Chinese Stories in English
News Translations Published in August 2012
1. Danger! Frightened People Report "Rape Case"
2. Feigning Homosexuality to Dupe and Rob
3. Gasoline Used as Cooking Oil Starts Big Fire
4. He Harassed Middle-Aged Dancing Ladies
5. Man Kills Girlfriend on Impulse
6. Man Uses Bike as Bed
7. "Mini-Message" Pervert Rapes Maiden
8. Aqua-Monster? Over 1,000 Kilos?
9. Is the Old Fellow Stealing a Ride?
10. She Bought Meds, But Client was Gone
Click here to see the Chinese text for these stories
1. Young Girl Forcibly Pulled into Roadside Bushes
Danger! Frightened People Report "Rape Case"
Special Reporter Zhou Liuning, Dispatch to the Evening News
"Oh, no, a girl's in trouble!" When they happened to see a young girl forcibly pulled into the roadside bushes by a fierce man on a late-night street, citizens Ms. Zou and Ms. Luo immediately felt their hearts beat faster. The two of them rushed forward to protect the girl without a second thought. They wouldn't let her be harmed by a criminal attack.
But when they remembered their age, and realized they wouldn't be equal to the criminal, they hurriedly called the police for help.
"Officers, there's a girl possibly being raped. Come here quick!" On the evening of July 28, sometime after 10 o'clock, the Yufeng Public Security Branch received the report from citizen Ms. Zou. She told officers over the phone that she and her neighbor Ms. Luo had just come out for a walk. As they went out the back gate of their compound and were passing by a lonely section of the road, they saw a tall man holding a girl enter some bushes by the side of the road. The tall man had a fierce expression on his face and the girl was crying.
After receiving the report, officers quickly rushed the lonely stretch of East Ring Road where Ms. Zou said the incident occurred. However, when they got to the scene and looked in the nearby bushes, they didn't find the situation that Ms. Zou had reported.
To clear things up, officers continued walking along the side on the road.
After seven or eight minutes, they heard the sounds of an argument coming from bushes up ahead. It also seemed like the sound of a girl crying. The officers immediately went into the bushes to investigate.
They were surprised to see two young males and one young female standing in the brush. The two men were agitated and were arguing about something, while the girl was sobbing away.
The sudden appearance of police officers obviously startled the three youths. The officers took a close look and saw that the girl's clothing was in order and she did not seem to have suffered any harm. Further, there was no indication that the two men had done anything to her. The three seemed to know each other. Experience lead the officers to conclude that the girl hadn't been raped as reported by Ms. Zou. What they were witnessing was probably a lover's quarrel. Through questioning they learned that the three youths are named Ma, Peng and Jiang. They are all residents of this city. Ms. Jiang's family lives in a nearby neighborhood. Through more detailed questioning and an exhaustive investigation, the officers brought the truth behind this apparent "rape" case to light.
It turned out that Ms. Jiang and Mr. Ma are lovers and have been together for several years. Now they are talking about getting married. However, Ms. Jiang hadn't considered that her boyfriend Mr. Ma had a dubious relationship with another girl at work. When Ms. Jiang happened to discover her boyfriend's "extramarital affair", she was extremely angry and told him she wanted to break up. That brought Mr. Ma to his senses and he was anxious to make up. He took the blame entirely on himself, so Ms. Jiang decided put off breaking up for the time being, but she still had a scare on her heart. Coincidently, an old classmate, Mr. Peng, started asking her out. Not without some desire for revenge, Ms. Jiang hooked up with him. When Mr. Ma found out he was angry and would not accept it. That evening Mr. Ma and Ms. Jiang had arranged to meet by the back gate of the compound to talk, but they couldn't come to an agreement. Acting on impulse, Mr. Ma had pulled Ms. Jiang into the bushes on the side of the road, then he had her phone Mr. Peng to ask him to come over so the three of them could talk things through. Shortly after Mr. Peng arrived, an argument unavoidably started.
Once they had cleared up the facts, the officers admonished Ms. Jiang that the only way to happiness is to single-mindedly take care of your emotions. They hoped she would search her soul concerning her actions. At the same time they also told her that, if she is really unable to forgive her boyfriend, then she tell him clearly not to use another romance as a way to get revenge on her, or punish her. That would be bad for both of them. Ms. Jiang indicated she was very confused at the moment, and she hoped to settle down before dealing with this matter. Mr. Ma and Mr. Peng both indicated that they were able to wait for her answer. For Ms. Jiang's safety, upon concluding the handling of this predicament, the officers escorted her home.
