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Around the nation: couple bath in famed fountain

Also, man sends naked images of his ex-wife to her father as part of a revenge plot and primary school makes 137,000 yuan payout to student

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 01 April, 2015, 6:18pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 01 April, 2015, 6:18pm

A couple drew attention when they wore only their bathing suits while they took a shower in Wuhan's landmark Guanggu Square. Photo: Sina Weibo

HUBEI

Public exhibitionists

Two young people were spotted taking showers in their swimsuits in a fountain in front of Wuhan's landmark Guanggu Square, the Chutian Metropolis Daily reports. Witnesses said the pair were in their early 30s and remained at the scene for about 10 minutes despite the intervention of a nearby security guard. They brought body wash, and left only after a group of security guards were called to the scene to help.

Family homes destroyed

Two families from Wuhan were "mistakenly" forced to evacuate their residences at midnight and witnessed the demolition of their homes, the Chutian Metropolis Daily reports. They told the paper several young men who were armed woke them up at about 3am and forced them to move out. They witnessed their houses being demolished along with their all belongings inside, according to the report.

BEIJING

Takeaway thief

A man from Chaoyang district stole a computer, three laptops, an iPad and 20,000 yuan (HK$25,000) in cash from the apartment of his ex-girlfriend in a fit of jealousy after she married to another man, The Beijing News reports. He was quickly caught by the police after they found he had ordered takeaway using her address right before the theft. The man confessed to stealing the valuables.

Police imposter

Prosecutors from Chaoyang district have arrested a man who posed as police officer and used a false emergency to drive students away from a classroom in order to steal their laptops, The Beijing News reports. Witnesses said the man wore a police uniform and told students to move to a neighbouring classroom because the authorities needed to temporarily occupy the room they were using. The suspect took the laptops the students left behind and fled the scene. He was captured with the help of surveillance cameras.

CHONGQING

Revenge porn fails

A man from Chongqing sent naked images of his ex-wife to her father as part of a revenge plot after he tried unsuccessfully to remarry the woman, news portal Chinanews.com reports. The couple had been married for two decades before they were divorced in 2014 after the man started to gamble. His ex-father-in-law called the police, and asked the man to delete the photos.

Pupil seeks payout

A primary school in Nanchuan has been ordered to pay 137,000 yuan in compensation to a student after he sneaked into the kitchen and fell into a bucket of hot soup, news portal Chinanews.com reports. The student was treated for severe burns in hospital for 124 days. His family took the case to court after the school refused to pay for his medical bills. The court ruled against the school's claim that the student should bare sole responsibility for the accident as he violated regulations and sneaked into the kitchen to steal tomatoes.

GUANGDONG

Son leaps into river 3 times

A 29-year-old man with suicidal tendencies from Guangzhou jumped into a river three times in a single day after the same police failed to rescue him several times, the New Express reports. The man sneaked out from the hospital, and the police eventually called the man's father to take him home. The father said the man recently ran away from home after being yelled at.

Teen foils kidnapper

A court in Guangzhou has jailed a man who attempted to kidnap a 15-year-old boy but failed because he was not strong enough to force the boy into his car, the Guangzhou Daily reports. The court heart the man rented an apartment in a high-end gated community to prey on rich children on their way home. The boy eluded him and called passers-by to help. The man fled the scene but was soon captured. He has been sentenced to three years and six months in prison.

HUNAN

Woman, 22 kills herself

A 22-year-old woman died after burning charcoal in a sealed bathroom at a hotel in Changsha, Xinmin.cn reports. Staff broke into the room after the woman missed her checkout time. She was found dead in the bathroom, which had been sealed with tape from the inside. Her parents said the woman had recently left for Changsha to look for job after leaving university.

150 pigs spill onto road

Over 150 pigs wandering along a busy highway near Binzhou blocked traffic after a truck carrying them rolled on its side on the way to a slaughter-house, the Xiao Xiang Chen Bao reports. The police spent more than an hour transporting the pigs to another truck. The driver said the vehicle suddenly rolled over when he was trying to overtake another car.

SHAANXI

Teacher disciplined pupils

A primary school teacher from Ankang drew criticism online after a photo of her forcing four pupils to kneel on the ground at noon as part of punishment was widely circulated on social media, the Huashang Daily reports. A director admitted the mistake, saying the school had arranged counselling for the four students and would fire the teacher. It is unclear why the students were punished.

Bad luck for bride

A man from Shenmu county stabbed his wife following their wedding after she refused to follow a custom and drink water adulterated with ashes of a talisman, the Huashang Daily reports. The woman was sent to hospital with cuts on her chest, arms and fingers. The man said his mother got the talisman from a fortune teller and it was supposed to bring the couple good luck.

SICHUAN

Sad wife becomes nun

A man from Luzhou who has searched for his missing wife for 16 years sued her for compensation after he learned she had become a nun, news website Lzep.cn reports. The wife ran away from home in the 1990s after the couple argued. Searching for tranquility, she became a nun and asked for a divorce. The man traced her to a temple in late 2014. The court ruled against his request for compensation.

Bears found in taxi

Police from Qingchuan county have found two baby wild black bears in a taxi during a routine check at a toll station, West China City Daily reports. The driver and two passengers have been detained. The police searched the taxi as the trio looked nervous when asked to pull over, and the authorities found the bears in a black box on the seat. The suspects confessed to buying the animals from locals as they wanted to open a black bear breeding centre.

ZHEJIANG

Duck neck chef detained

The owner of a duck neck restaurant in Ningbo has been detained after being discovered to have seasoned the bird with poppy buds, from which opium is made, the Du Shi Kuai Bao reports. The incident came to light after two customers underwent a urine test that yielded positive results. The two were taken were away but claimed to have only eaten duck necks before the test. The police found 1kg poppy shells

Actors must do drug tests

A television drama crew from Suzhou ordered actors to take a drug test before they started filming, news site Thepaper.cn reports. Two supporting actors said on Weibo that it was first time they had taken urine tests before a project. Several films were re-edited last year after members of the crew were caught for drug offences during the anti-drug campaign on the mainland.

 

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Around the nation: tour guides find their loudhailers forbidden in Beijing's Forbidden City

Authorities have tried to cut down on excessive noise inside Beijing's Palace Museum, in the Forbidden City, by introducing a ban on tour guides using loudhailers

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 02 April, 2015, 6:39pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 02 April, 2015, 6:41pm

Andrea Chen [email protected]

The Palace Museum, in Beijing's Forbidden City, has banned tour guides from using loudhailers since the start of the month to help cut down on excessive noise. Photo: Xinhua

BEIJING

Forbidden in the City

The Palace Museum, in the Forbidden City, has banned tour guides from using loudhailers since the start of the month to help cut down on excessive noise, The Mirror reports. The museum has provided lockers at the entrance for guides to store their loudhailers.

'Knife attack' on child

A man in his 60s has gone on trial in Tongzhou district after reportedly attacking the three-year-old grandchild of his neighbour for "making too much noise", The Beijing News reports. The child was not badly hurt and is recovering in hospital. The man told the court he almost had a heart attack when the child kept running around for an hour. When the neighbour refused to stop the child's commotion, he took a kitchen knife upstairs only to "scare" his neighbours, but struck out with the knife after losing his temper, he said.

