China Digest, December 22, 2012

Beijing

Girl's hand severed

Police have detained four men in connection with an attack on a family in which an eight-year-old girl's hand was chopped off, the Procuratorate Daily reports. The men were quarrelling amongst themselves at a restaurant on Sunday when the girl's father, who was passing by with his family, told them to "stop fighting". The men turned on the family instead.

Death for killing mistress

A former official from the Qianmen Subdistrict Administrative Office has been sentenced to death for hiring two hitmen to kill his mistress, the Beijing Times reports. The mistress had threatened to report Luo Shaojie, 48, unless he divorced his ailing wife and married her. The hitmen killed and dismembered the woman last year.

Guangdong

Cops just watch brawl

Two Heyuan police officers have been suspended for failing to interfere in a street fight that resulted in one death and at least one serious injury, the Nanfang Daily reports. The officers responded to a call about the brawl, but chose to sit back and watch as more participants joined the melee. They only intervened after more officers arrived to back them up.

Falling woman caught

A People's Armed Police officer dislocated his shoulder when he caught a woman who jumped off an overpass on Thursday, the Southern Metropolis Daily reports. A quarrelling couple had stopped beside a road when she ran to an overpass and jumped. The officer, who happened to be below, caught her. Both were knocked unconscious and taken to hospital, but are in stable condition.

Guangxi

Massive home renovation

Nearly 900,000 Guangxi residents have moved back into their homes after renovations to improve dangerous structural conditions, gxnews.com.cn reports. The province spent 9.4 billion yuan (HK$11.6 billion) to fix 201,000 homes this year. It plans to renovate another 80,000 dangerous houses by June.

3 die in mine collapse

Three miners died and another suffered a minor injury when a mine shaft collapsed in Luchuan county, Xinhua reports. The accident happened at 3.30pm Thursday. The three miners died on their way to hospital.

Hainan

Joyride investigation

The woman who got her police officer "husband" in trouble by posting pictures about their joyride in a police car may be the man's mistress, hinews.com reports. The news outlet says the woman is a singer in a pub and the man is married to a public servant in Danzhou . The Hainan Public Security Department is investigating whether the police officer misused his official car.

Increased income

The annual disposable income for urban residents has increased 13 per cent to 20,760 yuan this year in Hainan , while cash income for rural residents increased 14.5 per cent to 7,380 yuan, China News Service reports. The province's gross domestic product was estimated to grow 8.7 per cent to 282 billion yuan, while consumer inflation was estimated at 3.5 per cent, which is below the province's target.

Henan

High bids for licence plates

A Sanmenxia car owner paid 950,000 yuan for the auspicious number plate "MY8888" at a plate auction on Thursday, the Dahe News reports. "MY9999" was auctioned off for 400,000 yuan, while "MY6666" received 280,000 yuan. Nearly 280 bidders participated in the auction for 30 prized plate numbers.

Drink driving crackdown

Zhengzhou city authorities said anyone caught drink driving over the Christmas holiday will have their licence revoked for five years, the Dahe News reports. More than 1,000 traffic police will be out looking for drink drivers over the holiday.

Hunan

Hotline under fire

The government of Shaoyang's impoverished Longhui county has come under fire for recruiting 16 people to staff a hotline for the county chief, the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reports. The job posting sought 11 call takers, two secretaries, two IT technicians and a web designer. An official said the new jobs were approved by higher authorities and all 16 people were necessary for the job.

Taxi drivers attack cops

Three unlicensed taxi drivers have been detained for attacking Changsha traffic police officers who had seized a colleague's illegal taxi, the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reports. The drivers pursued the officers back to the traffic bureau and attacked them with iron bars. Four officers were injured.

Shaanxi

Car crash mystery

Police are investigating what role a traffic police officer may have played in a four-car pile-up in Xian , the Huashang News reports. Witnesses said the traffic officer's car crashed into the rear of another car at high speed. The number plate that fell off the police car appears to belong to a different vehicle, giving rise to speculation that the plate was fake or duplicate.

Free-school plan

The Yulin city government will spend 185 million yuan annually to expand free education from kindergarten to high school next year, the Huashang News reports. The current free kindergarten plan benefited 44,300 pupils last year. This year, 380,000 primary and middle school pupils were exempt from paying for books, uniforms and accommodation.

Shandong

One-legged bandit jailed

A one-legged Heze man has been sentenced to 11 years in jail for stealing 8,000 yuan in jewellery from women as they walked alone, the Qilu Evening Post reports. The bandit attacked women on 15 occasions between May of last year to June of this year. The man's wife was sentenced to a suspended jail term of one year for selling the stolen jewellery.

Truck plunge kills one

One man was killed and another injured when a truck went off the road and plunged 30 metres from an elevated roadway in Jinan on Thursday, the Lubei Evening Post reports. The roadway lacked guide rails, but some trees helped break the truck's fall. The driver survived, but his passenger was killed.

Zhejiang

Toilet heroine

A quick-thinking Taizhou woman took heroic measures at a most inconvenient time when a seven-year-old boy fell past her fourth-floor window just as she started to use the toilet, the Qianjiang Evening Post reports. The boy had attempted to climb down from his fifth-floor flat and slipped, catching a safety net outside the woman's window. She grabbed his hand and held him until he was rescued 40 minutes later.

The case of the vexing text

Wenzhou police are investigating why more than 600 primary school parents received text messages insulting their children on Monday, the Wenzhou Metropolis Daily reports. The offending message said: "This student is basically a stupid piece of s---. How was he (she) ever born?" The school said its text-messaging system crashed yesterday and may have been hacked.