中国Power !!!

[NoLimit]

A mother’s battle against China’s polluting incinerators that ‘caused son’s health problems’

Housewife educates herself on environmental law in bid to shut waste plants

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 07 June, 2015, 10:53pm
UPDATED : Monday, 08 June, 2015, 12:17am

Li Jing [email protected]

Smoke rises from a household waste incineration plant in Wuhan, Hubei province. Photo: ImagineChina

Ren Rui used to read only cookbooks, but the housewife in Wuhan, Hubei province, taught herself environmental law after she began a fight to close two local incinerators – one burning domestic rubbish and the other, medical waste.

Her six-year-old son has undergone nine operations on his respiratory system after he started coughing blood when he was three – when the medical waste incinerator went into operation without official approval.

“I am only a housewife, but I had to learn all the policies on incinerators by myself, for my son,” Ren, 36, said.

She was later joined by her neighbours in repeatedly filing lawsuits against the two incinerators for damaging the environment and public health. Constantly faced with a pungent odour in the air, they fear the emissions are toxic.

About 30 people in the neighbourhood have fallen ill since 2012, some getting cancer while others develop severe respiratory diseases. There is no official word on whether the pollution and the illnesses are linked.

The group applied to the municipal government for information on the incinerators – including emissions data – but their requests went unheeded. It was not until this year, after a revised environmental law took effect, that their case was accepted by a local court.

But they had to lower their compensation demand from 700,000 yuan (HK$885,000) to just seven yuan as they could not afford the litigation fee for the higher claim. The case has yet to be heard.

The environmental authorities – at both national and provincial levels – have admitted the medical waste incinerator did not undergo an environmental impact assessment.

It suspended operations in 2013 but resumed burning waste after receiving all the approvals last year. Authorities have said the other incinerator failed to treat its sewage properly.

“Does this mean … all their law-breaking practices no longer matter? What about my son’s health problems,” Ren asked.

Plans to build incinerators in cities have been met with strong public opposition across the country, although authorities still consider them a key way to deal with a worsening rubbish crisis as urbanisation intensifies.

Recent research has found most of the mainland’s 160 incinerators failed to give the public adequate pollution information.

Environmental authorities in 103 cities offered emission data for only 65 incinerators, and officials from only 39 incinerators responded to questions on how they handle fly ash – the residue from burning. Only 13 incinerators gave the green groups data on their dioxin emissions.

Dioxin is a known carcinogen, while fly ash is classified as a “hazardous chemical” as it may contain toxic substances. They therefore require special treatment by licensed firms.

But only eight incinerators sent fly ash for proper treatment. These posed health risks to the public, the green groups said.

Some city governments refused to share pollution data with green groups as they were suspicious of their motives, said Yue Caixuan, of Wuhu Ecology Centre, an NGO that has helped seek information from governments.

“They even thought we were spies … But I am just a citizen wanting to know whether incinerators are safe,” Yue said.

Public trust in incinerators was determined by the degree of transparency about their operations, said Chen Liwen, of green group Nature University.

“Information boards at many incinerators … are usually left blank, even those that governments praise as ‘model’ ones.”

 

[Spetsnaz]

Police rely once more on media to catch Gaokao cheats

Staff Reporter
2015-06-08

Police detain an exam candidate on suspicion of fraud at a Gaokao venue in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, June 7. (Photo/CNS)

For the second year in a row authorities in China have had to rely on media outlets to uncover exam cheats in the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, commonly known as the "Gaokao."

On Sunday afternoon, the first day of Gaokao 2015, police apprehended a student by the name of Li Shiyu for paying a substitute to take his exam on his behalf. Li was unaware however that the substitute candidate was actually an undercover reporter — and the authorities were apparently unaware that fakers were infiltrating local exam halls until it was reported in the news.

The reporter, from Guangzhou's Southern Metropolis Daily, began corresponding with a syndicate of substitute exam sitters from November last year and convinced them to take him on.

He was contacted in May for a new photo to make a fake ID, and was in regular communication with the group by phone and by the internet, though he did not meet with the contact or other sitters until late evening on June 5 in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province, less than two days before the commencement of the exams. The reporter did not receive his fake ID and exam credentials until the night before the exam.

The following morning, the reporter contacted police and also visited the address listed on Li Shiyu's ID. Locals confirmed that he is a real person who did poorly at school but comes from a wealthy family.