ANHUI

Fiancé held as body found

A fiancé and his father have been arrested following the discovery of the body of the fiancé's bride-to-be in a bamboo forest near his home, the Anhui Business Herald reports. The woman vanished 10 months ago and the father allegedly confessed to helping his son bury the body after his son strangled her. The parents of the woman, from Liuan, asked police to investigate after she had failed to contact them since July, when the couple were preparing for their wedding.

Deadly argument

A woman from Hefei has gone on trial for negligent homicide after her boyfriend jumped from her car and died while she was driving, the news portal Anhuinews.com reports. The court was told that the man opened the door and jumped out during an argument when she refused to pull over and stop the car. He died from his injuries in hospital. She faces up to seven years in jail if convicted.

FUJIAN

'Drug use due to job woes'

Three delivery men from Fuzhou arrested over possession of illegal drugs, reportedly told the police they started using drugs because of frustration at work, Chinanews.com reports. The men, all in their 30s - detained after a complaint from a roommate - reportedly told police they used drugs bought from a migrant worker because they worked long hours, were underpaid, and had to deal with difficult customers.

Five dogs die in blaze

Five dogs died in a blaze at an animal shelter in Fuzhou that left 200 other animals homeless, the Strait Metropolis Daily reports. Neighbours and volunteers at the centre were able to rescue most of animals when the fire started during the night. Faulty electrical wiring is believed to be the cause.

GUANGGONG

Retailer offered porn films

An electronics store owner from Longmen county, near Huizhou , was given a seven-month suspended jail sentence after she charged a customer 40 yuan (HK$50) for help downloading 41 pornographic films, the Southern Metropolis News reports. The customer confessed after being caught with the films when police checked his phone while carrying out a routine search of residents at a hotel. Police found 985 pornographic films on the retailer's computer.

Student in suicide attempt

A vocational school in Shunde has denied online claims that a pregnant student attempted suicide by jumping from the second-floor classroom after her boyfriend paid her 500 yuan to have an abortion, the Guangzhou Daily reports. The student is in a stable condition in hospital. The school admitted a young woman attempted suicide, but denied it was linked to a pregnancy or having to have an abortion.

HENAN

Toddler given syphilis test

A hospital in Zhengzhou carried out dozens of blood tests on a one-year old child - including one for syphilis - when she was sent there after falling and hitting her head, the Dahe Daily reports. The child was later discharged without having any surgery or a blood transfusion. The hospital said the tests, which cost the family 1,500 yuan, were needed in case she had to have surgery after a brain scan showed she might have internal bleeding. The syphilis test was carried out as a precaution in case the hospital was sued in future should the child develop an infectious disease, it said.

Illegal monkey business

A man from Xuchang is facing trial for illegally trading in an endangered monkey after allegedly buying and rearing a macaque as a pet, the Dahe Daily reports. The 29-year-old was caught after allegedly posting pictures of his pet on social media. He reportedly told police he bought the monkey from an online trader for 11,000 yuan. But it died 10 days later.

JIANGSU

Fatal divorce bid

A man from Suzhou has been detained after allegedly stabbing to death his wife and father-in-law in front of his two sons after she asked him for a divorce, the Modern Express reports. The man and his wife were said to have argued often because he suspected she was cheating on him. When she asked for a divorce he reportedly killed her and her father, then jumped from their second-floor flat in a failed suicide bid.

Fiery grave visit

A family visiting the grave of a relative in Suzhou allegedly fought with security guards after being refused entry to a cemetery to burn joss paper offerings in a metal bucket, news portal People.com.cn reports. The guards said the cemetery had banned the use of fires, but the family claimed the bucket was used only to transport the paper. Two guards and three family members were hurt in the scuffle. Police are investigating.

SICHUAN

Concerns for pregnant girl

A heavily pregnant girl of 15, who doctors say requires a caesarean section, has been unable to find a legal guardian to give her permission for the operation, news portal Newssc.org reports. The girl, from Guangan, lost touch with the child's father after revealing she was pregnant. She has had little contact with her parents since she was eight, when they left her to live with her grandparents.

Inquiry into doctor's death

A hospital in Chengdu has confirmed a surgeon committed suicide because of "pressures", but refused to say if it was linked to an eight-month dispute with a patient, The Beijing News reports. Police are investigating the death of the doctor at his home this week. His patient had reportedly demanded an apology and compensation after suffering complications following gallbladder surgery.

ZHEJIANG

Children win lai see claim

A court in Wenzhou has ordered a mother to return 560,000 yuan of lai see money to her three teenage children, the Qianjiang Evening News reports. The children sued their mother for the return of the money given to them by their grandmother, after she put the funds into her own account without their consent.

Gun enthusiast detained

A gun enthusiast in Ningbo was reportedly detained by police after two cars parked outside a flat had their windows broken by steel pellets fired by a weapon, news portal Zjol.com.cn reports. The man, said to have fired at the cars from his flat, allegedly told police his dream was to be a sharpshooter and that the broken windows were "no big deal" because he could afford to pay the compensation.

 

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Around the nation: fury as Beijing hospitals help unlicensed hearses overcharge grieving families

Hospitals in Chinese capital have encouraged people to use unlicensed hearses charging more than 1,000 yuan to take bodies to funeral homes when licensed vehicles cost only 100 yuan

PUBLISHED : Friday, 03 April, 2015, 6:04pm
UPDATED : Friday, 03 April, 2015, 6:09pm

Andrea Chen [email protected]

An unlicensed hearse collects a body from outside a Beijing hospital. Photo: The Beijing News

BEIJING

Hospital 'hearse' fury

Many hospitals in the capital have allowed unlicensed vehicles to carry dead bodies to funeral homes, The Beijing News reports. The newspaper received numerous complaints after hospital staff introduced bereaved families to individual drivers charging more than 1,000 yuan (about HK$1,200) for a trip. Drivers working for licensed hearses charged only 100 yuan.

Part-blame for fatal crash

A man from Fangshan, who invited a friend for a drink shortly before he died driving into a tree while drunk, has been found partly responsible for his death, The Mirror reports. A court found him negligent for failing to stop his friend from driving home, even though he knew he had drunk more than the legal limit. He was ordered to pay the man's family 60,000 yuan in compensation, according to the report.

ANHUI

Daughter-in-law killed

A man in his 60s reportedly turned himself in to police shortly after strangling his daughter-in-law in her Hefei flat, Anhuinews.com reports. The woman, aged 35 - the mother of an eight-year-old child - was found dead in her bed by other members of the family. Neighbours said the suspect had arrived in Hefei only days before to visit his son.

'Strangler' detained

A man allegedly strangled his business partner and then drove to see her family with her body in the boot of his car to ask why she was absent from work to try to create an alibi, Anhuinews.com reports. Surveillance footage later showed the woman getting into the man's car before her disappearance. Later the man reportedly admitted killing her during an argument and then dumping her body in a well.

CHONGQING

'Motorbike thieves' held

Members of an alleged gang of motorcycle thieves were caught after they started to argue while sharing out the money they made from selling the vehicles, Chinanews.com reports. Two of the alleged thieves reportedly hired a group of men to rob two other gang members after suspecting they had pocketed too much of the money. Police investigating the fight questioned gang members, who later admitted stealing motorbikes to pay for playing online video games, the report said.

Man drowns in manure pit

A man in his 60s from Rongchang county drowned after falling into a manure pit while walking home along a village road after a night out drinking, the Chongqing Business Herald reports.

