中国Power !!!

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Around the nation: Chinese beggar's income buys him two flats in Beijing

Also, boy sparks bomb scare with prank on neighbours, and woman charged for killing husband's gambling buddy

PUBLISHED : Monday, 02 March, 2015, 7:32pm
UPDATED : Monday, 02 March, 2015, 7:32pm

The man was detained for feigning disability to beg in the Beijing subway. Photo: 163.com

BEIJING

Rags for riches

A 47-year-old man has been detained for feigning disability and begging in the subway, Beijing Youth Daily reports. The man said he earned 20,000 yuan (HK$25,000) a month by dressing shabbily and sitting on the ground, dragging himself across the floor with his hands, and the money helped him buy two flats in Beijing. He said he used to earn only 2,000 yuan a month as a migrant worker.

Druggies doubled

Beijing police have arrested more than 1,500 drug addicts so far this year, double that for the same period last year, the Beijing Evening News reports. This year, police cracked down on more than 300 drug trade cases and seized 80kg worth of drugs.

GUANGDONG

Family's killer found

A man suspected of killing a family of three in Shenzhen last month was arrested in Shanxi province and taken back to the city on Saturday, the Shenzhen Evening News reports. A relative had found the couple and their eight-year-old son lying dead in a pool of blood in their flat in Luohu district on February 24. Police found the victims' belongings in the suspect's home in Yangquan city, Shanxi.

Circuit court in session

China's first circuit court, located in Shenzhen, heard its first case yesterday. The First Circuit Court of the Supreme People's Court will hear 16 of the more than 500 cases it has received; more than 400 cases were from Guangdong residents. The court is aimed at raising judicial independence and cutting interference by local party officials. It will act as Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan provinces' final appellate court, sharing the supreme court's power of final adjudication.

HEILONGJIANG

Highway tragedy

Four people died and many others were injured when a coach carrying 57 people crashed into a road divider and fell on its side in Hailun on early on Sunday morning, Hljnews.cn reports. The driver lost control of the bus along the Hegang-Harbin expressway because of slippery road conditions.

'Bad friends' punished

The Ningan people's court has ordered three men to compensate the family of their 23-year-old friend who drowned in a river in July, Dbw.cn reports. The victim was drunk and, although a non-swimmer, took up a bet with his friends that he could swim in the river. The trio later tried to rescue their drowning friend but failed, and the man's parents sued them. The court said the men should pay the victims' parents 10 per cent of the amount demanded.

HENAN

Heroic deed covered up

A woman in Puyang confessed that she made her children lie to police because she did not want to be held responsible for the death of the 24-year-old man who drowned after saving two of her children, Henan Business Daily reports. College student Meng Ruipeng died in a lake in Qingfeng county's Xizhaolou village on Thursday after pulling two drowning children, aged four and seven, to shore. The woman left the scene with the children before police came, and later coached the children to say that Meng was coincidentally also in the water with them at the time.

Taking it out on the kid

A 27-year-old woman in Xiangcheng county has been arrested for killing her neighbour's three-year-old daughter, Dahe Daily reports. The girl's body was found in a cornfield on January 11 after she went missing on December 25. The woman told police she strangled the girl to death when the child entered her home shortly after she had had an argument with her husband.

JIANGXI

Mining blast kills three

Three miners were killed in an explosion in a coal mine in Jingdezhen on Saturday, with another still trapped in the pit, Jxnews.com.cn reports. The accident occurred as the miners were working underground in the state-run Yongshan coal mine in Leping township. Its cause is being investigated.

Corrupt official jailed

The people's court in Fuzhou city's Linchuan district has sentenced Liao Xiaochang, director of the Communist Party central committee's organisation department in Nanfeng county, to six years' jail for abusing his power, Jxnews.com.cn reports. Liao took bribes of more than 360,000 yuan between 2006 and last year, selling posts to more than 30 local officials and offering projects to developers and businessmen.

JILIN

A neighbour's prank

An elderly couple in Jilin city called police on Saturday after they found a box in front of their fifth-floor flat with a note saying "Be careful, bomb inside", Xwh.cn reports. All residents in the building were evacuated and an explosion-proof vehicle and bomb disposal robot were sent to the scene. Police later found only a paper ball in the box. It was apparently a practical joke by a 12-year-old boy living on the fourth floor of the building.

Drinking to fame

A man in Siping has posted online a video clip of himself downing two 380ml bottles of feminine wash and two bottles of iodophor-containing disinfectant, Xwh.cn reports. The man said he was trying to break the record of another man in the province who became an internet celebrity after he posted a video of himself drinking various chemicals.

SHANGHAI

Wrath of a wife

A 47-year-old woman has been charged for stabbing to death her husband's gambling buddy, Shanghai Television reports. The woman said the man got her husband addicted to gambling and would cover up for him whenever she tried to get her husband to return home. She stabbed the man in his left armpit in October after he refused to help her locate her husband who was out gambling.

Burglars busted

Police have busted a gang of six burglars who have broken into more than 50 flats downtown since they arrived in Shanghai on January 10, People.com.cn reports. The gang broke into properties in the Pudong New Area, Baoshan, Yangpu, Hongkou and Jiading districts by scaling drainpipes and gaining access through balconies or air-conditioner frames.

YUNNAN

Evening earthquake

A 5.5-magnitude earthquake struck Lincang city's Cangyuan county at 6.24pm on Sunday, China News Service reports. The China Earthquake Networks Centre said the quake occurred at a depth of 11km. No deaths had been reported by yesterday afternoon, but more than 20 people in Mengding township of Gengma Dai and Wa Autonomous County suffered minor injuries. The number of buildings damaged and economic losses caused by the quake is still unknown.

Tourists fall, revenues rise

Yunnan province's tourism industry generated total revenue of 265 billion yuan last year - more than 26 per cent higher than that in 2013 - although the number of foreign tourists fell for the first time in recent years, Yunnan.cn reports. The number of foreign tourists dropped 0.46 per cent last year because of the rising cost of travelling to China. Tourism is one of Yunnan's pillar industries, accounting for over 20 per cent of the province's gross domestic product.

 

[Annihilation]

Chinese military intelligence chief Xing Yunming held in graft inquiry

PLA graft-busters detain the former head of the overseas espionage agency, Major General Xing Yunming, in lead-up to Lunar New Year

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 04 March, 2015, 11:20pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 05 March, 2015, 7:45am

Minnie Chan in Beijing [email protected]

Xing Yunming has been detained by military graft-busters. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The chief of a Chinese military intelligence agency is under investigation for alleged corruption, detained by graft-busters in the run-up to Lunar New Year, according to two independent sources.

Major General Xing Yunming, the former liaison office head of the People's Liberation Army's General Political Department, was taken away by the army's anti-graft watchdog on February 17.

He was in charge of overseas espionage and is better known to the West as the vice-chairman of the government-backed China Association for International Friendly Contact, which used to be the Department of Enemy Work.

"Xing was born in the Year of Goat, and some are saying sarcastically that it was his year to be taken away," one of the sources said.

Xing's detention follows that of Ma Jian, former executive deputy minister of the omnipotent Ministry of State Security. Ma is closely linked to Ling Jihua , who was detained last month on corruption charges and was an aide to former president Hu Jintao.

Ma is the highest-ranking national security official to be investigated since the downfall of Zhou Yongkang, the former security tsar who was detained in July over alleged corruption.

Military observers said the detentions pointed to an overhaul of the Communist Party's intelligence wings in the aftermath of Zhou's arrest.

Xing is also a former subordinate of Xu Caihou, the disgraced former vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission who headed the General Political Department from 2002 to 2004. However, the source said Xing's arrest was not directly related to Xu, but to another former CMC vice-chairman, Guo Boxiong .

Another source close to the army, who like Xing is from Shandong province, confirmed Xing's detention, but said the reason for it was not clear.

The liaison office also used to be part of the enemy work department but its job now is to foster contacts with retired foreign military officials, according to Professor Arthur Ding Shu-fan, from the Taipei-based Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies.

"The CAIFC is really an intelligence agency affiliated with the General Political Department to study foreign military strategies. Its goal is to come up with measures to destroy the PLA's enemies," Ding said. "Xing's case is probably part of a massive political effort to clear the intelligence system of partisans of Zhou and Xu."

Xing's public roles include membership of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

The CAIFC's website still listed Xing as its vice-chairman yesterday. It did not refer to his military background, a common practice to mask an intelligence officer's identity. But Xing's PLA background was apparent from the website for Yongfeng county in Shanxi province, the hometown of late PLA general Guo Linxiang .

The report said Xing was a key aide to Guo, who retired as deputy head of the General Political Department in 1992 and died in 2010 aged 96. Early reports carried by US-based portal Mingjing said the PLA's anti-graft watchdog started internal investigations into Xing in September.

 

[Pfizer]

 

[Midway]

Stay alert beneath the dome

By Ni Dandan Source: Global Times Published: 2015-3-5 19:08:03

If you've lived in Shanghai for a while, then you're no stranger to smog. But after the documentary film Beneath the Dome came out last week, the attention called to the damage that the constant smog does to people's health grows ever higher.

Although the city's environment bureau said that in 2014, Shanghai saw a 16-percent year-on-year decline in the level of PM2.5 pollutant particles, persistent coughing troubled a large number of people over the past winter.

A more worrying fact is that lung cancer has become the most lethal type of cancer in China. The public can't help but relate the high cancer rate to the growing problem of air pollution.

A few doctors in the city told the Global Times that although the country lacks studies and evidence to prove the direct link, theoretically such a conclusion has a foundation. "The causes of lung cancer are quite complex and China is still in the early stage of researching smog. But given that the main air pollutant in China, PM2.5 particles, can carry carcinogens like benzo(a)pyrene, it makes sense that constantly breathing in the particles could cause cancer," said Huang Yanxi, a doctor in the department of respiratory medicine at Shanghai International Medical Center.