The Jiangxi Provincial Education Department conducted a three-minute press conference at 2 pm on the same day announcing that Li had been detained by authorities.

The reporter found that substitute exam candidates specializing in the sciences tend to earn more but how much they actually pocket will depend on how well they do in the exam. The lowest payment for getting into a top-level university is 70,000 to 100,000 yuan US$11,300-$16,100), while gaining entrance to lower-level universities can pay anywhere from 12,000 to 25,000 yuan (US$1,900-$4,000).

One sitter told the reporter that he has been taking tests for other students since his first year at university and has made 100,000 yuan (US$16,100) over the past three years.

Comments on the internet praised the reporter for having the guts to go undercover, noting that cheating syndicates are dangerous because they tend to have connections with security officials and exam supervisors. Others criticized the education and law enforcement authorities for failing to do their jobs and allowing reporters to put their safety at risk.

Want Daily, our Chinese-language sister paper, reported two trends in gaokao cheating over the past couple of years. The first is that a significant number of substitute exam sitters are recruited from Wuhan in central China and the second is that police appear to always be a step behind and need media outlets to do their work for them.

Last year, authorities in central China's Henan province busted a substitute exam sitter ring after a reporter used a hidden camera to collect evidence. The bust led to the detention of 165 illegal exam takers, including 127 substitute sitters, as well as 58 educational staff.

 

[Hopeless]

Hopeless cases

 

[Spetsnaz]

Mobile virus that steals bank accounts info discovered

CRI, June 14, 2015

Screenshot shows the text massage that is linked to a mobile virus. [Photo: screenshot from CCTV]

A new mobile virus that siphons people's private data including bank account information has been spreading since February.

Victims complain that they received a text massage saying "this is our photo album, open and have a look", with a web link attached in the message that requires users to install an app to open the photo album.

But the app comes with an embedded virus and once it has been installed, the app acts as a back door for hackers who want to steal personal information, including phone contacts, text messages and passwords to online bank accounts.

The same message will then be forwarded to every person on the user's contact list and this creates a chain of victims.

A police officer says the alleged virus has attacked more than 10,000 handsets in two weeks and the creators of the malware have siphoned-off more than 180,000 yuan through mobile banking fraud.

Cases of mobile banking fraud have increased rapidly in recent years with new means to attack mobile security.

More than 400,000 cases have been detected in China last year, and victims have lost around 10.7 billion yuan due to fraud.

 

[NoLimit]

12-year-old suspected of poisoning two girls in Hunan

Source: Global Times Published: 2015-6-15 0:28:03

A 12-year-old person is suspected of poisoning two primary school girls to death in Hengyang county, Central China's Hunan Province, local authorities said Saturday.

Police in Hengyang announced Saturday on its official Sina Weibo account that two girls died of drinking beverage mixed with pesticides on Wednesday.

But they have declined to identify the suspect's gender or if they have arrested the person.

The case is still under investigation, according to the police.

Police said the suspect is an acquaintance of the two sisters and confessed that pesticides were deliberately placed in the beverage, without specifying the motive, the Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday.

Police said they found one of the dead girls foaming at her mouth on a road in Hengyang after receiving a report from local residents on Wednesday. Half an hour later, the local health center reported another girl's death for poisoning.

Local media reports previously claimed that the two sisters, who were 14 and 8, respectively, died after eating food in the garbage heap that contained pesticides due to hunger.

According to Xiaoxiang Morning Herald, the girls' mother lives on collecting garbage and always forgets to cook for them. The two would sometimes eat the garbage.

China has seen several similar violent cases over the years. In 2013, a 10-year-old girl's attack on an 18-month-old toddler in Chongqing shocked the public, as video footage showed the girl throwing the toddler to the ground in an elevator and kicked him several times.

 

[NoLimit]

Five arrested for death of ‘whistle-blower’ official

Source:Global Times Published: 2015-6-15 0:28:02

Five people in Qing'an county, Heilongjiang Province have been arrested for the death of a local disciplinary inspection official, who was allegedly beaten to death after he went to Beijing to report discipline violations of senior county officials, media reported Sunday.

Fan Jiadong, 46, the disciplinary inspection official, was allegedly beaten by a group of masked people on April 2 in Qing'an. Fan died of complications from his bone injuries on May 1.

Two of the five suspects were connected to a real estate development company in Qingan, which has close ties with the local government, according to news website caijing.com.cn.