HENAN

Grave visiting on demand

A man from Zhengzhou has opened an online business offering a grave-visiting service for people who do not have time to go themselves, the Henan Business Herald reports. Clients can pay for a video broadcast of ceremonies, showing joss paper being burnt and other offerings, so they can see the graves are being respected. Charges range from 999 yuan to 2,600 yuan, with a special service featuring a man weeping beside the grave for one minute costing an extra 300 yuan.

Warning shot halts fight

A policeman from Zhengzhou fired a warning shot in the air to stop a street fight between two drivers and their friends, news portal Hnr.cn reports. The drivers phoned their friends for help during a row over compensation after a minor traffic accident. The warning shot was fired when two policemen arrived and saw about 20 drunk men with steel bars and sticks preparing to join in the fight. Seven people were arrested.

HUBEI

What doctor (didn't) order

A man from Wuhan used a fake doctor's report to make his ailing 60-year-old father stop drinking alcohol, the Chutian Metropolis Daily reports. The father had collapsed several times after daily binges of Chinese liquor, so his son tricked him into visiting a doctor and faked a report saying he had liver failure. On reading the "doctor's note" the father smashed his liquor bottle and vowed to give up drinking.

Student dies exercising

A first-year university student from Wuchang died from a suspected heart attack after collapsing while exercising on a sports ground at night, the Wuhan Evening News reports. The young man was found lying unconscious beside fitness equipment in a park, but was found to have died before the ambulance arrived.

SHANDONG

Boy dies in building fall

A 15-year-old boy fell four storeys to his death in Jinan while climbing down window security bars outside a building after sneaking out of a class at a private tutoring centre, news portal Iqilu.com reports. The boy was found lying in a pool of blood on the ground and later died from his injuries in hospital. Police said the boy had climbed out the classroom's sixth-floor window and was trying to climb down to the ground, using the security bars on windows and balconies, when he fell. The tutoring centre has refused to comment.

Teacher suspected of rape

A deputy principal at a middle school in Linyi has been arrested on suspicion of raping female students, the Qilu Evening News reports. The alleged scandal came to light after the mother of a pregnant child called the police and filed a formal complaint with the school. The local education bureau said inquiries had so far revealed only one alleged victim.

SICHUAN

Man held as farmer dies

A farmer from Dianguang village near Nanchong allegedly beat his 76-year-old neighbour to death with a stick after being accused of stealing vegetables from the other man's farm, news website Scol.com.cn reports. He was reportedly packing up the stolen produce when the victim showed up at his door and accused him of theft. The victim's wife claimed she heard his cries for help and saw the farmer beating her husband around the head. Police are investigating.

Apology for cat torture

Two university zoology students in Chengdu have posted on online letter of apology after a video of them torturing a two-month-old kitten to death went viral on social media, West China City Daily reports. They bought the cat from a pet shop and began torturing it after the retailer refused to give them a refund when they tried to return it. The students were shown pulling the cat by its neck and stomach until it stopped moving. The shop owner said the cat died soon afterwards.

ZHEJIANG

Man 'raped relative'

Prosecutors in Yongjia, near Wenzhou , arrested a man suspected of raping a woman, who was later found to be his distant relative, news portal 66wz.com reports. The suspect, 32 - said to be frustrated by his divorce - allegedly raped the victim after luring her to a secluded place while posing as the manager of a reservoir where she was fishing with friends.

Airgun retailer jailed

A man, aged 19, from Lishui has been jailed for four years and six months for building and selling airguns, Chinanews.com reports. He was caught by police after posting images online of eight guns, built with parts bought on the internet, which he sold for more than 9,000 yuan.

 

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Around the nation: Chinese woman celebrates victory thanks to her 1.8-metre-long locks

The ethnic minority Kazakh, 33, who won a 'longest hair' competition, says it takes two hours to wash her hair, which she has not cut for the past 10 years

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 05 April, 2015, 7:09pm
UPDATED : Sunday, 05 April, 2015, 8:44pm

Mandy Zuo [email protected]

A competitor has her hair measured during the competition in Xinjiang province. Photo: China News Service

XINJIANG

Long locks a winner

A Kazakh woman's 1.8 metre-long locks have won her a "longest hair" competition at a tourist festival last weekend, China News Service reports. The 33-year-old, from Yining county, who defeated 20 other ethnic minority women taking part, said it took two hours to wash her hair, and she had not had it cut for the past 10 years.

Census of 1pc of population

Authorities in the autonomous region are to carry out a survey of 400,000 residents - 1 per cent of the region's total population - as part of a national population census, news website Xinjiangnet.com reports. People living in more than 1,600 communities will receive a questionnaire on topics including their ethnic group, education, occupation, previous migration and home ownership. China carries out a national population census every 10 years - the latest one was in 2010 - followed five years later by the survey of 1 per cent of the total population.

BEIJING

Checks on ageing elevators

Municipal quality inspectors are making routine checks on nearly 4,000 elevators and escalators that have been in service in the capital for more than 15 years, the Beijing Times reports. Beijing had nearly 180,000 escalators and elevators up to the end of last year, with the number rising 10 per cent a year.

Jail over child offence

A stationery shop owner was jailed for three years by a Miyun district court for "sexual indecency" with four girls aged 6 and 10, the Beijing Times reports. The man harassed the girls while visiting his shop, but was caught when one girl told her parents, the report said.

GANSU

Three killed in bus crash

Three people died and 19 were injured after a coach overturned on an icy road in Yongchang county on Saturday, China News Service reports. The bus, with 23 passengers, was travelling from Zhangye to Wuwei .

'Silk Road' work begins

Gansu province is to invest more than 800 billion yuan (HK$1 trillion) on new roads and railways in the next six years as part of the central government's Silk Road Belt initiative, People's Daily reports. The plan to improve infrastructure along the ancient trading route will see the province, one of China's poorest, add more than 70,000km of roads and rail so highways link every county and all villages have cement roads.

HEILONGJIANG

Police hunt alleged killer

Police in Daqing have issued an arrest warrant for a street vendor who allegedly killed two others during a row on Friday, the news portal Dbw.cn reports. The suspect, 43, reportedly stabbed them during a dispute over selling offerings for the Ching Ming festival.

Work starts on 7km bridge

The northeastern province began building the nation's longest cross-city high-speed rail bridge in Jiamusi on the weekend, China News Service reports. The 7km bridge - spanning heavily populated areas - will serve the railway linking the city to the provincial capital, Harbin, and is due to be completed in June 2017.

JIANGSU

Child abuse claim inquiry

Police in Nanjing are investigating claims that a couple severely abused their adopted son, the Yangtse Evening Post reports. Police said the parents, one a lawyer and the other a journalist, had allegedly badly beaten the nine-year-old. Pictures posted online reportedly showed severe bruising on the boy's back, legs, arms, stomach and feet.

Revamp for failing temple

Nanjing's popular Confucius Temple has vowed to improve its management after an undercover investigation found the tourist site's toilet facilities, parking, guide information, traffic management and rubbish disposal were inadequate, the Yangtse Evening News reports. It had failed to meet the standard expected of China's top-ranked "National 5A" scenic areas.