He added that in some developed countries like Japan, the US and Canada, research has shown that the number of lung cancer cases increases as PM2.5 levels rise.

Yang Kun, a pulmonologist and medical director of United Family Home Health, also believes there's a close relationship. "Preliminary research conducted in Europe has proved that PM particles are linked with lung cancer just like smoking."

What's worse is that these particles can also cause damage to the cardiovascular system and are hazardous to the young and the old, Yang said.

Obvious impact

Although it might take a few more years for the country to study the relationship between smog and lung cancer in China, the city's doctors are sure that the foul air had a lot to do with the large number of patients who came down with respiratory illnesses over the past winter.

"After a few smoggy days straight, the number of patients at our clinic would apparently increase. They were troubled by different types of problems, like coughing, rhinitis, faucitis and tracheitis," said Fei Gang, an ENT specialist with ParkwayHealth.

Compared with more than 20 years ago, the number of faucitis patients today is incredibly large, Fei said. "Some 90 percent of our outpatients have this problem. I can't say it's all a direct result of the smog. But the air does impact people's health in a subtle and gradual process," he said.

Based on his clinical experience, Yang said foreigners new to the country were more prone to be affected by the smog. One of his American patients started to suffer from asthma within three months of arriving in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, in northeastern China.

"The outbreak of his asthma was very serious and difficult to alleviate," Yang said. "During that period, the AQI (Air Quality Index) in Harbin ranged between 300 and 500, meaning the air was severely polluted. His condition only improved after he stayed in Shanghai for a while. That case shows an obvious direct link with the air quality. That man eventually decided to leave China."

According to the doctor, the health of foreign children new to the city could also be fragile in such an environment. He has seen children sent for emergency treatment because they had difficulty breathing. "Some foreign children have a history of asthma. But the disease can be controlled, and without an apparent trigger, it won't easily recur. I believe, the high PM2.5 level is just the trigger here, which people normally don't have the ability to control or avoid," Yang said.

Get protection

Given the reality, the doctors gave a few suggestions for how people could better protect themselves. They strongly recommended that people check the frequently updated AQI figures.

If one has to travel outside on a day when the AQI is higher than 100, the doctors said wearing a mask that can filter the particles, like the N95 respirator, can be helpful. But the tight respirators could make people feel extremely uncomfortable, so Fei proposed wearing a big, thick scarf. "Apparently, a scarf cannot ward off tiny particles. But it helps keep one's nasal and oral cavities warm and wet, which is beneficial," he said.

On a smoggy day, one has to drink enough water to accelerate the discharge of toxic substances, Fei said. "Drinking water helps to stimulate the secretion of sputum crudum, which helps to discharge dirty stuff. An adult needs to drink between 1.5 and 2 liters of water a day," he said, adding that taking vitamin C pills, eating apples or drinking orange juice also help.

Air purifiers have been highly controversial. Fei suggested that households turn on a purifier only when the AQI surpasses 100, otherwise the level of carbon dioxide gets too high in the closed environment, which also does harm to people's health.

Yang agrees, saying that indoor pollutants like formaldehyde could be another threat if doors and windows are shut for too long. He suggested households open their windows for twice a day, 20 minutes each time, even on a polluted day.

But Huang has a different point of view. He doesn't believe air purifiers available on the market can do much with PM2.5 particles. "Most purifiers only function to absorb dust and peculiar odors. They might be able to filter away an extremely small amount of tiny particles, but I doubt whether they can bring about a fundamental change," he said.

All the doctors believe it's not a professional respiratory device or air purifier, but a fundamental improvement to the environment that can ease people's worries. And with a growing awareness about the issue, each individual should make their own contribution by either quitting smoking, taking public transportation instead of driving, or other changes.

Fei Gang, an ENT specialist with ParkwayHealth, examines a patient. Photo: Courtesy of ParkwayHealth

The Bund is shrouded in smog Tuesday. Photo: CFP

 

[Spetsnaz]

Police seize over 150,000 fake train tickets

Source: Xinhua Published: 2015-3-3 19:46:20

Chinese police confiscated 155,760 counterfeit train tickets during this year's Spring Festival traffic rush.

The tickets were seized during an investigation into train ticket crimes that began on Dec. 7 last year, in which the railway police uncovered 231 cases, according to a statement released Tuesday by the railway police authorities.

Many cases involved the online sale of fake tickets as customers were desperate to secure tickets after tickets through official channels had sold out.

 

[Spetsnaz]

Around the nation: Lijiang, Xishuangbanna among Chinese tourists' top cities to escape pollution

Also, villagers loot and trade 'precious' porcelain artefacts, and couple convert their cash to ash by mistake

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 05 March, 2015, 10:32pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 05 March, 2015, 10:32pm

Indigenous villagers perform beneath the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in Lijiang, Yunnan province. Photo: EPA

YUNNAN

Visit for fresh air

Yunnan province's Lijiang and Xishuangbanna have been listed as two of the top 10 Chinese cities of choice for tourists keen to avoid air pollution, Yunnan.cn reports. The rankings, by Chinese tourism website Ctrip.com also include Sanya in Hainan, Xiamen in Fujian and Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan . Outside of China, top tourist destinations for avoiding the smog include Thailand, Cambodia, the Maldives, Japan and Austria.

Sacked over stampede

Seven officials in Kunming have been sacked to take responsibility for a school stampede last year that left six children dead and 26 injured, Xinhua reports. The sacked officials included a deputy district governor and a deputy director of Kunming's education bureau. The stampede took place on September 26 at a primary school in Panlong district.

FUJIAN

Fatal highway crash

Four people died and 24 were injured on Tuesday night after a bus overturned on a highway in Quanzhou , Xinhua reports. The coach, which was carrying 47 people, suddenly lost control on the road at about 11pm. Of those injured, four were in serious condition. The accident is being investigated.

Bribe-taker jailed

The director of the provincial electronics products quality supervision and inspection institute has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for cultivating a network of corruption, Mnw.cn reports. The Intermediate People's Court in Fuzhou found that he took about 480,000 yuan (HK$603,000) of bribes from several electronics producers between 2011 and 2013. In return, he helped them bribe officials from the provincial commissions for foreign trade and economy to grant funds to the firms.

GANSU

Smelly-water scare

People in Lanzhou emptied supermarket shelves of bottled water after a resident complained of a foul smell in tap water on Wednesday, Xinhua reports. The city government tried to quell fears by telling the public that the water quality was still normal, but residents swept up bottled water in shops nevertheless. The incident comes after pollutants, including benzene, ammonia and ethylene, leaked into the city's tap water multiple times last year.

'Prosecutor' prosecuted

An unemployed man in Lanzhou has been sentenced to four years and 10 months in jail for cheating two people of more than 160,000 yuan by posing as a prosecutor, the Lanzhou Morning Post reports. The man told his victims he could help their relatives who were in trouble with the law to get their sentences reduced.

GUANGDONG

First rare infection

A 40-year-old woman has been diagnosed with a rare bacterial infection that is the first of its kind in China and only the fourth such case worldwide, according to the University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Hospital, the Southern Metropolis News reports. She has been suffering from mycobacterium haemophilum, which affects the central nervous system and the skin, since September - which resulted in serious brain damage, paralysis of half of her body and a skin rash - but is recovering after treatment.

New 'kindness law'

Good Samaritans in Guangzhou can be awarded up to one million yuan under the city's new Good Samaritan law, the New Express reports. The law, which takes effect later this year, will pay Good Samaritans who suffer minor injuries from helping others up to 20,000 yuan. Those who are severely injured can get up to 400,000 yuan and those who lose their ability to work, up to 100,000 yuan. The families of those who sacrifice their own lives to save others will get a million yuan.

GUANGXI

Drug ring busted

Police in Guilin have busted a ring of illegal drug makers, arresting 10 people and seizing 1.2 tonnes of ketamine in the city's biggest such case, Xinhua reports. Police took apart two methamphetamine laboratories in a remote mountain area and seized 420kg of raw materials and four guns.

Precious porcelain … not

Thousands of porcelain pieces were uncovered at a highway construction site in Pubei county on Tuesday, drawing hundreds of village looters to the site, Gxnews.com.cn reports. Some villagers even began trading their loot on the spot at prices of between 500 and 2,000 yuan. The porcelain pieces were later found to have been produced in the 1960s and hence not worth as much as expected.

HUNAN

From cash to ash

A property contractor's wife accidentally burned to ashes the 100,000 yuan he was going to use to pay his employees, Voc.com.cn reports. The man had borrowed the money from his relatives and friends and the couple decided to hide the cash in the kitchen stove before the workers' pay was due. But the wife forgot about it and burned wood in the stove to prepare a meal. By the time she realised her mistake, it was too late.

Teens' travel plans foiled

A 13-year-old boy in Loudi stole 30,000 yuan from home on Tuesday to embark on his plan to travel around the world with three classmates, Voc.com.cn reports. The group stole an adult's ID card from an internet cafe and used it to buy train tickets to Guangzhou. But a policeman stopped them from boarding the long-distance train as they appeared suspicious without any luggage with them.

JILIN

Drunk driver's ploy

A man in Changchun barged into a restaurant and pretended he was its chef - all to avoid getting arrested for drink-driving, Xwh.cn reports. The man had stopped his car about 50 metres from a police alcohol checkpoint and entered the restaurant in a hurry. Police who noticed his strange behaviour followed him in to find him chopping vegetables in the kitchen. He insisted that he was the restaurant's chef but after being taken to the police station, admitted that he had been driving while drunk and tried to escape the alcohol test by pretending that he worked there.

Elderly woman hurt

A 90-year-old woman in Changchun was seriously injured after being attacked by her 53-year-old mentally ill son, Chinajilin.com.cn reports. The woman, who sustained injuries throughout her body including on both hands, face and ribs, said she had been caring for her son for many years but was now too old to do so.