The magazine previously reported that Fan's most recent appeal to the top disciplinary watchdog accused the county's Party chief and county head of their alleged involvement in the illegal construction of a deluxe office building after the central government issued a five-year ban on new office building construction.

 

[Spetsnaz]

 

[NoLimit]

Chinese firm tells women staff to only get pregnant 'according to agreed schedule'

PUBLISHED : Friday, 03 July, 2015, 12:15pm
UPDATED : Friday, 03 July, 2015, 8:05pm

Ellis Liang [email protected]

The credit union said it was worried that too many women staff would fall pregnant at the same time. Photo: Xinhua

An employer in northern China has told women staff they must schedule in advance when they get pregnant and if they have a baby outside that period they will be fined and could lose their end of year bonuses and chances of promotion, according to a media report.

A credit union in Jiaozuo in Henan province said it was important that women who have been married for a year or more agreed with the organisation when they would get pregnant so staff did not take maternity leave at the same time, the news website Hinews.cn reported.

Women getting pregnant outside the schedule face a fine of 1,000 yuan (HK$1,250), the report said.

An email announcing the move by the credit union has been circulated on social media in China.

“Finding a job is not easy. Everyone has no choice but to plan their pregnancies according to the notice,” one woman employee unhappy with the policy was quoted as saying. “No one can guarantee if one can become pregnant as scheduled. This policy is too inconsiderate.”

An official at the credit union, who declined to give his name, told the website that the policy was proposed because the group had recently hired a lot of young women and was worried that if many became pregnant at the same time it could affect the business.

He said the notice was only a draft and the credit union would reconsider the policy if most people disagreed with it.

Legal experts and government departments said the policy was illegal, according to the report.

“To have to report to the company and queue to get pregnant according to schedule, that kind of guideline strictly violates a female employee’s reproductive rights,” an official at Jiaozuo’s family planning commission was quoted as saying.

 

[Jailbreak]

The tigers' cage: inside China's Qincheng prison

Secrecy veils Qincheng prison, but many of the country's most famous politicians have found themselves on the wrong side of its walls

PUBLISHED : Monday, 06 July, 2015, 4:57am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 08 July, 2015, 1:54am

Angela Meng [email protected]

The sound of a familiar cough, from a nearby cell he could not see, tormented Yan Mingfu through some of the darkest days of his seven-year confinement at the notorious Qincheng prison.

It was a muffled sound, perhaps just metres away, yet there was something about it that reminded Yan, who would go to become the head of the United Front Work Department, of his father.

Since all inmates of Qincheng were kept in solitary confinement, Yan was able to console himself only by reasoning that there would be little rationale for a retiree such as his father to be among those persecuted during the Cultural Revolution.

Yet the suspicion - shared in a recently published memoir - turned out to be true. Yan senior died only a few days after his son was disturbed by his coughing. Yan junior found out only after his release in 1975.

Decades have passed since the two Yans were imprisoned within its walls, but Qincheng, a maximum-security prison designated for the detention of disgraced senior Communist Party officials, remains shrouded in secrecy.

Many of the country's most well-known politicians have been kept prisoner in its cells. Among its former inmates are the wife of Mao Zedong, Jiang Qing; Wang Guangmei, the wife of former president Liu Shaoqi; the former aide to late party general secretary Zhao Ziyang, Bao Tong ; the 10th Panchen Lama Choekyi Gyaltsen; the late father of Bo Xilai, Bo Yibo; and possibly even Bo Xilai himself. Bo Xilai's one-time aide, former Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun, is also believed to be kept there.

And it is here that former security tsar Zhou Yongkang , the first Politburo Standing Committee member to be jailed for corruption, is likely to spend the rest of his life.

The gate of China's most well-known Qincheng prison. Photo: Simon Song

But he is hardly likely to spend any time catching up with fellow inmates such as his former ally Bo Xilai - the former princeling party boss of Chongqing sentenced to life for bribe taking, embezzlement and abuse of power two years ago.

The prison is thought to still keep its inmates in solitary confinement, so Zhou is likely to have as little contact with Bo as the two Yans had all those years ago.

Information about the secretive prison - which is set aside for officials of ministerial level or above - is not easy to come by. Unlike other prisons, which are supervised by the Ministry of Justice, Qincheng is managed by the Ministry of Public Security.

"It's the most elusive prison in China, directly controlled by the top of the party," says Wang Zhiliang, a professor at the Shanghai Institute of Political Science and Law who studies the criminal justice system.