SHANXI

Historic buildings repaired

Heritage authorities in Shanxi have renovated about 70 of its 105 600-year-old timber buildings, Xinhua reports. The province, known as the "treasure house of wooden architecture", has more than 80 per cent of these types of buildings left in China. Central authorities have spent more than 900 million yuan on the repairs since 2006.

Robbery suspect shot dead

Police shot dead a suspected robber in Xinzhou on Saturday, who had earlier stabbed four policemen as they tried to arrest him, China News Service reports. The man, 26, reportedly died after ignoring a warning shot fired in the air. He had been wanted in connection with a series of robberies and thefts committed in the province since last year.

YUNNAN

Unclaimed babies

A group of 11 babies rescued by railway police in Kunming in November after they were abducted from their homes have yet to be claimed by their parents, Workers' Daily reports. The seven boys and four girls were trafficked from Honghe and Wenshan prefectures to provinces including Shandong and Henan. Many couples have visited the children's home in Honghe's Kaiyuan city, where the children are living, but DNA tests have failed to find any match.

Addict 'faked kidnapping'

Police in Dayao county have detained an alleged drug addict, who reportedly faked his own abduction so his family would pay a 1 million yuan ransom and fund his costly habit, the Spring City News reports. The man, 23, allegedly sent a text to his parents 10 days after he left home, urging them to send the ransom to his kidnappers. His family called police, who reportedly found him in a hotel room taking drugs.

ZHEJIANG

Economist 'investigated'

The chief economist of the state-owned assets commission is reportedly under investigation by Wenzhou municipal party discipline officials for abusing his power, news website Sina.com.cn reports. He allegedly used his position to lobby for deposits to be paid into a bank owned by his wife. The news portal Zjol.com.cn previously reported that the bank, established under his wife's name in March 2013, had received deposits totalling nearly 4 billion yuan from state-owned companies within six months of its inception.

Students in iPhone 'scam'

Police have detained a man and woman who allegedly duped nearly 20 university students in Hangzhou with a scam involving the purchase of new iPhone 6 Plus smartphones, the Qianjiang Evening News reports. The students allegedly received 1,000 yuan after agreeing to buy the phones on instalment, and then give the phones to the woman. She had allegedly promised to pay all their instalment fees, but simply left them with the debts while the phones were sold at full price.

 

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Driver ignores mortally injured woman by roadside... and later discovers she’s his mother

Another driver later confesses to hit and run incident

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 07 April, 2015, 2:18pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 08 April, 2015, 11:23am

The unnamed driver who drove past a badly injured woman, not realising it was his mother. Photo: SCMP Pictures

A driver who ignored an injured elderly woman by the roadside later found out that the victim was his own mother, the Anhui Business Daily reported.

The man from Nanling county in Wuhu city was on his way to visit his mother early one morning last week when he spotted the badly hurt old woman next to the road. “My car does not have a dashboard recorder, so I didn’t stop,” he was quoted as saying.

When he arrived at his mother’s house, neighbours told him she had left early to visit him. An ominous feeling came over him, and he immediately drove back to the place where the woman was lying.

To his horror he discovered the woman covered in blood was his mother. He called police and an ambulance but she died on the way to hospital.

Police later found a driver who confessed to hitting the woman and fleeing the scene.

Many drivers and passers-by on the mainland are cautious about assisting injured people, especially the elderly who fall over or involved in traffic accidents.

There have been numerous incidents of Good Samaritans themselves being sued for damages by the same people they tired to help.

But the fear of helping others has created what appears to be a callous attitude to accident victims.

In an incident that sparked outrage across the country in 2011, a two-year-old girl was run over by two delivery vans at a market in Foshan, where her parents worked. Surveillance footage showed that neither driver nor 18 passers-by rendered assistance until a rubbish collector raised the alarm seven minutes later.

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Ignorance proves fake nuns’ undoing

BEIJING - Five women have been detained for pretending to be Buddhist nuns and begging for alms on the street, The Beijing News reports.

The five were asking for money at a shopping mall on Saturday morning, when patrolling police officer questioned them.

They told the officer that they were from Jiuhua Mountain in Anhui province, and had come to the capital to collect money to renovate their temple.

One woman showed the police a Buddhist certificate, but the others appeared to have no clue about Buddhist prayer practices, nor could they say which Bodhisattva were they renovating the temple for.

After more questioning, they finally admitted that they were not real nuns, but had spent 100 yuan (HK$125) each to buy the nun costumes and certificates online.

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Family of I.T. worker, 36, convinced he died from overwork

GUANGDONG - A 36-year-old information technology worker collapsed and died suddenly in Shenzhen last month, leaving his family to suspect it was caused by overwork, the Southern Metropolis News reports.

Guangdong. A 36-year-old information technology worker collapsed and died suddenly in Shenzhen last month, leaving his family to suspect it was caused by overwork, the Southern Metropolis News reports.

The victim’s company made him head of a project in October, which involved working past midnight most days of the week, his wife said. During a work trip on March 24, he returned to his hotel room after working past midnight and told his colleague that he did not feel well.

He sent out his last work email at 1am, and was found dead the next morning in the bathroom by a hotel worker. “I am too tired,” he told his mother a day before he collapsed.

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A kind-hearted teacher spends all her income, and more, caring for stray dogs. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Teacher supports 130 stray dogs on meagre salary

GANSU - A teacher in Pingliang city has adopted more than 130 stray dogs over three years, the China News Service reports.

The dogs eat up to 70 buns, 2kg of beef liver and 5kg of dog food per meal, which costs the 50-year-old more than 5,000 yuan a month. She has also hired two helpers to take care of the dogs.

Overall, she has spent more than 80,000 yuan a year on the animals, while earning just 3,000 yuan a month. She said she could not bear to leave the animals alone when she saw them roaming the streets.

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Second student leaps to death at Renmin University dorm

BEIJING - A student at Renmin University jumped to his death from his dormitory on Tuesday morning, the Beijing Times reports.

He jumped from a toilet window on the eighth floor at around 7.30am, and died at the scene.

It is the second suicide by a student at the same dormitory in six months. On Monday night, students left a bundle of white chrysanthemums on the stairs of the building in memory of the student who died six months ago.

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The bus was so crowded that it popped its door. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Overcrowded bus pops a door in Wuhan

HUBEI - A bus in Wuhan was so crowded on Saturday that its front door fell off, news website Cnhubei.com reports.

The No.643 bus was just leaving a stop at the Wuhan University of Science and Technology when its front door fell off its hinges onto the ground. Witnesses said the bus was even more crowded than usual due to the Qingming Festival.

A crowd of students had rushed onto the bus, which was heading to the train station. The bus company sent another bus to pick up the passengers. No one was hurt in the incident.

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It was a lucky escape for pupils at this primary school. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Primary school retaining wall collapses as first pupils arrive

GUANGXI - A stone-and-brick retaining wall surrounding a primary school collapsed on Tuesday morning in Dapu town, Liucheng county, the China News Service reports.

The incident took place at around 7am, as the first students were arriving at school. Nobody was hurt but some doors of nearby houses were crushed.

 

[Spetsnaz]

Housewife in central China seasons family meal with dead mouse

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 09 April, 2015, 1:57pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 09 April, 2015, 5:50pm

The housewife suspected nothing was wrong until she found a suspicious lump in the bottom of the bag. Photo: SCMP Pictures

XIAN - A woman in Lantian county found a dead mouse at the bottom of a bag of seasoning powder that she had just used up, the Xian Evening News reports.

