Five jailed for lucky licence plate fight
BEIJING (AFP) - – Five men have been jailed in Beijing for up to 16 months for fighting over a "lucky licence plate" containing the number eight, China's traditional number for good fortune, state media said Tuesday. The men allegedly armed themselves with knives and clubs and beat anyone who came near a machine issuing new licence plate numbers at a Beijing vehicle registration centre, the Beijing News reported. Several people were injured, one of them seriously. The incident occurred in July last year as plates with "8888" as the last four digits were about to be issued, the report said. The ringleader, identified only as Xu, had lined up four cars for new plates and paid his four accomplices a total of 10,000 yuan (1,400 dollars) to guard the machine and ensure he got the numbers he wanted, it said. A Beijing court ordered the five to pay 55,000 yuan in compensation to their victims, the paper said. The number eight in China is considered a lucky number as the word sounds like "wealth" or "prosperity."