The prison, 30 or so kilometres outside of central Beijing in Changping, was built in 1958 with the help of the Soviet Union.

Today, there is no sign outside the main gate, nor is there barbed wire above its high walls, though there are surveillance cameras in the courtyard. Despite the prison's low profile, a guard dashed out when he noticed a Post journalist driving around the outside perimeter, taking video.

With the anti-corruption drive in full force, the prison is probably busier now than ever.

Huaxia Cemetry. Photo: Simon Song

"It's possible that Qincheng is operating at full capacity due to the anti-corruption campaign," said Wang. "Even if that were the case, the Ministry of Public Security has more than enough resources to deal with it."

The anti-graft campaign has used the country's correctional facilities as a warning to senior officials and executives of state-owned enterprises.

The party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has sent senior officials to prisons in Beijing and Hebei to see the facilities and hear stories from incarcerated former officials.

According to China Daily, nearly 340,000 officials have visited "Beijing Prison" since the anti-corruption education tours began in 2008.

From the outside, Qincheng might pass for a secret spa retreat. Tucked in the misty mountainside, its red gates are flanked by low surrounding walls and towering white birch trees.

But Yan recalled that inmates could shower only once a month, under close surveillance of the guards. This was also the only opportunity they had to cut their hair and nails. Each cell had a flushing toilet, a basin and a peephole on the door through which guards would speak. Food would be passed through a slot below the hole.

Yan also recalled begging the guards for more food and how grateful he would be on the occasions they gave him extra to keep him from starving.

The Qincheng of today can be very different, at least for some. The prison now contains special sections for "VIP" prisoners.

A training base for the Ministry of Public Security. Photo: Simon Song

He Diankui, a former director of the prison's supervision office who worked at Qincheng for more than 40 years, said prisoners were treated according to rank. He even recalls shark's fin soup prepared by a chef from the five-star Beijing Hotel being served.

A report by China Newsweek claimed the most "elite" prisoners enjoyed nutritious meals, even during tough times, and heated blankets in winter.

Sidney Rittenberg, the first American to join the Communist Party of China, was held in Qincheng from 1968 to 1977 after being labelled a spy.

"I was inmate 6832," he recalled. There were "no real names, that's part of the routine in Qincheng. Most of the people held there were so powerful, the aim was to bring them down, to depersonalise them, to tell them they were nobody."

Rittenberg said his cell was six paces long and three paces wide. Metal grills guarded the small window high up on the wall, and there were two lights on the ceiling, one for the day, one for night. His wooden bed was placed across two sawhorses and the keepers would keep watch on the prisoners through the peephole on the iron door.

Meals consisted of thin porridge and soup, usually with no meat or oil, accompanied by coarse cornbread.

"Food is withheld as a means of punishment. One of the lightest and most common punishments is first to starve the prisoner and then give him or her a bowl of very greasy noodles as 'compensation'," Wei Jingsheng, a human rights activist, wrote of his time there.

"Most, of course, become ill as a result and have to miss the next few meals as well."

Wei said that the most common form of torture in Qincheng was a simple beating.

Tower inside prison, CCTV and wall

"The prisoner is summoned and surrounded by a group of men who slug and kick until he is bruised, bloody, and completely breathless," he recalled.

Rittenberg had similar memories. "One night, right after the sleep bell, I could hear in the distance that they were beating a female prisoner. I heard thumping sounds and I heard her screaming and pleading with them to stop, they were shouting at her, 'talk, talk and we will stop'."

Rittenberg's situation later improved, if only slightly.

"After [US national security adviser] Henry Kissinger visited in April 1971, I was suddenly moved to a slightly larger cell," he recalled. "I started receiving really good Chinese restaurant food, like dumplings, and kungpao chicken.

"After the Nixon visit, they hauled me into the interrogation room and asked me if I knew Richard Nixon. Their attitude was noticeably softer, and nicer."

Wang Dan, a student leader, described the prison in his memoirs as "scary and depressing" with "awful" food.

Qincheng's evolution spans four main periods. Up until the 1960s, old Manchu officials, Japanese prisoners of war, and Kuomintang leaders were held there. During the 1960s and early 1970s, most prisoners were held for being "counter-revolutionaries". The "Gang of Four" and its alleged associates were imprisoned in Qincheng from the late 1970s to the 1980s.