The woman was adding the seasoning to the lunchtime meal she was preparing for her family on Tuesday, but could not get the last bit of powder out. She cut opened the bag and found a dead mouse lying at the bottom, covered in the powder.

She had bought the product from a supermarket in February. It had not past its expiration date.

She filed a complaint to the local food and drug administration department. The authorities found that the business licence of the non-staple food wholesale centre, which imported the seasoning powder, had expired two years ago. The case was still under investigation.

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Chinese doctors told to improve handwriting or lose bonus

ZHEJIANG - Hospitals in Ningbo are requiring their doctors to write neatly in patients’ medical record books to make them more legible, the Qianjiang Evening News reports.

Seven doctors at a local hospital had their bonuses deducted due to their illegible handwriting last week.

The head of the hospital’s outpatient department said the hospital set up a reward and penalty system for the medical record books in September.

He said the hospital decided to change the messy handwriting of doctors because sometimes even their colleagues could not understand what was written in the records when patients came in consultations and follow-up examinations.

Illegible records also could not serve as evidence in medical conflicts between patients and doctors.

But doctors protested that they were too busy to write neatly.

“In half a day, I have to see at least 50 patients, and sometimes the number of patients would reach 100. How many minutes can I spend on a single patient? To improve efficiency, I naturally have to write faster,” a lung specialist said.

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Young boy burns 5,000 real yuan at ancestors’ tomb

HUBEI - A 4-year-old boy in Wuhan burned 5,000 yuan in real cash while visiting the grave sites of his ancestors with his great-grandfather on Friday, the Wuhan Evening News reports. The boy arrived at his great-grandparents’ home on Friday. The delighted 82-year-old great-grandfather bought the boy a new school bag and put 5,000 yuan in it as a pre-birthday gift.

That evening, the old man took the boy to a nearby shop to buy ghost money, before heading to their ancestors’ tombs to pay respects.

He set up five small fires next to the graves and started burning the ghost money. At the request of the boy, the grandfather handed some ghost money to him and let him take care of one fire.

The grandparents did not realise that all the real money was gone until the next morning when the grandmother opened the boy’s bag to check.

When grandmother asked where the money was, to their surprise, the boy answered: “Didn’t great-grandpa let me burn it to offer to his father?”

The old man admitted that the ghost money he bought looked a lot like the real thing. He recalled that the boy had asked him at the shop whether that kind of money can be burned, and he said it could.

The grandmother gave the boy another 5,000 yuan to make up for the gift, the report said.

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Shenzhen taxi driver hands in 300 gold necklaces left under seat

The driver said a young man left the gold in his taxi. Photo: He Huifeng

GUANGDONG - A taxi driver in Shenzhen found more than 300 gold necklaces left by a passenger on Wednesday and handed them to the taxi company, the Southern Metropolis News reports. The necklaces weighed more than 1kg and were worth at least 250,000 yuan (HK$316,000), the report said. They were wrapped in a plastic bag and left under the front-passenger seat by a young man. Police were looking for the owner.

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Lottery criminal steals thousands of tickets but is still out of pocket

SHAANXI - A man who stole 40,000 yuan worth of scratch tickets in Yulin this week had only won 100 yuan by the time he was arrested, the Huashang Daily reports. The man spent 1,000 yuan on the tickets on Sunday without winning a penny. In the early hours of Monday he broke into a lottery shop and stole thousands more. He also spent another 1,000 yuan to hire two accomplices to help him scratch the cards, but they only found one ticket worth 80 yuan and another worth 20 yuan. The culprit was arrested as he tried to redeem his pitiful earnings. He still had more than 3,000 unscratched tickets with him at the time.

 

[Pfizer]

12 jailed for selling meat from sick pigs

Shanghai Daily, April 9, 2015

Twelve people involved in the sale of meat from sick pigs have been jailed by the Higher People's Court in southeast China's Fujian Province.

The pork, complete with quarantine and inspection stamps, made its way to food companies and restaurants after officials were bribed, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.

Sentences ranged from 30 months to 16 years, Xinhua said, without revealing individual punishments.

A group led by Lin Shen and Lai Jianhua illegally purchased sick and dead pigs selling the meat for 12.43 million yuan (US$2 million) after processing, the court heard.

Another led by Zhang Zhiqiang made 43 million yuan by renting licensed slaughter houses to butcher such pigs.

Under Chinese law, pigs which have died as the result of disease can't be sold and must be disposed of in an environmentally friendly way.

Farmers in Longyan, a major pig breeding base in the province, need to pay 200 yuan to properly dispose of such pigs but are only eligible for a government subsidy of 80 yuan.

As a result, many prefer to sell their dead pigs to illegal dealers or throw them into nearby rivers.

Lin, Lai and Zhang sold the illegal pork meat in other cities in Fujian and in the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Hunan and Guangdong.

Court officials said preventing the illegal sale of dead pigs was difficult as the farmers involved and the companies who bought the pork from criminal gangs were usually not punished.

 

[Spetsnaz]

Fujian paper slammed for censoring PX plant explosion coverage

Staff Reporter
2015-04-16

The front page of the web edition of the Dongnan Zaobao on April 8. (Internet photo)

A Fujian-based newspaper has come under attack for censoring its own reports about a disastrous explosion at a paraxylene (PX) chemical plant last week in the eastern part of the province.

The Dragon Aromatics Plant in Zhangzhou exploded on the evening of April 6, injuring at least a dozen people and causing fires that continued on and off for more than three days after the initial blast.

More than 700 firefighters were involved and around 30,000 people living nearby were evacuated. Government investigators have said that the blast was caused by a chemical leak and that four oil tanks were involved. The Fujian work safety regulator later said the accident was cause by flaws in production procedures and that further investigation was underway.

On April 8, the front page of the local Dongnan Zaobao (Southeast Morning News) featured a story about how authorities declared that the incident did not cause environmental pollution but the paper's web edition applied mosaic to the entire article, including a large photo of the inferno.

Netizens unable to find the article elsewhere have berated the newspaper on internet forums and social media, with many saying that the suspect the article was censored as it contained information that was regarded as too negative for public consumption.

Others were more willing to give the paper the benefit of the doubt, saying they believe the article was stifled by local authorities who forced them to shut down negative reporting of the fire.

The fire was particular controversial because PX, which is used in the manufacture of polyester and plastic, is toxic to human health and has sparked mass protests in the past.

The plant, controlled by the Taiwanese petrochemical producer Xianglu Group, was also controversial when it was launched in 2007 because the owner of the company, Chen Youhao, was wanted by Taiwan police in 2003 for defaulting on huge debts. It had originally been planned to be built in the southeastern coastal city of Xiamen but was moved to Zhangzhou following public demonstrations. The factory previously suffered an explosion in July 2013, though no casualties or toxic leaks were reported.

 

[Spetsnaz]

China catches 20 more economic fugitives overseas

Xinhua, April 16, 2015

The Ministry of Public Security on Thursday said 20 more "economic fugitives" have been captured since it launched a new round in a campaign early this month to hunt economic suspects who have fled abroad.

"Fox Hunt 2015," a Chinese program to track down economic suspects, including corrupt government officials, and recover their assets kicked off at the beginning of April following success last year.