SHANGHAI

Family tragedy

The bodies of a 53-year-old man and his wife were found hanging from a tree in a grove in Qingpu district on Wednesday after the man attacked his 11-year-old stepdaughter with a hammer, Dfdaily.com reports. The girl survived being repeatedly hammered on the head after undergoing an emergency operation yesterday. The incident reportedly took place after the couple had had a fight. Police are investigating.

Refuge for crisis

The municipal authorities will build 19 more emergency shelters this year to protect residents from natural disasters, Eastday.com reports. So far, 30 emergency shelters have been built since 2010. They can hold a total of 200,000 people in the event of disasters such as fires, floods or earthquakes.

 

[Spetsnaz]

Around the nation: Skate scooters banned on Shanghai roads after man killed in accident

Also, cola dissolves stones found in woman's stomach, and forgetful thief caught after lending stolen phone to victim

PUBLISHED : Friday, 06 March, 2015, 6:40pm
UPDATED : Friday, 06 March, 2015, 6:40pm

Shanghai police are cracking down on people who use electric skate scooters on its busy roads. Photo: Eastday.com

SHANGHAI

Skate scooters banned

Shanghai police will crack down on people who use electric skate scooters on the roads, Eastday.com reports. The move comes after a 51-year-old man who was riding one such skate scooter on the road on Monday, died after he was hit by a taxi.

Killing for shelter

Police have arrested a 35-year-old tramp for stabbing a 46-year-old homeless man to death with a pocket knife, Jfdaily.com reports. It had been raining hard at about 1.30am on Tuesday, and the two men were fighting for the right to sleep at the entrance of a subway station.

GANSU

Smelly-water inquiry

Experts from the environmental protection ministry and Tsinghua University have arrived in Lanzhou to investigate the smelly tap water that sent residents into a bottled-water-buying frenzy, People.com.cn reports. The authorities promised to keep the public updated and to rid the water of the odour soon.

Old noodles

Lanzhou archaeologists say the history of the city's popular hand-pulled noodles may date as far back as 4,000 years, the Lanzhou Daily reports. Experts at the Lajia archaeological site on the Yellow River found evidence of the noodles that were about 4,000 years old. Lanzhou's hand-pulled noodles are one of China's most ubiquitous wheat products.

GUANGDONG

Gendered race

More than 35,000 women will take part in China's first women-only marathon on International Women's Day on Sunday, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reports. The volunteers for the China (Shenzhen) Women's Marathon's race events are all male, however. Runners who complete the course within the specified time will receive a unique silver necklace each. There are three categories - the full 42km marathon, a 21km stretch, and a 5.5km race.

Grants for cars

The Shenzhen government will subsidise buyers of private electric cars up to 60,000 yuan (HK$75,500) each, The Southern Metropolis News reports. The money will come from a 5-billion-yuan fund aimed at boosting the sales and use of new-energy vehicles. Additionally, taxi firms will get a 55,800-yuan subsidy for each regular vehicle that they replace with an electric taxi. They will also be granted more business licences for electric taxis.

JIANGSU

Forgetful phone thief

A man has been sentenced to six months' jail for stealing an iPhone 4S at an internet café in Nanjing , Dsqq.cn reports. He had taken the phone from its owner after he fell asleep while playing an online game. When the owner woke and found his phone missing, he left the internet café and tried to borrow someone else's phone to make a police report. He came across the thief who, not recognising his victim, lent him the phone he had just stolen. Upon realising that it was his missing phone, the owner apprehended the thief and turned him in to police.

Medical 'miracle'

Suzhou doctors recently found two stones the size of chicken's eggs in the stomach of a woman in her 40s, Dsqq.com reports. They suspected that the stones were formed from her habit of eating large amounts of hawthorn, dates, persimmons and crab on an empty stomach. As the woman did not want to extract the stones via an operation, she was advised to drink cola to dissolve them. After three days of doing so, she was surprised when a check-up showed the stones were gone.

SHANDONG

Official quits over tigers

A Qingdao People's Congress deputy resigned and publicly apologised on Thursday for illegally breeding three Siberian tigers, Iqilu.com reports. He had kept the tigers in cages on the top floor of a building in Pingdu, but one escaped and fell to its death after being startled by Lunar New Year fireworks. The man was fined the maximum penalty of 3,000 yuan for raising wildlife without a permit.

Island rights for sale

The province is seeking buyers for rights to use its 557 desert islands, Nbd.com.cn reports. At a cost of up to 100 million yuan, buyers can use the islands for tourism and fishery among other uses for up to 50 years.

SICHUAN

Flights to Osaka

A direct flight linking Chengdu and Osaka in Japan will be launched on March 30, Scol.com.cn reports. The move comes amid an increasing wave of Chinese tourists flocking to the Japanese city as the Japanese government relaxes its visa policy and the yen falls against the renminbi. The 180-seat Airbus A320 will fly every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, with its maiden flight priced at just 399 yuan.

Data-miner jailed

A man in Dazhou has been sentenced to a year's jail for illegally selling personal information, Scol.com.cn reports. The man had teamed up with a policeman from Guizhou province to sell data, such as people's addresses, phone numbers and car licence plate numbers, to others online from April 2013 to August last year. The personal information had been extracted by the officer from the police system. The crooked pair made 150,000 yuan from their illicit business, charging up to hundreds of yuan for each transaction.

TIBET

Temple restoration

Tibetan authorities will spend 10 million yuan to restore frescoes at Labrang Monastery, one of the six great temples of the Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, Xinhua reports. The restoration work on the temple that was founded in 1709 will take two years, beginning next month. Natural erosion over the past 300 years has left the frescoes in dire need of repair.

Mountain of waste

Tibet's mountain climbing management centre will charge Mount Everest climbers between US$100 (HK$776) and US$200 as an environmental protection fee, China News Service reports. Garbage and human waste has been piling up on the world's highest peak in recent years as more people attempt to conquer the mountain. More than 4,000 people have done so since 1953. Last year, 180 attempted the climb, with 120 reaching the top.

ZHEJIANG

Drunk driver held

Wenzhou police have arrested a drunk driver for running over a couple who had lain down in the middle of the road after a quarrel, the Qianjiang Evening News reports. The married couple, aged 19 and 35, had had a tiff on a busy road in Yongjia county. The woman laid down on the ground and the man soon followed suit. Other vehicles on the road swerved to avoid them, but the drunk driver, who was in a black BMW, ran over the pair. Police found later that his blood-alcohol level was four times the permitted limit. The couple were seriously injured in the accident.

Cattle crash

A semi-trailer carrying 28 cows overturned on a highway in Hangzhou on Thursday evening, causing the animals to run amok on the road and damage two nearby cars, Zjol.com.cn reports. The vehicle had lost control and crashed into the highway's guardrails before flipping over in the centre of the road. Two cars could not stop in time and ran into the cows who had escaped.

 

[Spetsnaz]

Six mainland Chinese women held after HK$1.5m diamond theft at Hong Kong jewellery show

One gem was recovered; another worth HK$500,000 remains missing

PUBLISHED : Monday, 02 March, 2015, 2:49pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 03 March, 2015, 12:32am

Clifford Lo [email protected]

Police display fake gems seized in connection with the robbery of two three-carat diamonds worth HK$1.5 million at a jewellery show at the AsiaWorld-Expo. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Mainland thieves eluded heavy security and stole two three-carat diamonds worth about HK$1.5 million by swapping the gems with fakes just an hour after Hong Kong's biggest international jewellery show opened at the airport yesterday.

Four female visitors from the mainland were arrested, but only one of the two diamonds was recovered. The other gem, valued at about HK$500,000, was missing, according to police.

Senior inspector Abraham Yu Pok-hon, of New Territories South regional crime unit, said the four women, aged from 25 to 35, were probably part of a gang which came to the city to raid the Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem and Pearl Show at the AsiaWorld-Expo.

Yu noted that police had introduced heavy security at the venue as thieves persistently strike at the annual event.

Two of the well-dressed women posed as clients. They asked staff to show them a three-carat diamond at one of the booths at 11.15am.

A dazzling array of designers, artisans, producers, traders and industry experts are bringing their wares to the city for the HKTDC Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem and Pearl Show and HKTDC Hong Kong International Jewellery Show. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Staff members suspected the diamond had been swapped and stopped the two women aged 29 and 30. They alerted police, who arrested the pair after officers recovered the diamond worth HK$980,000 from the suspects. A fake gem was found at the scene.

About 15 minutes later, the other two women asked staff at another booth to show them a three-carat diamond worth HK$500,000. Staff noticed a fake diamond after the pair left the booth. They gave chase and stopped the women, aged 25 and 35. The pair were arrested but the real gem was not recovered.

In a third case, at about 12.50pm, two more mainland women, aged 23 and 41, were stopped by police at a booth and searched. They were arrested for attempted theft after being found with a fake diamond.

Last night, the six suspects were being held for questioning. None had been charged. Yu urged exhibitors to deploy extra staff to guard their booths. "They should show diamonds one by one to clients, so criminals don't get a chance to steal," he said.

The fair, which runs until Friday, showcases loose stones and raw jewellery materials.

A second fair, the Hong Kong International Jewellery Show, will run from tomorrow until Sunday at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai, highlighting finished products. Described as the "world's largest jewellery marketplace", more than 4,300 exhibitors from 52 places take part in the two events.

 

[Midway]

Around the nation: Fashion sense overrules common sense in SUV crash

Also: Bothers beat driver, smash his car, later find he is their sister's husband; Man burgles neighbour to pay for holiday in warmer climes

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 08 March, 2015, 8:45pm
UPDATED : Sunday, 08 March, 2015, 8:45pm

A driver in Dali, Yunnan, mistook the accelerator for the brake and bumped a parking stone into a nearby wall. Photo: SCMP Pictures

YUNNAN

Heels on wheels

A woman has been warned by police in Dali not to wear high-heels while driving after she crashed her jeep into a stone parking stud because her shoes made it hard to control the large vehicle, the Chutian Metropolis Daily reports. She told police she thought she was stopping in the brake pedal when in fact it was the accelerator. Nobody was hurt, but police advised her to wear suitable shoes in future.