The last phase, which loosely spans from the 1990s until today, has seen the imprisonment of many high-net worth, corrupt officials, including former National People's Congress vice-chairman Cheng Kejie, former vice-chairman of China Mobile Group Zhang Chunjiang, former Yunnan governor Li Jiating, former China Construction Bank chairman Zhang Enzhao, and former Guizhou party secretary Liu Fangren.

From left to right, Bao Tong, Jiang Qing, Wang Guangmei and Yan Mingfu. Photo: AP, EPA, Xinhua

During the Tangshan earthquake of 1976, Rittenberg recalls waking up and being taken out into the yard. Keepers and guards pitched small tents for each prisoner quite far from each other, and each tent had its own guard.

"He told me he was there to protect me from the earthquake, and pointed to a little door in the outer wall," Rittenberg said. "Right outside that door was a car waiting. He said, if there is an earthquake you'll be whisked to that door and we'll drive you straight to Shijiazhuang ."

Rittenberg was released in November 1977.

Yan recalled inmates being allowed to walk around open-air cubicles for exercise, albeit under the scrutinising gaze of guards on the walls above. After each session the guards would sweep the floor to make sure inmates were not leaving messages for others.

If such traditions continue, the many "tigers" toppled by President Xi Jinping may be living just metres from each other, but they might as well be worlds apart.

Additional reporting by Staff Reporters

 

[NoLimit]

Mainland Chinese woman, 18, who had sex on Hong Kong street, given one-year probation

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 08 July, 2015, 10:58am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 08 July, 2015, 5:35pm

Thomas Chan [email protected]

A mainland Chinese woman was today sentenced to one year of probation for having sex in public on a Hong Kong street three months ago.

Passing sentence, Kowloon City magistrate Dr Eric Cheung Kwan-ming reminded Wu Xinyi, 18, to behave herself and follow the instructions of the probation officer.

Wu had earlier pleaded guilty to one count of committing an act outraging public decency, in that she had sex with a man outside the student residential hall of Polytechnic University on Fat Kwong Street in Hung Hom on April 1.

The court heard that in the early hours of April 1, Wu and a man who removed her pants were spotted by a security guard having sex at a bus stop near the student residential hall.

Three minutes into intercourse, the security guard yelled at them, but to no avail.

The guard then saw the pair conduct oral sex, when he returned after notifying police. The pair were not aware of the passers-by at the time, the court heard.

The man only noticed that police officers were called to the scene after he was patted on his shoulder by an officer.

In mitigation, defence counsel Caesar Lo Chi-lam said that Wu had a good background and excelled in her academic studies. “It was an isolated incident, and [she] was affected by alcohol at the time,” Lo said, adding that she was very remorseful.

Wu’s co-accused, 19-year-old mainland Chinese student Yang Hao, pleaded not guilty to the same charge at an earlier hearing and will face trial on August 13.

 

[Spetsnaz]

Family of Chinese official who drank too much at banquet and died receives 1 million yuan in compensation

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 09 July, 2015, 3:08pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 09 July, 2015, 3:08pm

Ellis Liang [email protected]

Liao Yonghua died of suspected of heart complications after a banquet and a night of karaoke. Photo: Weibo

Relatives of a Communist Party member who died after falling drunk at a banquet was recently compensated 1 million yuan (HK1.26 million), according to a local news report.

Liao Yonghua, of the Suxian District Land and Resources Bureau, in Chenzhou city in Hunan province, died of heart complications on May 8, possibly triggered by over-intoxication, the Yangtze River News reported.

After His family demanded that the government compensate them, each official at the feast contributed 70,000 yuan to his compensation fund.

Huang attended an evening banquet held by the bureau in May and later went out for karaoke. When he returned home that night, Huang’s family noticed something was wrong.

“His complexion looked darker, and he said he felt uncomfortable,” said one person familiar with the matter, who declined to be named. “The family rushed him to the hospital, but it was too late. His death was said to be caused by heart complications.”

In 2014, another official, in nearby Hengyang city, died after a banquet. The official fell asleep after drinking too much and choked on his own vomit.

 

[Spetsnaz]

Shanghai police detain grandfather and doctor suspected of killing newborn with cleft lip

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 23 July, 2015, 2:36pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 23 July, 2015, 4:49pm

Daniel Ren in Shanghai [email protected]

Inside the Chongming No. 2 People’s Hospital in Shanghai where the baby was delivered. Photo: Jiefang Daily

Police in Shanghai have detained a man and a doctor on suspicion of murdering a newborn who had a cleft lip, local media have reported.