According to the ministry, a suspect with the surname Gong who allegedly raised funds fraudulently was seized by police in Zhejiang on April 1 after fleeing to Myanmar.

On April 2, Shanghai police persuaded a fugitive with the surname Qiao,who was suspected of falsifying value-added tax invoices, to return to China.

In two other cases, two fugitives allegedly involved in economic crimes were arrested by police in Hebei and Shandong provinces, respectively.

The ministry vowed to improve the database of economic fugitives overseas in order to advance the operation.

As part of last year's Fox Hunt 2014 campaign, 680 fugitives were repatriated to China.

 

[Spetsnaz]

China targets fugitive officials' money laundering

Xinhua, April 16, 2015

Chinese law and economic authorities have launched a campaign against money laundering via offshore companies and underground banks, targeting corrupt officials who have fled abroad.

According to an announcement on Thursday, five departments including the central bank and the Supreme People's Procuratorate are working in partnership to block channels by which fugitive officials may transfer illegal income overseas.

The move is part of the larger "Sky Net" anti-corruption campaign that was launched in March with the aim of repatriating Chinese suspected of official or economic corruption. Sky Net combines government, the Communist Party, the central bank and diplomatic services.

 

[Spetsnaz]

China's graft-busters release list of 100 wanted fugitives in Operation Sky Net

Targets of Beijing's Operation Sky Net include five in HK, but extraditions won't be easy

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 23 April, 2015, 12:52am
UPDATED : Thursday, 23 April, 2015, 1:04am

Mimi Lau in Guangzhou [email protected]

The CCDI website has headshots and background information on 100 wanted fugitives in Operation Sky Net. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Beijing’s anti-graft watchdog on Wednesday released a detailed list of 100 fugitives it wants to extradite back to China as part of its “Sky Net” anti-graft operation.

The fugitives are subject to Interpol red notices, which appeal for the location and arrest of each wanted person, and ask member states to extradite them.

However, international law experts warned of complicated legal procedures due to a lack of extradition treaties between China and the nations where the fugitives are hiding.

The list published by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has far more detailed information than that released by Interpol.

It includes a photo of each fugitive, their gender, former positions of employment, mainland personal identification number, passport details, date of fleeing and the nations they are suspected of escaping to. It also describes their alleged crimes.

The CCDI said the names on the list were only a fraction of those targeted in its global hunt.

“Implementing Sky Net’s strategic operation, the Interpol National Central Bureau for China has issued red notices for a list of 100 civil servants and other alleged criminals wanted for corruption,” the CCDI said on its website.

One of the fugitives on the list is Cheng Muyang, a former manager at a Beijing-based advertising company and a Hong Kong company director with a permanent Hong Kong identity card. He fled to Canada in August 2000. Mainland website Thepaper.cn said that Cheng was the son of late Hebei provincial party secretary Cheng Weigao.

Forty of the fugitives fled to the United States, 26 to Canada and five to Hong Kong; the rest went to New Zealand, Australia, Thailand and Singapore.

Nearly half of them were heads of government departments or corporations.

Others were policemen, accountants, corporate treasurers and bank staff. Many held more than one personal Chinese ID card and had multiple passports.

The list includes fugitives who fled from 1996 to 2014, with most having taken flight between 2011 and 2013 and from 2001 to 2002. Most are accused of bribery, corruption and embezzlement.

Most come from rich coastal provinces such as Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu .

President Xi Jinping launched a massive anti-corruption campaign after coming to power in 2013. Sky Net’s predecessor, “Operation Fox Hunt”, netted 680 officials last year.

Professor Michael Davis, an international law expert with the University of Hong Kong, said the release of the list was more a public relations message than an attempt to expedite extraditions.

He said even in cases where the fugitive was in a country that had an extradition treaty with China, bringing anybody back could be a long process due to other countries’ concerns over China’s use of the death penalty, and foreign lawyers being able to mount lengthy challenges.

Hong Kong lawmaker James To Kun-sun said the Hong Kong government had no legal basis to arrest anyone on the list.

Permanent residents could not be transferred due to the lack of an extradition agreement, and Hong Kong was “very unlikely” to intervene in the case of a non-permanent resident, he said.

Renmin University political analyst Zhang Ming said the scope of the details would be intimidating for those planning to escape.

 

[Spetsnaz]

 

[Spetsnaz]

Elderly Man Heists Cash Delivery After Refused Service At Bank

by Amanda on Saturday, April 25, 2015 4

An elderly Jiangxi man surprised bank employees when he decided to rob them.

In a hurry to withdraw money, the man wasn’t satisfied when the bank teller informed him that the bank was closed and they were unable to serve him.

The man, who is over 70 years old, refused to leave, staying in the bank until he saw an opportunity as the bank was preparing to make a cash delivery, and seized the cash box from the armed guards.

Taking into account the man’s age and realising he may have mental issues, the police let him off with a warning and called family members to pick him up.

 

[Spetsnaz]

Investigators face huge task to catch China’s 100 wanted fugitives: analysts

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 23 April, 2015, 1:53pm
UPDATED : Friday, 24 April, 2015, 5:03am

Nectar Gan, Keira Lu Huang and Samuel Chan

An alleged "economic fugitive" (wearing mask) arrives in China after 10 years on the run in Italy. Photo: SCMP

Beijing has just published its list of 100 wanted fugitives - including five believed to have fled to Hong Kong - but now comes the hard part, according to analysts.

The nation's top anti-graft watchdog still had a huge amount of work ahead before the suspects could be successfully extradited, the analysts said.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection issued the list on Wednesday as part of its "Sky Net" anti-graft operation.

It revealed details about the fugitives, including their alleged crimes and the nations where they are believed to have fled.

Most fugitives on the list are in countries that do not have extradition treaties with China, according to the CCDI. Forty are believed to be in the United States, with another 26 in Canada, and 10 in both New Zealand and Australia. Five were believed to be in Hong Kong. There is no extradition agreement between Hong Kong and the mainland.

All the suspects are subject to Interpol red notices, which appeal for each wanted person to be located and arrested and for member states to extradite them.

Duan Daqi, deputy head of Interpol's China bureau, told state broadcaster CCTV that once issued, the red notices would help to create a global monitoring effect, with member states able to take different actions according to the law.

"[The red notices mean] some countries can adopt temporary detention, as well as forceful measures such as arrest, repatriation and extradition," Duan was quoted as saying. "They can also monitor the whereabouts of the fugitives and report to China."

But China had only 40 to 60 days to act before those detention periods expired, said Huang Feng, head of the Institute for International Criminal Law at Beijing Normal University, CCTV reported.

"We need to formally apply to those countries for extradition or repatriation within the deadline, and to hand in evidence and legal documents," Huang said.

James To Kun-sun, a member of the Legislative Council's security panel, said that even though the fugitives were wanted by Interpol, Hong Kong police were not necessarily obliged to arrest the five suspects believed to be in the city. "It depends on which country [is demanding the fugitives]," he said. "If it's a country that has no repatriation or surrender agreement with Hong Kong, no arrests will be made unless the suspects also commit crimes in Hong Kong."

But the CCDI said it had other means to extradite fugitives, including providing evidence of criminal activity to host countries, or getting the suspects sent back - either directly or via a third country - on the grounds of illegal immigration.

Even if the fugitives were not returned to China, Chinese authorities could provide evidence so that host countries could prosecute the fugitives under local laws, an article posted on the CCDI's website last month said.