Taking offence

Four men have been fined 20,000 yuan each for damaging a Lexus sedan parked outside a karaoke in Dali that belonged to a man who they thought had offended their women friends, Yunnan.cn reports. The owner shouted "all pretty ladies can get in my car" as he left the building in March last year, and the four men, who were with several women, took exception to it.

ANHUI

Dog helps save master

A motorcyclist in his 40s cheated death when he had an epileptic seizure and crashed into a truck in Hefei on Friday night, the Anhui Commercial News reports. Passers-by were alerted after when the motorcyclist's Husky dog began barking loudly as is sat beside his owner, who was wedged beneath his bike. They realised he was having a seizure and stuffed a rolled handkerchief into his mouth to avoid swallowing his tongue. He suffered minor injuries and regained consciousness after being treated in hospital.

Fireworks to be returned

Fireworks retailers in Hefei should return their unsold stocks to suppliers by tomorrow or face fines of up to 5,000 yuan (HK$6,200), the Jianghuai Morning Post reports. As the Lunar New Year period wound down, safety officials had begun inspecting the 419 authorised sellers in

the city to ensure none of them continue to sell them, the report says.

GUANGDONG

Python perpetrator

Two farmers in Meizhou who correctly suspected a python for the disappearance of several chickens caught the snake on Friday and handed it to forestry rangers, Zgmuye.com reports. They caught the 2.8-metre reptile, which weighed 24kg, with a net. They said it was surprisingly docile, probably because it was digesting a chicken dinner.

Relatively stupid

Two brothers have been detained for beating up a man and vandalising his car after an accident, without knowing he was their brother-in-law, the Meizhou Daily reports. Two weeks ago, one of the brothers, aged 24, fell off his motorcycle after coming in contact with the car. He slapped the driver's and smashed the car's windscreen. Their connections became clear when their families were called to the police station.

GUANGXI

Underage sex charge

A 18-year-old man has been detained on suspicion of having sex with a 13-year-old girl in Guilin , the Guilin Evening News reports. She left home after quarrelling with her parents late last month and met the man and his friend. They checked into a guesthouse and the two made contact after the friend fell asleep. She told her family about the encounter and he was caught immediately. He claimed he did not know her age, and that she consented, which the girl denies.

Wrong message

41-year-old man has been arrested in Guilin for using ketamine and providing a place for five others to use the drug, Jcrb.com reports. He invited the others to a hotel room on February 16 where they snorted the drug through straws. Apparently hallucinating, he sent a text message to his girlfriend saying he had been kidnapped in the hotel. Police arrived moments later and arrested them all.

JILIN

Boss sought over death

Changchun police are looking for the employer of a 24-year-old man who was killed in a fireworks accident at work on February 28, Chinajilin.com.cn reports. He was asked to set off the fireworks to mark the company's first day of business of the Lunar New Year, but suffered serious burns to his face and neck. His boss called his family after he died, to accept responsibility. But when the family arrived the boss had fled.

Deadly driver surrenders

A man turned himself in to police in Jilin city on Saturday after he killed two people while driving in the wrong lane two days earlier, China National Radio reports. Police pleaded for witnesses to come forward on Wednesday after two men in a taxi were killed in a collision with a white BMW whose driver could not be found. On Friday they released an image of the driver captured by surveillance camera.

SHANDONG

Jaded customer

A beauty parlour customer in Jinan has fallen out with the boutique after her jade pendant was damaged during a treatment, the Qilu Evening News reports. She removed the pendant and put it on a table before the session. A staff member carelessly swept it onto the floor, and the customer later found that a small piece had broken fallen off. She asked for 3,000 yuan to repair the jade, which she had bought for 10,000 yuan, but was given only 400 yuan. She cashed in her loyalty card and vowed never to return.

Thief's southern getaway

A man has been arrested in for burgling his neighbour's house and stealing about 50,000 yuan, Shm.com.cn reports. Surveillance footage showed he broke into the house on February 28, but had not been seen in the area for several days. He reappeared on March 3 and was questioned by police. He said he felt a strong urge to travel but could not afford it. He spent the stolen money on a southern trip that included Sanya , Shenzhen and Yunnan .

SICHUAN

Heartbreak journey

Two sisters, aged nine and 10, could not bear seeing their parents return to work in Guangdong after Lunar New Year, so packed some clothes and 40 yuan in cash, and set off from their home in Luzhou to walk more than 2,000km to the southern coast, Scol.com.cn reports. About 30km into their journey, the girls, freezing and soaked by rain, were approached by a man who suspected they were lost. He fed them at home, but when they did not say anything, he called the police.

Fatal rejection

A man, 19, leapt to his death in Suining after a woman friend turned down his request for a romantic relationship, the news portal Wj001.com reports. He made his move while the two were dining with friends, but was rejected. He threatened to jump into a nearby river, but they did think he was serious. When they realised he was, it was too late to save him.

TIANJIN

Lucky escape

An elderly man who fell into a river in Hedong district has a narrow escape when several passers-by saved him, the Tianjin newspaper Jinwanbao reports. Two people first spotted the man in Yueya river on Friday morning, and shouted for help while calling police. Two other men entered the water and carried him out as paramedics arrived. A doctor said the man was minutes away death when he was rescued.

Honesty pays

A man who dropped 4,000 yuan on a pavement in Hexi district late Friday was pleasantly surprised to discover that three women picked up the cash and returned it in full, the Jinwanbao reports. Surveillance footage showed the money slipped out of his wallet as he crossed a road, leaving a trail of scattered banknotes. He returned shortly after and got his money back.

 

[DSGunner]

Calls mount to reinvest illegal Chinese wealth in schemes to improve livelihood

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 08 March, 2015, 4:04am
UPDATED : Sunday, 08 March, 2015, 4:04am

Jane Cai in Beijing [email protected]

Calls mount to reinvest illegal Chinese wealth in schemes to improve livelihood

As the central government boasts the successes of the anti-corruption crusade, the public is showing a keen interest in the whereabouts of the confiscated money.

Calls are mounting for it to be allocated towards improving people's livelihoods, especially given Beijing's push to boost domestic consumption to pull the world's second largest economy out of the doldrums.

For years, corrupt officials were sitting on an astonishing amount of cash, gold, real estate, antiques and other luxuries. The Supreme People's Court has confiscated 55.3 billion yuan (HK$70 billion) of ill-gotten gains over the past five years, the Legal Daily reported in November.

Beijing is also trying to claw back dirty money hidden overseas, and is boosting international collaboration to locate and repatriate the corrupt officials who took the money with them. Global Financial Integrity, a US-based organisation that tracks illicit financial flows, estimates that US$1.078 trillion in corrupt funds flooded out of China between 2001 and 2011.

Chen Jiping, party secretary of the China Law Society, said on the sidelines of a Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on Friday that all the confiscated money would eventually go to the central government's coffers, .

Yang Xueyi, a former party secretary of the Beijing Foreign Studies University, told reporters on Friday that the government should let the public know how the money was spent. "Though it's part of the national spending, it should be listed separately."

The government has made slow progress on spending disclosure. China's Government Information Disclosure Decree took effect in 2008. In March 2009, the Ministry of Finance, for the first time, released part of central government's fiscal budget. In 2011, ministries and other central government bodies detailed their spending on overseas trips, car purchases and entertainment. But, the public remain in the dark about local governments' coffers and spending by the central government .

During the CPPCC meetings on Friday, some delegates wondered whether the seized money could be put to public use, according to Xinhua.

"Why doesn't China use a more direct way to let ordinary people benefit from the anti-corruption storm?" asked Tian Zhongqun, a delegate from Xiamen University, "For example, should it invest in rural education or pollution treatment, or just return the funds to the public ?"

Xia Yuhong, a delegate from the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, would like to see the funds "become more directly linked to the improvement of people's livelihood".

The comments by the CPPCC delegates were widely supported in social media discussions. "The government should send 'red packets' to residents like the Hong Kong government usually does," one person commented.

Additional reporting by Mandy Zuo and Andrea Chen

 

[Spetsnaz]

Around the nation: Gardening couple in late 80s provide food, shelter and care for disabled peers

Also: Critically ill patient dies in ambulance held up by enraged motorist; drunk bottle thrower fined thousands of yuan

PUBLISHED : Monday, 09 March, 2015, 10:34pm
UPDATED : Monday, 09 March, 2015, 10:34pm

A couple in Sichuan, both in their 80s, have been growing vegetables for 16 years and have taken in two dozen other elderly who cannot look after themselves. Photo: SCMP Pictures

SICHUAN

Garden feeds the soul

A couple in their 80s have operated a vegetable farm and provided food and board for 24 less fortunate elderly for years, the West China City Daily reports. The husband opened the farm 16 years ago and soon started looking after elderly neighbours, some of whom were disabled. The couple sell their spare produce and pay the others to watch the farm. They said their lifestyle brings them much happiness.

Subsidies for elderly jabs

Chengdu will subsidise pneumonia vaccinations for people aged over 60 to lessen the incidence of the illness among the elderly, the Chengdu Evening News reports. It is estimated that about one in four of the city's 246,000 elderly catch pneumonia or other serious respiratory diseases each year, and 10,000 die. A course of the vaccine costs 2,000 yuan, but the elderly will pay just 10 yuan.

ANHUI

Burglar dies on the job

A man and his uncle in Bengbu planned to burgle a jewellery store, and hid on the store's roof for two days and nights waiting for an opportunity, the Anhui Business Daily reports. Just as they were about to act, the uncle fell off the roof and died. The nephew called an ambulance then fled. He was later arrested for attempted theft.

Saving food and money

A college canteen in Hefei is offering cheaper, smaller portions of rice to save food, the Jianghuai Morning Post reports. The canteen used to offer two orders of rice: once costing one yuan for male students and a smaller 50 cent portion for women. Most of the women still cannot finish their rice, so the canteen now offers 40 cent and 30 cent portions.