The man, who was the boy's grandfather, was suspected of killing the baby on July 15, one day after it was delivered at Chongming No. 2 People’s Hospital, according to the Oriental Morning Post.

The newspaper said the grandfather and a gynaecologist were placed under criminal detention by police in Chongming, an island at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

The authorities were investigating the case, it added.

The newspaper, citing unidentified sources, said the grandfather injected potassium chloride, undiluted by water, into the infant, killing it. The chemical compound is used to treat low levels of potassium in the body but concentrated doses can be fatal, and it has been used in lethal injections.

The gynaecologist detained by the police had 20 years of experience, according to a deputy chief at the hospital. Photo: ThePaper.cn

The grandfather sought advice from the doctor and obtained the potassium chloride from her, according to the report.

Medical staff at the hospital contacted police after the boy was found dead without any obvious injuries, the Post said.

Ji Hui, a deputy chief at the hospital, was quoted by the newspaper as saying the family members had been told by doctors the cleft clip could be fixed with proper treatment.

Ji described the gynaecologist as a hard-working doctor who had 20 years of experience.

 

[Spetsnaz]

强迫学前儿童信仰基督教，广西柳州一幼儿园被强制取缔

2015-07-17 23:53

柳州市鱼峰区华林外国语实验幼儿园

中新网7月17日消息，广西柳州市鱼峰区教育局当天通报，经过调查，发现该市华林双语幼儿园长期利用带有宗教内容的书刊进行教学，经该局申请，鱼峰区人民法院17日对该幼儿园采取强制执行措施，被依法取缔。

通报称，柳州市鱼峰区华林外国语实验幼儿园于2009年7月30日，经鱼峰区教育局行政许可办园。在办园过程中，幼儿园业主孙某涉嫌非法经营罪被公安机关通缉。

近年来，相关部门多次开展对辖区幼儿园教育教学活动的常规检查，发现华林幼儿园长期利用带有宗教内容的书刊进行教学，还发现该幼儿园的网页宣传中称幼儿园一直“致力于基督化教育，让孩子们从小就认识神，用生命影响孩子，塑造生命”。其招聘老师也要求必须是“基督徒”。幼儿园在教学活动中，存在宣传宗教、强迫学前儿童信仰基督教的故意违法行为。

鱼峰区教育局经过调查，认定华林外国语实验幼儿园不按照国家规定使用的学前教育教材，而是长期使用包括宣传国外宗教思想的书刊、读物来进行学龄前教学（所使用教材未有经过国家教育行政部门和相关部门审查备案），其行为违反了国家教育方针和政策法规，妨碍了国家教育制度的实施，损害了祖国下一代的健康成长，属于特别严重的违法行为。

通报称，鉴于华林幼儿园违法办学，法定代表人孙某和园长陈某涉嫌违法犯罪受到追究，幼儿园的日常教育教学管理十分混乱，已经丧失正常办学的条件，鱼峰区教育局于2014年9月12日作出《行政处罚告知书》，并于当日送达华林幼儿园，告知其存在违法行为，拟对其作出停止招生、吊销办学许可证的行政处罚。

2014年10月8日，鱼峰区教育局召开听证会，华林幼儿园未出席听证会，放弃了听证的权力；2014年10月21日，鱼峰区教育局作出《行政处罚决定书》，责令柳州市鱼峰区华林外国语实验幼儿园停止招生、吊销办学许可证，并于当日送达华林幼儿园。

该幼儿园不服行政处罚，于2014年12月1日向柳州市教育局提出行政复议申请，要求鱼峰区教育局对其开展教育教学活动的违法事实进行重新认定，并为其恢复名誉。2015年4月16日，柳州市教育局举行行政复议会，根据客观存在的事实，驳回了鱼峰区华林外国语实验幼儿园提出的请求，维持了鱼峰区教育局对柳州市鱼峰区华林外国语实验幼儿园做出的行政处罚决定。

2015年5月23日，鱼峰区教育局向华林幼儿园作出书面催告，要求其在十日内停止办学，但该园至今仍置之不理。7月17日，柳州市鱼峰区教育局遂向法院申请强制执行。

A kindergarten in Guangxi was recently told by the local court to close its doors after school board investigators discovered that it was using religious bilingual books as part of its curriculum. The school is located in Yufeng, Linzhou.

In a routine check of by the Yufeng Bureau of Education last fall, investigators found that Hualin Foreign Language Experimental Kindergarten was using religious textbooks to teach its students and was advertising itself as a religious school.