Mo Shaoping , a criminal defence lawyer based in Beijing, said these alternatives had their limits. Among other things, different judicial systems often had very different requirements for evidence gathering.

President Xi Jinping has said that it is just as important for graft-busters to go after "flies" - or low-level people suspected of corruption - as it is to pursue "tigers", or senior officials.

Andrew Wedeman, professor of political science at Georgia State University in the US, said that despite being made up of mostly lower-level, little-known figures, the fugitive list was likely to a be an accurate, real-life cross section of corruption in China.

"China's corruption problem is not one of just a few corrupt 'tigers'," Wedeman said.

"Rather it is about a much larger group of 'flies' and apparently widespread corruption among the mid-level officials of the Chinese state apparatus and state-sector managers."

 

[Spetsnaz]

Three top Chinese military officers held in graft probes

Detention of major generals from Lanzhou and Beijing highlights persistent problems in the logistics departments of the armed forces

PUBLISHED : Monday, 27 April, 2015, 12:56am
UPDATED : Monday, 27 April, 2015, 12:56am

Staff Reporter

Major General Dong Mingxiang, PLA Beijing Military Area Command joint logistics chief, is being held for suspected violations of law. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Three senior People's Liberation Army officers, including one from retired military chief Guo Boxiong's former power base, were detained by military prosecutors, the armed forces announced on Sunday.

The detention of Zhan Guoqiao, the former head of logistics for the Lanzhou Military Area Command, and Dong Mingxiang, who held the same post in Beijing, underscores the graft problem in that military arm.

Zhan Jun, a former deputy provincial commander in Hubei, had also been detained by military prosecutors, a statement on the PLA's official news portal said, citing an "authoritative military department". All three are of major-general rank.

Since the PLA changed tack earlier this year and started releasing updates on the graft crackdown in the military, five of the army's seven area commands have lost their logistics chiefs to corruption investigations. The exceptions are Nanjing and Jinan . Graft probes have also claimed former deputy logistics chief Gu Junshan and his successor Liu Zheng at the PLA's headquarters.

The announcement on Sunday said that both Lanzhou's Zhan Guoqiao and Hubei's Zhan Jun were investigated in December for suspected serious violations of discipline and their cases were handed over to military prosecutors last month.

It confirmed the South China Morning Post 's report on March 2 that Zhan Guoqiao was among more than a dozen major generals being investigated.

Major General Zhan Guoqiao (front), the former head of logistics for the Lanzhou Military Area Command, is in detention for serious violations of discipline. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The statement said Dong was investigated by military prosecutors in March for suspected violations of law. Prominent mainland news outlet Caixin reported two weeks ago that Dong was suspected of bribing his superiors for promotions.

President Xi Jinping's administration has vowed to keep going after corrupt military top brass after the death last month of Xu Caihou , the disgraced retired vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission. Sources told the Post this month that Beijing had decided to launch an investigation into Xu's counterpart Guo. Guo and Xu both served under former president Hu Jintao .

A commentary by "Xie Zhengping" published on the military portal shortly after yesterday's announcement argued that the PLA had been tarnished by corrupt "defectors" before - including ones as senior as marshal Lin Biao who was once heir apparent to chairman Mao Zedong - but the troops had never betrayed the Communist Party or the people.

Lin died in a plane crash in Mongolia in 1971 at an apparent attempted defection to the Soviet Union.

The case against Major General Zhan Jun (front), former deputy Hubei provincial commander, has been handed over to military prosecutors. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The article said the ongoing graft crackdown had revealed deep-rooted problems in the military but the PLA should not dismiss the achievements it made in the decade "between the party's 16th and 18th national congresses" - the period when Xu and Guo were in top office.

Some officers who were promoted counter to military rules had been demoted in the anti-graft campaign, the article said, while criticising claims that "all PLA ranks have a price and are up for grabs" as rumours peddled by "foreign enemies" with "ulterior motives".

 

[sirus]

This Women’s Rights Activist Was Threatened With Rape by Chinese Police
By Frank Fang, Epoch Times | April 26, 2015

A Chinese female rights activist who was recently released from detention said recently that police threatened to throw her in a male prisoners’ cells to be gang raped. It’s not the first time that such means of abuse of women have been reported in China.

Wu Rongrong, a 30-year-old who heads a women’s rights center in Hangzhou, eastern China, was arrested on March 6 for planning a series of public protests. She was one of the five female rights advocates arrested at the time for the same reason, all of whom were eventually released without charge by April 13, after mounting international pressure.

An account of Wu’s treatment by Chinese police in detention by an anonymous writer found its way to Boxun, an overseas dissident news site, and a number of Chinese blogs and news sites on Sunday.

“‘You would be tied up and thrown into a male prison to be gang raped,'” Wu recalled police saying. “‘Your four-year-old son will encounter trouble in school and will have difficulties finding a job in future.'”

Wu said that she endured other insults and was made to sleep on the floor during her 37 day incarceration, despite having a chronic liver ailment. Police also claimed they lost her identification card, which they had confiscated when she was detained, making it hard to get on with daily life.

It is common for sources who leak abuse cases to remain anonymous in China. A day earlier, Wu had released a statement about an eight-hour police interrogation that took place after her detention—Wu couldn’t personally verify it because she has been banned from speaking to the media, but her lawyer claims that it is authentic, according to the Associated Press.

Wu could not be reached for comment, to confirm the authenticity of the account of the gang rape threat. Nevertheless, the use of rape against imprisoned women in China, particularly prisoners of conscience, is well documented.

Du Bin, a former New York Times photojournalist, has in recent years published books and a documentary based on testimonies from survivors of Masanjia Women’s Labor Camp, a detention center in Shenyang, Liaoning Province infamous for torturing female practitioners of Falun Gong, a traditional spiritual discipline that has been persecuted since 1999.

“As a human being, there’s no reason or excuse to tolerate the atrocities that happened in ‘Masanjia Women’s Labor Camp,’ including the long-time use of a uterine dilator for tube feeding women, making women lie in their own waste, tying up several toothbrushes and twisting them in women’s vaginas, putting pepper powder in women’s vaginas, shocking women’s breasts and vaginas with electric batons, and putting women into male cells …” Du wrote on Twitter after the release of his 2014 book, ‘Vaginal Coma.”

“Guards would rape female Falun Gong practitioners,” said Xin Suhua, a Masanjia survivor from Benxi, Liaoning Province, to Minghui, a Falun Gong information portal.

The labor camp, called “hell on earth” by former inmate Liu Hua, was supposedly shut in 2013, but it was discovered in 2014 that the Chinese regime merely gave Masanjia two new names and kept the facility, and likely its torture program, operating.

 

[Spetsnaz]

Chinese parents of dead boy accuse clinic staff of medical negligence

Child suffers seizures and dies after receiving standard emergency treatment

PUBLISHED : Monday, 27 April, 2015, 6:06pm
UPDATED : Monday, 27 April, 2015, 6:20pm

Staff Reporter

Photos if the toddler who died at an outpatient clinic in Dongguan on Thursday. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The grieving parents of a toddler who died after receiving an injection at a hospital clinic in Guangdong province last Thursday are demanding a forensic investigation into their son’s death, which they say resulted from medical negligence.