GUANGDONG

Man dies in fire

A man who lived alone died in an explosion and fire at his home in Foshan , the Southern Metropolis News reports. Firefighters extinguished the blaze before it spread to other homes. They suspect a faulty gas bottle caused the fire. Four people died in a residential fire in the city, southeast of Guangzhou, on February 10.

Bitten by loan sharks

A Foshan man was abducted when he failed to repay loan sharks, Foshan Daily reports. The man tried to borrow 30,000 (HK$38,000) yuan, but the lenders only gave him 10,000 yuan - but demanded he pay them 30,000 yuan. When he refused, they kidnapped him. His family called the police, who arrested the gangsters for illegal detention.

JIANGSU

Cruise for seniors

Seven senior citizens aged between 50 and 70 from Wuxi have joined an around-the-world cruise, the Jiangnan Wanbao reports. A tour agent signed up more than two dozen passengers, most of them retired business owners, for the 86-day voyage starting from Shanghai. But the others pulled out of the trip before it began.

Right image, wrong year

Photos posted on social media of a cherry tree in full bloom prompted scores of Nanjing residents to visit the city's largest cherry farm, People.com.cn reports. The photos were reposted more than 100,000 times on WeChat, but when visitors arrived at the farm they saw the tree was bare, and realised that the photos were taken at the height of last year's season.

JILIN

Health food, sick hoax

An 88-year-old man in Gongzhuling received a letter announcing that he had won 800,000 yuan in a lottery only to find it was a fraud, the Xinwenhua Bao reports. The man liked to buy health products and gave his address to various companies. His family checked the lottery company's address and discovered that he had been conned.

Rush to save son

The parents of a nine-year-old boy in Gongzhuling have offered part of their own livers for transplant after their son suffered sudden, potentially fatal liver failure, the Chengshi Wanbao reports. The boy suddenly developed severe stomach aches and his eyes went yellow one day at school. Doctors hope to carry out the transplant soon.

LIAONING

Motorist stops ambulance

A knife-wielding driver in Shenyang pulled over a ambulance carrying a gravely ill patient after it hit his car by accident, the Shenyang Evening News reports. The enraged driver chased the ambulance and made it pull over. The emergency vehicle was delayed for half an hour and the late-stage cancer patient died before they could reach the hospital. The ambulance driver called police, who subdued the driver and took him away.

Neighbours to rescue

A dozen residents of Dandong helped rescue a woman from a residential fire caused by fireworks, Ddrb.cn reports. A woman alerted neighbours that a fire had broken out in her 17th floor home. A dozen of them rushed to her flat with basins and water to help. Luckily the fire was not big and they put it out in a short time. It was not clear what started the fire, but the owner stored a large amount recycled paper and cartons in the flat. Several deadly high-rise residential fires have occurred in China in recent years.

SHAANXI

End of two eras

A woman in Xian whose 81-year-old uncle died in Xinjiang tried to send condolences to his relatives by telegram only to find that the service is no longer available, Huashang Daily reports. She tried three post offices but none were able to help. Finally she sent a text message to the uncle's family. Telegram services are disappearing from post offices and only a few industries, such as shipping companies, still use them.

Police find valuables

Police in Baoji helped a man to track his bag containing cash and bank account documents that he left in a taxi, Huangshang Daily reports. The man told the police that he failed to stop the taxi and did not keep a receipt. The bag contained 20,000 yuan in cash and many important bank documents. The police tracked down 150 taxis operating that night and, after asking around, found the driver who had accepted the man's fare. The bag was found in the taxi with nothing missing, the report said.

SHANGHAI

Help for victims

Minhang district has established an anti-domestic-violence association to offer better protection to women, Thepaper.cn reports. More than 200 police offices work with the association to handle domestic violence cases. About 400 cases of domestic violence cases were reported last year in the city.

Bottle thrower fined

A drunken passenger who threw an empty liquor bottle out a car window on a highway and struck a BMW has been fined 13,900 yuan, the Modern Express reports. Traffic police said that although the bottle weighed only a few hundred grams, it could be lethal if it hit a speeding vehicle.

 

[Pfizer]

What we know ... and don’t know about China’s plans for Guangdong Free Trade Zone

The high-profile Guangdong Free Trade Zone is to be launched on March 18, after China's National People's Congress, according to reports.

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 10 March, 2015, 2:15pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 10 March, 2015, 5:23pm

Mimi Lau in Guangzhou [email protected]

Premier Li Keqiang urged Guangdong to focus on high-end services during a visit to Nansha in the province''s free-trade zone in January. Photo: Xinhua

The high-profile Guangdong Free Trade Zone (FTZ) is to be launched on March 18, after China's National People's Congress, according to reports.

The country's three new free-trade zones - Fujian, Guangdong and Tianjin - were originally scheduled to open on February 27 and March 1, but were then postponed until after the annual parliamentary sessions, which end on Sunday.
Read more: Guangdong Free Trade Zone to launch on March 18, say sources

Shanghai's Free Trade Zone, the first one in the country, has also delayed the official relaunch of its expanded zone. However, it is not clear if the Fujian, Tianjin and Shanghai zones will also open on March 18.

The postponements were ordered because top leaders were unsatisfied with the latest proposals by the local governments, some Guangdong-based experts said late last month.

Premier Li Keqiang visited Nansha New Area, in the province's free-trade zone in January, when he urged Guangdong to focus on high-end services.

Here we take a look at what we do know - and don't know - about the proposed Guangdong FTZ.
What do we know about Guangdong FTZ?

i) Its major role will be to enhance cooperation with both Hong Kong and Macau by relaxing restrictions on investors, and also allow greater recognition for professionals from the two territories to work in the Guangdong FTZ.

ii) It covers 116 square km and includes parts of Guangzhou’s Nansha New Area, Qianhai and Shekou in Shenzhen, as well as Hengqin in Zhuhai. Qianhai will work with Hong Kong on financial measures; Hengqin will explore cooperation with Macau, while Nansha will take advantage of its central location in the Pearl River Delta to focus on technology upgrade.

iii) The Guangdong government will set up a coordination authority with provincial-level powers to coordinate policies, develop strategies, direct reform and study major development issues facing the FTZ.

Under its control will be the Guangdong FTZ management authority, tasked with duties including drafting pilot regulations and coordinating cross-border collaboration.

Each of the Guangdong FTZ districts in Nansha, Hengqin, Qianhai and Shekou will be managed by its own district management body, headed by the local city governments of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai.

iv) Guangdong FTZ was also known as the Guangdong- Hong Kong-Macau FTZ during its proposed stage in 2013. It was criticised for failing to break through the shackles of the existing Closer Economic Partnership Agreement. An application for a free-trade zone across the nation was suspended last June. It was officially approved by the State Council last December, along with the FTZs in Tianjin and Fujian.
What we don’t know about the Guangdong FTZ?

i) Whether ... there will be a free flow of information within the FTZ, so that companies can enjoy barrier-free internet access to Facebook and Twitter

ii) ... it can bring in genuinely relaxed taxation and custom measures, which one day can lead to a reduction in cross-border mainland shoppers, plus other administrative reform measures that can be adopted across the nation

iii) ... it will become a hotbed for money laundering

iv) ... the governance structure of the Guangdong FTZ will be too complicated for efficient governance

v) ... an anti-corruption agency, comparable to Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption, will be set up

vi) ... Hong Kong and Macau companies will be willing to share their service industry talents with Guangdong because of lingering memories of them losing their manufacturing industries to Guangdong during the 1980s.

 

[DSTrooper]

Courts going online to sell seized assets

Xinhua, March 10, 2015

Chinese courts are going online to dispose of assets seized in lawsuits.

Nearly 700 courts in 21 provincial areas had registered accounts on sf.taobao.com, the nation's largest online site for judicial auctions, as of last month. So far, nearly 90,000 auctions have been held.

In November, an auction of real estate seized by a court in Jiangsu set an sf.taobao.com record after reaching 350 million yuan (US$55.8 million).

There has been criticism over transparency when courts dispose of seized assets. Often transaction prices are far below the actual value of items being auctioned, with court workers and auction agents sometimes suspected of under-the-table deals to rig auctions in their favor.

Chu Hongjun, vice president of Jiangsu Provincial Higher People's Court, said online auctions are more transparent than traditional judicial auctions and can attract more bidders and deter corruption.

With no commission required and a higher auction rate and premium rate, online auctions can help solve difficulties in enforcing verdicts and maximize the interests of creditors and debtors, Chu said.

So far, all the courts in Beijing and Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Henan, Fujian, and Guizhou provinces have opened accounts on Taobao.com and pilot auctions have been launched for courts in 15 other provinces, including Guangdong, Yunnan and Sichuan.

On February 26, the Supreme People's Court issued a blueprint that said judicial auctions should be increased with the focus on doing so online.

 

[flickr]

China assessing family planning policy adjustment

Source:Xinhua Published: 2015-3-10 19:13:45

China is assessing the adjustment made to the one-child policy to decide whether further adjustment of birth policies are needed to address the change in population growth, a senior lawmaker said Tuesday.

Government and legislature are studying the implementation of a policy allowing parents to have two children if either parent is an only child, Liu Binjie, head of the Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), said at a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing NPC annual session.

China adopted the policy adjustment at the end of 2013, a major change on the decades-old family planning policy, known as the one-child policy. Liu said the decision was widely welcomed among the public. So far, the adjustment has not led to an impact to the family planning policy or resulted in a baby boom.

Liu said in 2014 only 1 million parents, or one tenth of couples meeting the policy conditions, opted for a second child. Only 470,000 couples among them were able to have second babies, showing that quality, rather than quantity, have become the consensus of the people's family planning strategy.

Experts are suggesting a full implementation of the two-child policy, but Liu said it has not been put on legislature's agenda because the first policy adjustment has not been fully implemented and the authorities need time to assess the result of the policy change before making further adjustment. In addition, the authorities will study demographic issues further.