Liuzhou Evening News, 2012-08-01
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Feigning Homosexuality to Dupe and Rob
Two Suspects Arrested, Claim Homosexuals Relatively Easy to Rob
Nanning – Dispatch to South China Morning Post (Reporter Yu Lin, Correspondent Huang Xiaoming)
One goes online to make friends with "comrades" – gays, that is. Unexpectedly one is violently attacked by his web friends and has property stolen. After the suspects are caught they say something that will cause serious introspection: "Those homosexuals usually have a lot of money, and they're emotionally vulnerable. We exploited their mentality." Arrest of the two suspects was authorized on June 13.
At about one a.m. on April 14, a Mr. Zhou took a bus to a certain hotel at the end of North Lake Road in Nanning, where he had arranged to meet a "comrade." When Zhou opened the door to the room he saw two "comrades", a Mr. Zeng and "Cannon". After chatting a while, Zeng knocked Zhou onto the bed with one blow and slapped him several times on the head and face. Rubbing his face, which was on fire from the pain, Zhou asked in puzzlement: "What do you think you're doing?" At that point another male, a Mr. Du, burst into the room and, together with Zeng and "Cannon", the three of them subdued the struggling Zhou. Du grabbed Zhou's throat and held a switchblade to his back so he couldn't move.
Only then did Zhou come to the realization that the people he'd met online were actually robbers, not "comrades". Du and Zeng stole a Nokia cell phone and 6,000 Yuan in cash from Zhou, then hurriedly fled from the hotel.
After the robbery, Zhou immediately went to the front desk and called the police. On May 9, Public Security officers captured Du and Zeng at a hotel in Long Ridge Village.
According to statements made by Du and Zeng, the two are both from Jade Forest. They came to Nanning after graduating from junior high to look for work, and since then have had no steady income. The two happened to meet up and threw in with each other as partners in crime, often doing reckless things together.
Around 7 p.m. on April 13, the two got a room in a place at the end of North Lake Road in Nanning and started drinking. They got drunk and Du suggested that they "do a caper." Then they called another of their buddies, "Cannon", to help in a robbery.
Du and Zeng said it was primarily that they felt homosexuals are quite rich and extremely lacking in vitality, so this would be a relatively good way to do the crime.
On June 13, the Procurator of The Dykes District in West Village concluded after review that Du and Zeng had robbed a person of a great amount by violence, which actions violate the Criminal Law, and decided to authorize the arrest of Du and Zeng on suspicion of committing the crime of robbery.
South China Morning Post Interactive News, 6/18/12, p.12
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Gasoline Used as Cooking Oil Starts Big Fire in Wok
Flames Fill Kitchen in a Flash, Man Seriously Burned over Whole Body
Reporter Zheng Kai, Dispatch to the Evening News
Yesterday before noon, in Building Two of a residential compound near the Old House neighborhood on White Rice Road, a man mistakenly poured gasoline instead of cooking oil into a hot wok. Flames filled the entire kitchen in an instant and the man suffered serious burns over his entire body. An ambulance dispatched by [the emergency phone number] 120 took the man to a hospital for treatment, but at this time he is not yet out of danger.
This reporter immediately went to the scene, arriving at about 10:30 a.m., and saw that the outer wall of building two in that residential compound had been scorched black. The kitchen was a complete mess, with pieces of ceramic tile from the walls and the stove alcove littering the floor. There was a thick gas aroma. Firemen had removed the propane gas tank, and the rubber hose which had been connected to the tank had been burned away. Relatives of the injured man said he is named Li and is 41 years old. Despite his injuries, Mr. Li had rushed from the second to the first floor in order to escape the flames after the incident occurred. The fire went out by itself after a short time. EMTs from 120 came quickly after receiving the report and took Mr. Li to the hospital for emergency treatment.
Later, your reporter went to the Liuzhou Railroad Central Hospital and was shocked to see that the victim Mr. Li had been burned over almost his entire body. One of his relatives said that yesterday, Mr. Li's younger brother had brought his family over his place and that Mr. Li had gone into the kitchen to cook.
Who would have guessed that all the cooking oil would be used up while preparing the meal. He found another oil container from somewhere in the house, but unexpectedly this container had gasoline in it. Since gasoline is almost the same color as cooking oil and Mr. Li didn't look closely before casually opening the container and pouring it into the wok, a huge fire started in the blink of an eye.