The parents took the boy’s body home, and they and relatives scuffled with police who tried to retrieve it late on Friday, the Southern Metropolis News reported on Monday.

The father, Zhou Huayin, sent his one-year-old son, who had developed a severe cough, to the Dongping outpatient clinic run by Qishi Hospital in Dongguan on Wednesday, the paper reported.

The mother, Cao Haiqiong, told the News that a male doctor ordered oxygen and an electrocardiogram, while a nurse gave the child an injection.

“We found it odd but the staff were speaking Cantonese. As outsiders of Guangdong, we did not understand a word,” Cao said.

The boy suffered seizures about five minutes after the injection, Cao said, and the family to called for help. By the time a doctor from Qishi Hospital’s emergency unit arrived, the child had died.

Citing an identified doctor at the Dongping clinic, the Southern Metropolis News reported that the child was in poor condition when he arrived at the clinic. The doctor said it was normal procedure to give the patient oxygen and a cardiogram, and that the non-prescribed dosage of adrenaline hydrochloride was a standard emergency treatment to prevent cardiac arrest.

A hospital spokesman said the child had shown no symptoms of cardio problems, such as dilated pupils, when he was sent to the clinic.

Protests and assaults by disgruntled patients or relatives are frequent in mainland hospitals, where a number of medical staff have been injured or even killed on duty.

 

[Spetsnaz]

Chinese teacher sacked after video shows him kissing teenage student in his office

Footage of resisting girl causes outrage online and official order for investigation

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 28 April, 2015, 8:39pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 28 April, 2015, 11:17pm

Staff Reporter

The video of a teacher in Chongqing kissing a student caused an outrage among internet users. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Video of a mainland secondary school teacher attempting to kiss a struggling female pupil in his office has caused an outrage among internet users, state media Xinhua reports.

The footage uploaded to the internet shows a male teacher at Liangjiang Secondary School in Chongqing holding the teenager by the waist and kissing her repeatedly as she attempts to resist. The two were standing by a window in the teacher’s fluorescent-lit office at night.

The teacher has been sacked and the principal is being held accountable. The Yubei district government in Chongqing has ordered the local education board to investigate the incident.

A government official confirmed the incident, saying the teacher, surnamed Xu, had severely violated teachers’ professional conduct.

Liangjiang Secondary School is regarded as one of the top schools in the municipality.

 

[Spetsnaz]

Police hunt kidnappers who fled with $3.6m

China Daily, April 30, 2015

The two suspected kidnappers. [Photo/Xinhua]

Police barricade a street as they carry out a manhunt for kidnappers in Hong Kong. [Photo/Xinhua]

Police have launched a massive manhunt for up to six men who they say escaped with a HK$28 million ($3.6 million) ransom in one of the biggest kidnapping cases in Hong Kong in recent years.

The men are said to have seized the daughter of a billionaire at her luxury home at Clear Water Bay after a break-in and robbery on Saturday.

Police said the kidnappers are from the mainland. Two are aged between 26 and 29 and were wearing dark jackets, bluejeans and sports shoes. One has a scar on his right palm. Another two are 1.6 meters tall and wore white coats.

According to reports, five or six masked men broke into the billionaire's detached house and ransacked the premises. They took away HK$2 million in cash and valuables, as well as the owner's 29-year-old daughter, who was alone in the house. The family reported the kidnapping to the police, and the case was passed to the Kowloon East Regional Crime Unit.

The billionaire, who is said to be in the real estate business, received a call from the kidnappers, demanding a ransom of HK$50 million in exchange for his daughter, say police. The demand was later lowered to HK$28 million after negotiations.

The abductors called the billionaire again on Tuesday night to make arrangements to pick up the ransom, the reports say. The money was placed in 28 bags, each containing HK$1 million. The kidnappers escaped in a white car after receiving the money, and officers found the woman unhurt in the Tseung Kwan O district.

A citywide manhunt was then launched, with roadblocks being placed on all main routes out of the city. The areas affected included Wong Tai Sin, the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, Yuen Long and Tseung Kwan O.

Heavily armed police wearing helmets and bulletproof jackets stopped suspicious vehicles, and large numbers of officers searched the areas around the woman's home in Kowloon Peak, also known as Fei Ngor Shan, with the assistance of helicopters.

Retired detective Lam Kin-keung described the crime as "well-organized" as the suspects, who are not local, were able to escape in an unfamiliar city.

"It is possible that the kidnapping was an improvised crime," he said. "It is likely that burglars came to realize that the owner of the house was rich after ransacking it."
Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation.

 

[Flake]

President Xi Jinping's corruption crackdown linked to officials' suicides

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 03 May, 2015, 5:48am
UPDATED : Sunday, 03 May, 2015, 5:48am

Nectar Gan [email protected]

Reports of a third Chinese official committing suicide last month - following news that four other officials killed themselves in March - have caused a stir among users of mainland social media.

On Thursday morning Chen Tianhong, the head of a town in Jiangsu province, jumped to his death from the 21st floor of the government building.

Family members said Chen, 34, was emotionally unstable at the time of his death after suffering from serious insomnia, the Xinhua news agency reported.

His death was the third suicide of an official to be reported by Chinese media last month, after the division head of the public security bureau of Mudanjiang city , in northeastern Heilongjiang province, hanged himself on Friday last week and the Communist party chief of Yizhou city , in southern Guangxi province, leapt to his death last Tuesday.

In March, four officials jumped to their deaths on three consecutive days.

Some internet users questioned what had gone wrong with mainland officials, with many suggesting the deaths could be linked to the crackdown on corruption launched by President Xi Jinping after he came to power in November 2012.

The number of suicides recorded by officials has risen sharply in recent years, which analysts said was inevitably linked to Xi's anti-graft campaign. More than 100 "tigers" - corrupt senior officials - and many low-level cadres "flies" have been purged.

Between 2003 and 2012, the suicides of 112 officials were reported by mainland media, said an academic paper written about the phenomenon by Qi Xingfa, a politics professor at Shanghai's East China Normal University.

The number of "irregular deaths" among cadres reached 54 between January 2013 and April 2014, of which 23 were confirmed as suicides by authorities, the China Youth Daily reported.

Last year the website of the People's Tribune, a magazine published by the Communist Party newspaper, People's Daily, reported that 36 officials had committed suicide. The Knowlesys online public opinion monitoring service put the number at 72 after counting cases that had appeared in media reports.

Little information about the reason for the suicides has been made public. But in those cases that authorities offered a brief explanation, "depression" was the most common cause of people taking their own lives.

Zhu Lijia, a public policy professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, said the increase in the number of cases of suicide was "directly related" to the crackdown on corruption.

"As the anti-graft campaign widens, and public participation in reporting corrupt officials increases, such officials are under huge mental stress," Zhu told the South China Morning Post.

"Although not all officials who committed suicides were related to corruption, the pressure from the anti-graft campaign did partially cause mental stress and depression among officials."

The rise in suicides among cadres since the crackdown had led the party to launch a national survey to find out how many members had killed themselves, the Financial Times reported.

Chinese law has also contributed to the rise in suicides among cadres, Qi said in his paper. Under the Criminal Procedure Law of China, suspects and defendants will no longer be held criminally liable after they die. Those already prosecuted will have their case withdrawn or be declared innocent. "This provision has led to officials using suicide as an effective way to protect families and others," Qi said.