"In some areas population growth is slowing down, or even decreasing. We will make policy adjustments in time if the demographic structure has changed significantly," Liu said.

 

[Yazoo]

 

[Spetsnaz]

Around the nation: Kids claim car with cracker-launched projectile

Aslo: Wife tries to divorce husband because she can't stand his cooking; Burglar caught napping after break-in

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 10 March, 2015, 9:09pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 10 March, 2015, 9:09pm

The car pictured after it was struck by the man-hole cover. Photo: SCMP Pictures

SICHUAN

A cracker too many

Children throwing firecrackers into a dry well in Dazhou created an explosion strong enough to blow the heavy metal cover several metres across a road and through the windscreen of a passing car, the West China City Daily reports. Several passengers were slightly injured, including a passenger whose hand and neck were grazed by pieces of shattered windscreen. She received first aid at a local hospital. Police are investigating the incident.

Polluters to pay

The environment bureau of Chengdu has fined five enterprises for pollution, the West China City Daily reports. The heaviest fine, 60,000 yuan, went to a company that produces copper plates and spray-painted exhaust pipes. A water company was fined 26,000 yuan for discharging excessive phosphorus in its wastewater.

ANHUI

Worker kills bosses

A worker killed two of his bosses and seriously injured two others in Hefei when he poured petrol over a meeting table and set off an explosion, the Anhui Business News reports. The man, who worked in the Chaohu Economic Development District, was unsatisfied with a work-injury settlement and decided to take revenge.

Taking science to the fields

The Fuyang government has dispatched 20,000 agricultural specialists to advise farmers on planting crops for spring, the Anhui Daily reports. As it is a crucial time to sow wheat, rapeseed and vegetables, the city aims to train 150,000 family farms and 45,000 commercial ones to manage crops more scientifically.

BEIJING

Bank worker helped scam

A man in Xicheng district coerced a bank worker into helping him to run a boiler-room operation that brought in more than 100 million yuan (HK$126 million) from investors in fake demolition and property projects, the Beijing Times reports. The man paid his partner from the bank a 10 per cent commission. They promised 400 investors returns of 20 per cent. They were convicted and await sentencing.

Mobile phone use up 14pc

There are more than 26 million mobile phone users in the capital, a 14 per cent increase from a year ago, the Beijing Morning Post reports, citing a survey by the city's statistics bureau. The report said revenues from software and internet services had grown dramatically, making hundreds of million yuan in profits. This was in stark contrast to the publishing, radio, television and film industries, where revenues had dropped to the bottom of the so-called cultural industries.

GUANGDONG

Biogas plant comes on line

China's largest biogas project came on line at Shenzhen's Xiaping solid waste landfill site on Monday, Sznews.com reports. The project, operated by Hong Kong-listed China Water Industry Group, is designed to produce 45 million cubic metres of gas and reduce 800,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year. The company claims the installation will reduce foul odours from the landfill, the source of constant complaints by residents in Luohu district, near the city centre.

Wife wanted to sack cook

A Guangzhou woman threatened to divorce her husband of 12 years because she hated his cooking, the Guangzhou Daily reports. Over the years, the wife gradually asked her husband to do more of the housework, including cleaning, shopping and preparing meals. But over the years his cooking skills did not improve. The two quarrelled and the wife asked for divorce. A local court mediated and convinced the couple to reconcile.

HAINAN

Roping in customers

Hawkers at the Dongmen market in Haikou used thick straw rope to tie crabs and increase their weight so they could charge customers more, the website Hainan.net reports. A customer complained that he had paid 88 yuan for a crab, with the weight of the rope accounting for about 11 yuan. When he asked for the crab to be weighed without the rope, he was told an even higher price. He complained to the market managers.

School election 'rigged'

Dongshan middle school in Haikou has been accused of faking the election results of four mid-level officials, the Nanguo Metropolis Daily reports. It is said the school invited candidates from the public, but instead the four officials were chosen by the school board.

HENAN

Cat-burglar nap

A man who broke into a home in Anyang has been arrested after the owner returned and found him fast asleep, the Dahe Daily reports. The shocked owner quietly alerted the police, who had to wake the man up. The thief, in his early 20s, has previous convictions for theft, including two years in prison for stealing construction materials. He said he had spent a long time at an internet cafe and broke into the home just to take a nap.

Late-night travesty

Night-time fly-tipping by garbage trucks has ruined an environmental corridor in the west of the provincial capital, the Zhengzhou Evening News reports. The 150-metre long space that was once lined with shady trees is now full of bags of rubbish. Local residents said the trucks came to the street in the middle of the night. The local authorities are investigating the case and will clean up the site.

SHAANXI

Boy spins a good yarn

A security guard in Xian reported to police that he had been approached by an 11-year-old boy who claimed he had been abducted and was asking for help, the Huashang Daily reports. The boy said that he was from Hebei and had been sold in the city when he was little. But a police investigation revealed a different story. The boy was a local who hated school and had recently ran away from home. His parents later took him home.

Precious stone lions stolen

Villagers in Weiqi near Xian have reported that two ancient stone lions guarding the village gate have been stolen, the Xian Evening News reports. Elderly villagers were particularly upset as they had played near the lions when they were children. Experts said the lions were valuable antiques and were more than a thousand years old. The villagers said that the security camera overlooking the lions had been turned off before the theft.

ZHEJIANG

Official in fatal crash

The audit bureau chief of Sanmen county near Taizhou has surrendered to police after his car struck an electrical bicycle, killing a woman and injuring her daughter, when he was drunk, the Jinri Zaobao reports. It is said the car did not shine its headlights and failed to slow down at traffic lights when the car hit the women. The official called an ambulance before fleeing the scene. He gave himself in eight hours later.

Ageing boom hits city

The elderly association of Ningbo estimates more than a fifth of the city's population is aged 60 or more, which has caused a severe shortage of retirement homes, the Qianjiang Evening News reports. There were 1.25 million elderly living in the city, where the ageing rate is 10 times higher the national average.

 

[Spetsnaz]

Around the nation: Cash-strapped man fails in attempt to extort local police station

Aslo: Man plied with alcohol, set up for drink-drive 'crash'; drug-dealing mum used son, 8, as collateral with suppliers

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 11 March, 2015, 7:36pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 11 March, 2015, 7:36pm

The man slashed the tyres and stole the number plates of seven patrol cars, then threatened to torch them. Photo: SCMP Pictures

ANHUI

Extortion 101

A man in Fuyang who claimed to be short of cash has been jailed for three years for attempting to extort local police, the Anhui Business News reports. The man slashed the tyres and stole the number plates of seven patrol cars, then wrote to the station demanding 42,000 yuan (HK$53,000) or he would torch the cars. He was arrested soon after.

Crackdown on developers

The Real Estate Administration Bureau in Hefei is cracking down on developers' violations of housing contracts, Hefei.cc reports. Homebuyers have complained that developers failed to finish construction on time, delayed issuing deeds or did not provide parking lots as promised. Developers found guilty of violations would be fined, the bureau said.

BEIJING

Data stolen from schools

Six men have been found guilty in Haidian district court for illegally trading the personal data of parents and pupils, the Beijing Morning Post reports. A man who worked for an education service company stole hundreds of items of information from 1,200 schools in Haidian and Chaoyang districts. He sold the data to the five other men for 50 fen per item. They are awaiting sentencing.

Phantom tyre slasher

Police are searching for a culprit who slashed the tyres of hundreds of cars in Chaoyang, the Beijing Evening News reports. The cars were parked in residential compounds across several blocks in Jinsong sub-district. CCTV showed a man wearing a mask doing the damage.

GUANGDONG

Wife abused for decade

A woman in Zhuhai has successfully filed for divorce after suffering domestic violence for a decade, even though her husband claimed that she had hurt herself, the Southern Metropolis News reports. The woman said that during the most recent abuse, the husband used a house brick to fracture her skull and cause massive tissue damage. The husband said she fell and injured herself. The court accepted her testimony that she had endured physical abuse for a long time and awarded her sole custody of their child.

Gifts that keep giving

An elderly woman in Foshan transferred her valuables to neighbours then lied to police that she had been robbed, the Southern Metropolis News reports. The woman, who lived alone, claimed that she had lost jewellery and appliances over a three-day period. Police found it strange that she did not lose any cash and questioned her neighbours. The woman moved her things back home and promised not to lie again.

GUANGXI

Son used as 'collateral'

Police in Liuzhou have busted a drug-dealing gang that included a mother who used her eight-year-old son as collateral to procure drugs to sell, Chinanews.com reports. The woman used her son as a deposit to drug dealers, who returned the boy after she paid for the contraband. Police confiscated more than 500 grams of drugs.

Judge fights for refund

A judge in Nanning bought a fake computer from Taobao was lucky to get her money back, Gxnews.com.cn reports. The judge paid 4,550 yuan for a branded laptop. She discovered the internal microphone did not work and the label also fell off. She tried to return the product, but the shop owner refused because it had no label. Taobao mediated a refund.

JIANGSU

Femme fatale

A man who met a woman online was conned into drinking and driving and then hit another car, the drivers of which asked for 43,000 yuan as compensation, the Yangtse Evening Post reports. The man went on a date with the woman, who plied him with drink then asked him to drive her home. On the way, her partners drove another car and pretended their car had been hit by the man, and demanded payment. He then called the police.

Adding insult to injury

A woman in Changzhou whose car was stolen years ago found herself paying for speeding fines incurred by the thief, the news website People.com.cn reports. She was sent two speeding tickets demanding 400 yuan. But the police station confirmed that her car had been missing since 2008. The traffic department refunded the money eventually.

SHAANXI

Petitioners sue, and win

Seven petitioners in Hengshan county near Yulin who were detained and fined by local police have had their case overturned, the Huashang Daily reports. The petitioners were representatives of a village whose farmland had been misappropriated for commercial housing. Local police detained them for 15 days. But the court ruled that police violated the petitioners' rights and ordered them to withdraw the administrative penalty.