The kindergarten, which had been licensed since 2009, said that it is, “committed to Christian education, and letting children grow up knowing God, and having [Him] shape their lives.” The school specifically recruited Christian teachers.

The school was served an “administrative penalty notice,” was asked to stop enrollment, and had its license revoked by the Yufeng Bureau of Education back in September 2014. The kindergarten ignored the local Bureau of Education's orders and a legal battle between the two continued over the next few months.

The Lizhou Department of Education also reviewed the case and upheld the decisions made by the Yufeng Bureau. In May, the Yufeng Bureau sent a summons to the kindergarten telling them to shut down within ten days. Again, the kindergarten ignored the order.

On July 17, the kindergarten was taken to court by the Yufeng Bureau and was finally forced to close its doors.

The Yufeng Bureau of Education accused the school of inserting religious “propaganda,” in its teaching activities and intentionally “forcing,” Christianity on its students.

Using religious material in the classroom in China violates the country's National Education Policy and is a serious offense.

 

[NoLimit]

‘This is Sparta!’: Beijing police get hot under the collar about ‘Greek warrior’ publicity stunt

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 23 July, 2015, 1:26pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 23 July, 2015, 11:26pm

Naomi Ng
[email protected]

Many of the foreigners taking part in the promotion were male models. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Police in Beijing briefly detained at least two foreigners dressed as Spartan warriors who were taking part in a publicity stunt on the streets of the capital to promote a salad company.

A photograph published in the Beijing Youth Daily shows police restraining the two men on the ground on a pedestrian overpass in the city centre.

Dozens of young foreign men dressed in tight leather shorts and flowing capes took part in the promotion handing out salads to bemused office workers in streets, shopping malls and subway stations in the capital’s business district on Wednesday, the newspaper said.

Police held a number for “disrupting public order” when they ignored several requests to stop working, the report said, without giving details. The promotional campaign in public areas had not been approved by the authorities, the article said.

Beijing police issued a statement on their official Weibo account at Thursday noon saying they had received several calls from the public the day before. They were told that "dozens of foreign men in shorts were attracting crowds”.

Indeed, the marching group of “Spartans” were trailed by a stream of curious watchers, whose photographs and videos went viral on social media.

Police restrain two of the 'Spartans'. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Many of the men taking part in the publicity stunt were male models.

Sweetie Salad, an online salad delivery service company, issued a statement apologising for the disruption caused.

“After yesterday’s incident, we have come to realise that we lack experience in coordinating major events as a start-up company,” the statement read.

“We have dispelled all misunderstandings with the police.”

The firm said it chose a Spartan theme to “inspire people to be healthy and eat healthily”.

The police said they were still looking into the case.

The Spartans, a civilisation in ancient Greece, were the subject of the hit move 300 nine years ago about the Battle of Thermopylae.

The 'Spartans' go on the march in Beijing's business district. Photo: SCMP Pictures

 

[NoLimit]

 

[flickr]

Unmarried couple sentenced to prison for selling baby

Xinhua, July 22, 2015

A court in central China's Henan Province has sentenced an unmarried couple to prison for selling their son.

The couple from Qingfeng County sold their baby boy because they feared he would worsen their financial burden, according to the verdict issued by the county court on Tuesday.

Both aged 24, the unmarried couple had been living together since 2010 and gave birth to their third child in January.

Liu, the father, proposed selling the baby and, with the help of a doctor, the couple sold the infant at a price of 100,000 yuan (16,300 U.S. dollars) to a villager in March.

The case came to light after the police received a report from the boy's grandfather.

Liu was sentenced to five years in prison, and the mother, Lyu, was sentenced to three years with a five-year reprieve. The court also imposed a fine of 50,000 yuan and ordered confiscation of their illegal gains.

 

[Pfizer]

Sky 'excrement bombs' thrower finally caught

Shanghai Daily, July 22, 2015

A man has been detained by police for throwing excrements deliberately to attack others in a downtown residential complex in Jing'an District. [Video clip]

A man has been detained by police for throwing excrements deliberately to attack others in a downtown residential complex in Jing'an District in Shanghai after a surveillance video installed by alerted neighborhood security caught him red handed in another around of "attacks".

Residents of a neighborhood in Jing’an District are getting furious in recent months and some even used umbrellas to shelter themselves even on sunny days after people there repeatedly found their clothes hanging up out of their apartment windows to dry often polluted by feces and urine that were believed to have been thrown by an unidentified neighbor living on a higher floor.

