China Digest, November 28, 2012

Published: 12:00am, 28 Nov 2012

A couple's plan to have a "natural" pregnancy and birth at their home did not go as expected, as the woman was in labour for two days before the father-to-be decided he should call her a taxi to take her to hospital, the newspaper reports. The woman never received a pregnancy check-up during the time the man was researching how to deliver a child. She gave birth to a boy via an emergency caesarean section about a week ago, and the newborn remains in intensive care.

A man in Guangzhou was recently arrested for cheating another man out of 1.9 million yuan (HK$2.13 million) by promising to help his two brothers-in-law draw a lenient sentence in court, the reports. The con man, however, had no legal connections, and the brothers-in-law were sentenced in September to three years in jail for illegal gambling. The victim said he trusted the con artist because he drove a Mercedes-Benz and wore luxury watches.

Provincial health authorities have received 7 million yuan from the central government to help about a million people suffering from serious mental disabilities in 10 Henan cities, the reports. The central government established a fund for the purpose in 2004.

A man in Zhongmu county, Zhengzhou, was sentenced to 16 months in jail for beating up a bridesmaid at a pre-wedding reception in May, the reports. The bridesmaid said she fought with the man after he and his friend improperly touched her. She was slightly injured. The convicted man claimed he was only playing with her.

A new policy by a high school in Wuhan has come under fire. The school had said that students who were not being filial to their parents would not receive university recommendations, the reports. Mainland universities recruit some students from graduates who are recommended by their high schools, rather than from exam results. Some parents said that even if their children did not treat them well, they would not let the school know because they did not want to hurt their children's prospects.

Traffic-management officials are investigating an incident in which a woman's driving licence was docked a whopping 795 points in just four mouths - while she was living abroad and not driving in the city, the reports. Drivers lose points for various types of violations, and mainland driving licences are normally revoked if they are docked 12 points in a year. Others have reported similar problems in Wuhan since last month.

A developer in Changsha wants to start construction next year in Wangcheng district on what would be the world's tallest building, Voc.com.cn reports. The man said he first needed to secure approval from authorities. He also claimed that the 838 metre building would be finished in seven months at a cost of about 4 billion yuan. He said it would accommodate more than 4,000 families and feature 500 hotel rooms plus offices and clinics.

Zhuzhou police detained a 37-year-old man last week for allegedly damaging 67 bicycles since last month, Voc.com.cn reports. The man, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia three years ago, said he liked damaging the bicycles and it had become a habit that he could not break. Police said they interviewed about 600 people before arresting the man.

A five-year-old boy's parents and two grandparents forgot that he was shopping with them at a mall in Jinan on Sunday afternoon and he went missing, the reports. The adults sought help from security guards, and the boy was found about an hour later waiting in the mall's security office.

An 81-year-old woman who is often seen begging for money in a downtown area of Jinan said that she did so to support one of her sons, who was physically disabled, the reports. The woman has two other sons and a daughter, but she said they had refused to abide by a court order to support her. She receives no pension and lives with her disabled son in a slum near the city.

Several major e-commerce websites have pulled L'Occitane-branded hand cream from their stores, after commerce officials in Pudong district recently busted a workshop and seized 2,568 containers of counterfeit L'Occitane. Its producers said the cream was sold through online shops, the reports. The French company's Shanghai branch said it did not distribute through any mainland shopping websites.

A court in Jiading district recently ruled that a nightclub and some of its customers must pay 640,000 yuan in compensation to a woman's family, after she died in April from alcohol poisoning while working, the reports. The bulk of the woman's salary came from tips she was given by customers who paid her to drink, sometimes giving her 500 yuan to consume one.

The China Charity Federation kicked off a two-week campaign to screen kindergarten and primary-school children in Lhasa for congenital heart diseases, Chinatibetnews.com reports. About 2,000 children are expected to be checked daily. Such campaigns in Tibet during the past year saw 798 children get free corrective surgery.

Impoverished residents in the autonomous region will receive a 100 yuan holiday bonus by the end of the year, to help them celebrate the first day of the calendar year, the Lunar New Year and the Tibetan New Year, Chinatibetnews.com reports. In recent years, the autonomous region's government has given poor urban residents 800 yuan a year, and poor rural residents have received 200 yuan. The bonus will be in addition to that money, and it will come in the form of pre-paid shopping cards for urban residents, and cash for rural ones.

An 88-year-old woman in Hangzhou has divorced her 94-year-old husband, making them the oldest couple ever to divorce in the city, Zjol.com.cn reports. The man complained that his wife spent too much money on travelling and shopping.

After being refused treatment for a bowel condition by a hospital in Hangzhou because he was HIV positive, a man sent a letter to the director of the provincial health department. The letter urged the chief to provide more help for people with HIV/Aids, as well as to better educate the public about the disease to eliminate the negative stigma associated with it, the reports.

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