Police 'ignored fraud'

Local police failed to act after an informant reported that a retired official and his son in Fugu county, Yulin, had financed a coal mine with more than 200 million yuan in investors' funds that were never repaid, the Southern Metropolis News reports. The insider said the father and son had registered a coal mine to lure investors. The insider had lobbied against the father and son for almost a year. Police are now investigating.

SICHUAN

Jailed for breakout

A man in Qionglai has been jailed for three years after he drove away his car that had been impounded by traffic police, injuring a guard, Sc.chinanews.com reports. The man bought the second-hand car without a legal registration and parked it in a no-parking area. He hit the guard, who tried to stop him leaving.

Residents rescued

Firefighters put out an extensive fire at an old building in Zigong , with no loss of life or injuries, 119.china.com.cn reports. Two water tankers, one firefighting truck and 18 firefighters attended the blaze. The fire started on the first floor and spread to the ground floor, where many shops were located, and the second floor where many families lived. Faulty heating equipment is being blamed as the cause.

ZHEJIANG

Boyfriend hara-kiri

A young man in Yiwu is recovering after he stabbed himself in the abdomen during a quarrel with his girlfriend, the Qianjiang Evening News reports. The girlfriend was angry that he did not buy her a present for International Women's Day, even though he had taken her out for dinner. When they returned home, he stabbed himself, asking if she would be happier if he died. His condition has stabilised.

Taste for salmon

Zhejiang residents consumed 1.4 tonnes of salmon a day in January and February, the Hangzhou Daily reports. Trade figures show 83 tonnes of the fish, worth 620,000 yuan, was imported from Norway, Britain and the Faroe Islands.

 

[Spetsnaz]

Around the nation: BMW driver drags cop to his death

Also, lift firms fail inspections in Guangdong, while father in Shaanxi jailed for five years for abusing stepdaughter

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 12 March, 2015, 9:48pm
UPDATED : Friday, 13 March, 2015, 9:44am

A red BMW allegedly sped away during a traffic stop in Shanghai, dragging an officer along for about 10 metres. He died from his injuries. Photo: Sina News

SHANGHAI

Driver kills traffic officer

A traffic police officer was dragged to his death by a driver in a red BMW who sped away after police stopped the vehicle for running a red light in Minhang district, the news website Cqnews.net reports. The officer was pulled along by the car for about 10 metres, and suffered fatal head injuries. His family was in deep grief as the wife is due to give birth next month. The driver is in police custody.

ANHUI

Body found under bed

A man in Bengbu was cleaning a flat he had rented and found the body of woman under the bed, Anhui Business News reports. Her hand fell into view while he was moving the mattress. At first, he though it was a sex doll but soon saw the rest of the body. Police arrived and started an investigation. They arrested the previous tenant, who they suspect killed his girlfriend when she broke up with him.

Fugitive’s bad luck

Police saw an elderly man fall in the Hefei’s south train station, and offered to help but he refused their assistance, the Anhui Business News reports. He appeared nervous and when officers checked his personal details they discovered he was a fugitive who had been on the run for three years. He fled after asking someone to beat another person to death. Police arrested the killer.

CHONGQING

Brush with death ‘lucky’

A woman driver who survived a car accident decided she was having good luck and immediately went to play mahjong, the Chongqing Morning News reports. The driver, who obtained her permit eight months ago, flipped the car while making a tight turn. Neither she nor the passenger suffered injuries.

Bad behaviour monitors

Authorities in Shapingba district are hoping to encourage better public behaviour by offering money to people who post photos online of people littering or committing other similar offences, the Chongqing Daily reports. All district residents can take part in the programme and post their snapshots to the district’s WeChat account. The first 10 people will receive 200 yuan (HK$253) each. The programme will run occasionally.

FUJIAN

Teacher kidnapped pupil

An elementary sports teacher in Fuzhou kidnapped one of his pupils in an attempt to blackmail the family for 2 million yuan, the Dongnan Kuaibao reports. The teacher lost money playing the lottery and couldn’t pay back the interest on loans he took out. After abducting the child, he contacted the police, who tracked him down. He has been charged with kidnapping.

Sun Yat-sen forest at risk

The Kinmen Highlights-Sun Yat-sen Memorial forest has been attacked by insects and about 400 black pine trees were in danger, the news website Chinatimes.com reports. Experts had to cut down 50 seriously ill trees and apply biotechnological methods to stop other trees from turning yellow and their leaves falling. What’s behind the insect infestation has not been determined.

GUANGDONG

Boy, 6, ate grandad’s pills

A six-year-old boy in Guangzhou thought his grandfather’s blood pressure medication was candy and ate a dangerously large quantity, the Guangzhou Daily reports. He suffered serious damage to his kidney and heart. The pills decrease blood pressure and can cause the heart to pump slower.

Lift firms fail inspections

Five companies that supply elevators and offer servicing failed to pass quality inspection in Zhuhai, the Xinxi Shibao reports. Among 61 of the firms checked, five won top marks, including two Zhuhai companies. The five that failed inspection were asked to upgrade their system before a new inspection was carried out.

SHAANXI

Official ‘steals’ child

A couple in Shangluo who planned to have a second child discovered their quota was taken by a district official, the Hushang Daily reports. Under the relaxed family planning rules, more couples are eligible to have a second child. When they went to the local family planning administration, officials said they were already registered as having two children. After a round of negotiations, the officials promised to amend the situation.

Stepdaughter abused

A father has been jailed for five years after a court in Baoji found him guilty of molesting his stepdaughter, the Hushang Daily reports. The woman said she tried to stop the abuse when it began a decade ago, when the girl was six.

Diesel thieves caught

Jiading district police have broken up a criminal gang who stole and sold diesel, arresting 12 suspects, the Xinmin Evening News reports. A man reported to the police that his oil tank truck had been was emptied and he had lost about 10 tonnes of diesel. The police reviewed CCTV footage and discovered a suspicious car that drove back and forth in the area where the truck was parked. Police hunted for the car and discovered the trunk had been modified to contain an oil tank. The drivers gave out names of the group’s members.

SICHUAN

Urn blackmailers arrested

Two men in Mianyang who stole an urn from a public cemetery tried to blackmail the manager, threatening to report the ashes as missing to the deceased man’s family, the Chengdu Business News reports. After stealing the ashes, they asked the cemetery manager for 200,000 yuan. The manager called the police to arrest the men.

Driver injured in accident

At least one driver was in serious condition in hospital after an accident with another car on a highway in Deyang, the news website www.Scol.com.cn reports. One car drove off into the bushes on the side of the road and remained stuck there. The status of the driver in the second vehicle was not given. Six firefighters arrived at the scene to rescue them. The first vehicle was badly damaged and the driver’s legs were caught against the steering wheel. The firefighters cut his seat apart and freed him after 20 minutes. The police are investigating the cause of the accident.

ZHEJIANG

Smelly wells irk locals

Internet users in Ningbo posted photos of a 270-metre long street with 260 wells and drainages, saying the area is responsible for a foul smell when the weather changes, the Xiandai Jinbao reports. The wells were spaced closely together, with some only a few centimetres apart. Local residents who run businesses said that when the weather was warmer, the smell along the street became worse. They called on authorities to inspect the wells and seal the ones no longer in use.

200,000 yuan shock

An elderly couple discovered their 13 certificates of deposits accounting for their life savings were fake, the Xiandai Jinbao reports. Police discovered that their son had forged the certificates and kept the real ones to prevent them from falling prey to scams, which they had earlier. The couple panicked, fearing their 200,000 yuan in savings was gone. The son will withdraw money for his parents.

 

[Spetsnaz]

Around the nation: farmer says hands off my Han dynasty relic

Also, boyfriend dies after lover stabs him, and boy, 10, takes van for joyride

PUBLISHED : Friday, 13 March, 2015, 9:40pm
UPDATED : Friday, 13 March, 2015, 9:40pm

A farmer in Shangluo found a 2,000-year-old shovelhead but is refusing offers of up to 10,000 yuan from collectors or entreaties to give it to a museum. Photo: Hsw.cn

SHAANXI

Farmer keeps antique find

A farmer in Shangluo found an antique shovelhead in his courtyard and has refused to donated it to the state or sell it, the Huashang Daily reports. Expert said the shovel dated to the Han dynasty (206BC-AD220). The farmer turned away antique collectors who offered 10,000 yuan for the item. Local authorities tried to persuade the famer to donate it, but he has refused.

Bedside vigil ends happily

A father in Qishan county remained at the bedside of his stepson who had fallen into a comma for almost a year and was overjoyed when he recently awoke, the Huashang Daily reports. The mother said her son worked as a traffic police officer and had an accident on the job. After undergoing brain surgery, the man fell into comma. The father quit his job to care for him because he himself lost his father when he was 10 and he didn't want to lose another family member.

ANHUI

Water-induced coma

A pregnant woman in Hefei fell into a comma after drinking too much water during an ultrasound, the news website Anhuinews.com reports. Her fiancé said that she drank at least 10 cups of water in a short time after a doctor had difficulty obtaining a clear image of the fetus. After taking in so much liquid, she began to vomit and said she felt dizzy.

City in bloom

The cherry blossom festival has kicked off in Hefei, the Hefei Daily reports. Thousands of tourists are expected to visit the city to see the roughly 20,000 trees bloom. The festival runs until the middle of next month as some of the 40 types of trees flower later than others. The city is arranging buses to drive tourists to the festival.

BEIJING

Deadly break-up

A 30-year-old woman stabbed her boyfriend when he said he wanted to break up and bled to death before paramedics arrived, the Beijing Times reports. They were childhood friends from elementary school and began to live together two years ago, but recently started to fight often. The woman said she tried to stop him from leaving their home by picking up a kitchen knife, and in a fit of rage, she stabbed him. She was arrested and is expected to be charged soon.

