondered what had happened, because Xiao Yu was still sitting in her class.
The parents of other students later found out that Xiao Yu had been wearing a RMON watch during class, which enables the receiver to hear what the teacher is saying in class. "I was immediately upset upon feeling like I am being monitored and spied on," said You, who saw this as an expression of mistrust and disrespect.
What made You more uncomfortable is that quite a few parents responded by asking where they could buy such a watch for their children. After searching for RMON watches for children on Taobao website, You found more than 10 shops offering similar products.
Other teachers, after having heard You's story, began looking to their own students. More watches were found in other classes.
Why did Xiao Yu's mother want to listen in on class? She said that she wanted to know if her boy was actively participating in class and discussion. If her boy was being bullied, she would have evidence.
Another mother said letting her children wear an RMON watch will help her coach her children's homework.
In response, the Pudong primary school swiftly convened a gathering for parents, allowing teachers to express their concerns and queries. Parents apologized to teachers, promising not to spy on classes again.
Zhang Jiqing, a Shanghai lawyer, said that although classes in schools are considered public places, citizens, including teachers, also have a right to privacy. The monitoring of their classrooms is technically illegal, as well as a violation of privacy laws.
China to name corrupt fugitives who fled overseas
Identities of corrupt officials to be made public at appropriate time, state media says, as anti-graft agency turns to provinces for help
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 16 December, 2014, 10:57pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 17 December, 2014, 9:25am
Keira Lu Huang [email protected]
Yu Zhendong, a former Bank of China branch manager in Guangdong, embezzled about 4 billion yuan before fleeing overseas. He was repatriated in 2004 and later sentenced to 12 years in jail. Photo: AP
The mainland will make public at an appropriate time the names of fugitives who have fled overseas, the People's Daily said yesterday.
The national graft-busting agency had set up an office to track down the suspected criminals and their assets overseas, but the investigations needed assistance at the local level, the Communist Party's mouthpiece added.
"The office will put more focus on major cases and those on the significant-case list, but in the end, we need local power to bring them back," the Daily cited an anonymous official at the office as saying.
The office would hand over some responsibility for investigating the cases to the party committee in the province where the official departed from the country.
"In the near future, there will be more and more corrupt officials coming back and placed under legal sanctions," the Daily said.
Operation Fox Hunt was launched in July, and 428 suspects had been apprehended so far, Xinhua reported the Ministry of Security as saying earlier this month.
Among those Beijing is seeking are several well-known former senior executives of state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
The party's graft-busters, the Central Committee for Discipline Inspection, would continue to strengthen measures to root out corruption at SOEs, a senior official at the agency said.
Hao Mingjin, deputy head of the supervision division, said the agency had dedicated some staff to monitoring 54 SOEs controlled by the central government.
The staff would deal directly with state asset regulators and the State Council, the anti-graft agency said on its website yesterday. Hao said corruption in the SOE sector was tied to bidding and mergers, and other investment deals.
Some senior executives had taken advantage of their power to help families and relatives with business in related areas, creating what was being called family corruption.
Top executives of the major state-owned enterprises are directly appointed by the party's Organisation Department.
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences also published its annual "blue book" on corruption and the government's efforts to root it out.
"Over 90 per cent of cadres are confident about the anti-corruption campaign in the future," China News Service said in a report on the publication of the book.
The blue book highlighted a growing problem of civil service employees ignoring their job duties in an effort to maintain a low-profile and stay off the radar of graft inspectors. But the campaign would continue unabated, it said.
The academy began publishing the book on anti-corruption in 2011.
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