Some complained that they had been directly hit in the head by human excrements, and had to discard their dirtied clothes.

"Recently, a boy living here was also hit by an 'excrement ball' the day he was setting off to take part in Gaokao (China's national college entrance exams). The boy was all crying heavily after the attack. How could a person do this to others?" complained an aged woman who also lived there, who had also suffered a similar situation.

The community security staff reported the repeat attacks to police after complaints from neighbors mounted and installed five surveillance cameras there.

Police said on Tuesday that the guilty person was recently caught red-handed, who turned out to be a 40-year-old local man living alone in one of the high-rises in the complex.

One of the surveillance footages showed that the man opened the window of his flat, splashed a cup of liquid to the ground, which was suspected to be his urine. The video clip also showed him leaning out of the window, spitting and blowing his nose to deliberately dump the discharges to the ground. He finally threw out some yellow object wrapped up by a piece of newspaper, which was suspected to be feces.

Police said the man is living alone with low incomes. He reportedly said he had been doing this to vent his anger over his neighbors whom he hated for living happily and comfortably off.

 

[NoLimit]

China’s disgraced PLA general Gu Junshan given suspended death sentence for corruption

His detention marked the start of China's graft crackdown in the military

PUBLISHED : Monday, 10 August, 2015, 6:14pm
UPDATED : Monday, 10 August, 2015, 6:21pm

Nectar Gan [email protected]

Gu Junshan

Gu Junshan, former deputy logistics chief of China’s People’s Liberation Army, has been given a suspended death sentence by the military court for corruption, Xinhua reported.

Gu was also stripped of his political rights for life, and all of his personal property was confiscated.

He was charged with embezzlement, bribery, misuse of state funds and abuse of power.

The detention of Gu marked the beginning of the corruption crackdown in China’s military.

 

[NoLimit]

An ordinary-looking cafe in Hangzhou's Jianggan District was found to be running a complex online dating scam to defraud wealthy men.

The shop never seemed to have much business from passerby, but men accompanied by young women were often seen passing through. The police began to stake out the cafe in April and May after a number of customer complaints.

The prices on the cafe's menu were ridiculously expensive, the priciest item being an 1888 Yuan bottle of wine. The menu was mostly wine and simple fruit plates ranging from 388 Yuan to 1888 Yuan. The wine was very cheap, not worth much more than a bottle of soda.

The shop owner, Zhang, 40, had lived in Hangzhou in 10 years. He had previously owned a regular cafe, but then thought of a way to make money much faster.

Zhang recruited 10 men to pretend to be young women on WeChat, Momo, and other social media platforms. They would chat with men, and record their information, and economic status. Zhang would pick the best of the men to go on a “date” with one of the three or four beautiful women Zhang hired. The woman would insist on going to the cafe, where the men would be pressured to spend a small fortune and buy several bottles of thousand yuan wine.

The men who lured the dates in on WeChat received 10 to 15% of the profits as commission. The women who met up with the men would take 20 to 30%.

Zhang and his entire staff were arrested by Hangzhou police. Police found a total of 35 people involved in the scam. The cafe gang had cheated over 60 men while running their scam.

 

[NoLimit]

4 Chinese tourists in Bangkok on 'bad behavior list'

CRI, September 12, 2015

Four Chinese tourists, who allegedly started the outrage at the airport in Bangkok on September 4th, were listed as misbehaving tourists by China National Tourism Administration, as reported by the Beijing Times on Saturday.

The story started from a viral video showing a group of Chinese travelers staging a protest this past week at the main airport in Bangkok, Thailand.

The video shows a group of over 250 tourists demanding compensation and an apology from airport officials after it was announced their return flight from Bangkok to Chongqing was going to be delayed by around 9 hours because of bad weather and other technical issues.

This reportedly sent the crowd into fury, with demands of a thousand yuan for each in compensation, as well as apologies.

The spectacle at the Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok is being held up as another example of Chinese tourists acting-out while abroad.

China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) has instructed Chongqing Municipal Tourism Administration to carry out investigation after September 5th when the incident happened.

The investigation showed that four tourists had seriously bad behavior, which is regarded as a disgrace to Chinese people's image overseas. The four have thus been listed onto a "record for misbehaving tourists" for the next two or three years, which may potentially influence their travelling and bank credit.