No room at the kindy

The parents of more than a hundred children in Chaoyang district say a kindergarten admitted the youngsters as pupils but then said there was not enough room, The Beijing News reports. The school said the city's housing services centre had not released a building that was to serve as an extra classroom for the 125 children. The centre said they would expedite the handover process due to pressure from the parents.

CHONGQING

Duped by 'detective'

A man who wanted to hire a private detective to determine if his wife was cheating has been duped out of nearly 50,000 yuan (HK$62,940), the Chongqing Morning Post reports. The husband found a detective agency online and gave them an 8,000 yuan deposit. It did not provide him with any information but asked later for an additional 40,000 yuan, which he gave them. The company then ceased all communication with him, and the man reported the matter to police.

Volunteers plant trees

Jiangbei district officials arranged for about 400 volunteers to plant more than 1,300 trees in an effort to improve green coverage, the Chongqing Evening News reports. The volunteers planted camphor trees along with willows in an area measuring about 1.3 hectares in a park. Officials hope to recruit 10,000 volunteers to plant more trees in the coming months.

HENAN

Boy flees home in van

A 10-year-old boy in Zhoukou ran away from home and stole a van left unattended with the keys inside, the Dahe Daily reports. He was eventually stopped by police on a highway and sent home. His family said the boy had been allowed to drive close to their home and didn't expect him to steal a vehicle. The boy said he took the van because he though it would be fun.

Drug gang busted

Police in Zhengzhou have broken up a drug gang, arresting 17 suspects and confiscating more than 3.5kg of methamphetamine, the Henan Business News reports. About 600,000 yuan was also seized. The breakthrough in the operation came after police arrested a man near a college for suspected drug dealing and he provided a list of names of other members of the gang.

HUNAN

Cracks in mine exploration

Mine exploration in Tanjiashan near Xiangtan caused a landslide near a village and damage to the home of an elderly man, the news website ldnews.cn reports. The man said that the walls of his home started to crack six years ago. One wall was leaning at a 6cm incline. He asked the coal mine to take responsibility for the damage, and they arranged repairs once but refused further assistance. The man has turned to local authorities for help.

Fake seeds seized

Authorities in Xiangtan carried out a check on counterfeit agricultural products and seized fake seeds, fertiliser and pesticides, the news website ldnews.cn reports. The investigation found that many stores sold products that either included fake ingredients or were past they sell-by date. The crackdown was aimed at getting dangerous items off the shelves before farmers began their spring planting.

JIANGSU

Thief has change of heart

A thief in Yancheng stole a bike from a shop worth more than 20,000 yuan along with some accessories but later returned them with a letter of apology, the news website Chinanews.com reports. The store owner reported the crime to the police, but they lacked clues. The thief returned the items to the shop but so far not handed himself over to the authorities.

Boxer short obsession

A woman in Nanjing stole 20 pairs of boxer shorts from a store and later told police she was obsessed with the garment, the news website Caijing.com.cn reports. The woman told the police that she suffered a psychological problem that made her unable to resist taking the items. Police discovered the woman had a history of stealing and would have her assessed by mental health experts.

ZHEJIANG

'Good Samaritan' exposed

A 17-year-old girl hit an elderly man with her electric bike in Jiaxing but tried to blame someone else after she took him to the hospital, the Qianjiang Evening News reports. The man died from his injuries and the girl said she only discovered the man injured. Police checked her electric bike and found evidence it was involved in the incident.

Short respite for criminal

A middle-age man in Beilun near Ningbo was released from jail after serving 16 years for robbery and promptly stole again after his parents said he should get married and needed money to pay for it, the Qianjiang Evening News reports. The man was working in a furniture store and stole 10,000 yuan from his boss. He confessed after the boss and the police questioned him. He was sentenced to seven months in jail and fined 4,000 yuan.

 

[Spetsnaz]

Around the nation: Chinese museums ban the use of selfie sticks to protect artefacts

Also, hostage-taker drops knife and falls to his knees after change of heart, and angry wife kills hubby who refused to pay for dinner

PUBLISHED : Monday, 16 March, 2015, 8:41pm
UPDATED : Monday, 16 March, 2015, 8:41pm

A Chinese woman uses a selfie stick to snap a picture of herself near the portrait of Mao Zedong in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Photo: EPA

HUBEI

Selfie sticks banned

Several museums in Wuhan have banned selfie sticks as they pose a threat to the preservation of museum objects and may disturb other visitors, the China News Service reports. The museums, including the Hubei Museum of Art, now prohibit the selfie stick as well as tripods and monopods from being used during tours in the buildings. Those who go against the rules will be stopped at security checks.

Gullible man scammed

A 22-year-old man allowed himself to be cheated of 13,000 yuan even after police and his parents warned him that he might have fallen for a lottery scam, Hsdcw.com reports. The man had found the lottery scratch cards on the ground while shopping, and when he scratched them, they revealed that he had "won" 400,000 yuan and directed him to a website with instructions for him to pay 13,000 yuan before he could receive the reward. His parents warned him that it might be a scam and alerted the police, who also persuaded him not to wire the money over, but he did so anyway. He realised he had been duped only after the "lottery" asked for more money.

ANHUI

Jail for raping girl

A Ningguo court has sentenced a man to four years in jail for raping a minor, Anhuinews.com reports. The man had rented a room from the 14-year-old girl's parents, and when she was at home alone early last year, he made her perform lewd sexual acts. In June, he repeated his offences and in August, further emboldened, he forced himself on her.

Deadly driving

A nervous driver's mistake left one person dead in Lujiang county, Ahscb.com reports. The motorist, 45, who had obtained his licence only in September, was driving his Audi when an approaching minibus made him nervous, causing him to turn his wheel in the wrong direction. The resulting collision left one dead and 13 injured.

GUANGDONG

From knife to knees

An alleged drug abuser who took a stranger hostage to escape arrest, knelt down to beg the woman's forgiveness after police persuasion caused him to have a change of heart, Qtv.com.cn reports. CCTV footage showed the man holding the middle-aged woman at knifepoint in a convenience store in Shenzhen's Longgang district as his wife tried to make him let her go. His attitude softened, however, after police negotiated with him, and he eventually dropped the weapon, got down on his knees and apologised to his hostage.

Pupils 'poisoned'

More than 20 pupils came down with severe food poisoning after a meal at a social gathering in Huicheng district, the Southern Metropolis News reports. The pupils started having diarrhoea and vomiting profusely after lunch and were taken to hospital. Investigations into food hygiene are ongoing.

GUANGXI

Angry wife kills hubby

A woman stabbed her husband to death in Yulin after he refused to pay for a dinner, the China News Service reports. When police found the man, he had stab wounds on his body but his clothes were not damaged, indicating that someone had dressed him after he was attacked. His wife eventually admitted that she had killed him after he refused to pay for a dinner that she wanted to host with her friends.

Father-like figure

Thousands of pupils and their parents joined a parade on Sunday to honour the late Mo Zhengao, former principal of a county high school in Guangxi , the Southern Metropolis News reports. Mo died on March 9 after a long struggle with illness. His pupils and their parents, from a wide range of ethnic groups, mourned their "headmaster father".

GUIZHOU

Robbers team up

CCTV footage has revealed the modus operandi of a pair of robbers, Qtv.com.cn reports. The duo would follow their victim and pounce on him together, beating him up and making off with his valuables before changing out of their clothes and donning glasses to avoid being recognised and getting caught. Last month, they robbed two men of an iPhone 5S and a Samsung phone.

Consumers appeased

The provincial consumer protection association settled 94.9 per cent of the complaints it received last year, saving consumers more than 12 million yuan (HK$15 million), China National Radio reports. The agency resolved 2,885 of the 3,040 complaints it received. The province also held activities to mark World Consumer Rights Day and to raise consumers' awareness of their rights.

JIANGSU

Turning to drugs

Police have arrested the manager of a small business in Nanjing for abusing drugs, Nanjing Daily reports. The man who was under tremendous pressure and became depressed after his business began to decline, turned to using drugs and playing with fake firearms to distract him from his troubles. Police apprehended the man, who is in his 30s, at his home and seized 10 grams of the drug Ice and two imitation guns that they found there. His urine also tested positive for drugs, the report said.

Fancy a cup of ketamine?

The Nanjing Intermediate People's Court handed a life sentence to a drug trafficker who had tried to pass his ketamine powder off as coffee and even offered police officers a cup of it, Nanjing Daily reports. The 30-year-old Guangdong man was in the middle of a transaction in a hotel room when police burst in to arrest him for possession of two bags of white powder weighing 8kg in all. He initially insisted that the powder was coffee, until test results showed that they were definitely drugs, the report said.

SHANGHAI

Serial burglars arrested

Police have arrested three men suspected of robbing several homes in the Xuhui and Minhang districts, Shanghai Daily reports. The trio allegedly broke into 10 homes and made their getaways in a BMW vehicle. They allegedly made off with 350,000 yuan in gold and cash from just one home.

Railway rule-changer

A blind woman who threatened a lawsuit after staff at a train station refused to let her guide dog on a train, has prompted the China Railway Corporation to amend its rules, Shanghai Daily reports. The company said it would soon allow visually impaired passengers to take their dogs on its trains. The woman's situation sparked heated discussion among internet users after her story was posted online.

ZHEJIANG

Counterfeit cosmetics

Police have detained a couple for selling fake cosmetics to buyers in Africa and the Middle East, the Modern Gold Express reports. More than 180,000 items were seized from the couple's shops, including fake Vaseline gel and fake Sensodyne toothpaste. The pair reportedly made a killing from the illicit sales and the woman is said to have bought cars worth at least 4 million yuan from their profits.

Hunt for missing boy

Thousands of people in a village in Zhejiang joined a massive manhunt for a three-year-old boy, the Qianjiang Evening News reports. The child went missing on Thursday night and had not been seen since, the report said. There has been speculation that he might have been kidnapped, and investigations are ongoing.