(A Miss Ji was awarded 30 Yuan [≈$4.72] as a contributor to this report)
Liuzhou Evening News, 12-08-11, p. 3
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. He Harassed Middle-Aged Dancing Ladies
Man in 50s Surrounded and Attacked
Dispatch to the Evening News, Special Reporter Zhou Liuning
This scene occurred on the evening of the 13th in a park near a certain intersection along Liu-Shi Road: twenty or more screaming, middle-aged women, joining hands to form a tight circle completely surrounding an old man. "What kind of game are they playing," someone might ask. Wrong! Those ladies weren't playing nice at all, and the old man was really so scared that he was yelling for the police to help him. So what was actually going on?
"Help, police, a bunch of old ladies are attacking me! They're killing me!" On the evening of the 13th, a man's frightened voice came through in an emergency call to the Duty Room of the Yufeng Public Security Branch. Police responded to the scene and were shocked to see a man in his fifties surrounded by a group of women of about the same age. When he saw the officers, the man immediately called out to them in a loud voice, and the circle of women let loose their hands. "They're vicious, officers, you need to do something about them. The man started up with "vicious" when he saw that his "saviors" had arrived.
The man said he'd come to this place that evening while he was taking a walk. He'd seen this group of women doing line-dance exercises and wanted to join in at the back, but they told him to get lost. He got mad and argued with them, then they got rowdy and surrounded him and wouldn't let him go.
The ladies got mad when they heard that. "It wasn't like that at all! He's got a filthy mouth and was acting like a hoodlum!" They all started talking, blaming the man, a Mr. Gao.
The officers were confused with everyone talking at once, so they asked them to pick one of their number to explain. The crowd was quiet for a moment, then a Ms. Feng told the officers what had happened. Ten ladies including Ms. Feng do dance exercises every evening in this place.
For the last several days, several of the ladies in the back row had noticed Mr. Gao walking back and forth behind them while they were dancing. He was nitpicking and making sarcastic comments in a loud voice. When they asked him to leave, he not only didn't go, he let loose with a torrent of gutter language that you wouldn't want to get in your ears. Mr. Gao had come again that evening to create a disturbance while they were dancing. Even more disgusting, Mr. Gao not only used gutter language, he also made rude gestures toward them. They were all quite angry and surrounded Mr. Gao to get him to apologize. Not only wouldn't he apologize, he called the police. "Officers, this lady is telling you the truth. We've all seen things like that happening for the last few days." Two on-lookers voluntarily made statements during the course of the investigation.
So the man who had defended himself so reasonably turned out not to have a leg to stand on. During the questioning Mr. Gao, who is 53 this year, admitted that he had indeed sworn at Ms. Feng and the others.
He said he had been fighting with his wife for the last few days and was in a bad mood. He'd gone looking for a place where he could get it out of his system. As he strolled by the park at this intersection, he saw Ms. Feng and the others dancing with such enthusiasm and got really upset. He got the idea to stir up a row, and that led to his disturbing behavior.
The officers explained to Mr. Gao why he was wrong. Mr. Gao apologized to everyone and indicated that he would not bother them any more in the future.
Liuzhou Evening News, 2012-08-15, P. 05
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Family Argues Continuously over Trifle, Man Kills Girlfriend on Impulse
Police Ask Relatives to Take Orphaned Son, 8
Reporter Li Lantong, Correspondent Li Hong, Dispatch to the Evening News
Late on the 18th Liu X Fei, a 36-year-old Liujiang County man who works in a concrete brick factory in Shiliuping, got into another argument with his live-in girlfriend, A-Rong, over a trivial household matter. The two had lived together nearly two years and fought continuously. This was the last time, though, because Liu X Fei used a kitchen knife to shut A-Rong up forever…. From 8:00 to 11:00 on the evening of the 18th, the sounds of Liu X Fei and A-Rong arguing poured out continuously from a shack in the factory. The two then lay down on some concrete bricks outside the shack to go to sleep, but the argument did not stop.
At about 2:00 in the morning on the 19th, Liu X Fei completely lost it. He ran into the kitchen for a knife, and hacked away at A-Rong until she died at the scene.
The proprietor of the factory heard what had happened and hurried over. Liu X Fei asked the boss to call the police for him. He wanted to jump in the river, but when he thought of his 8-year-old son still asleep in the shack, he went in to hug the boy for the last time. Seeing that it would not be suitable to hug his son because he was covered with blood, he went to the side of the shack to rinse off. After rinsing off he was completely awake and felt he should take responsibility for his actions. He picked his son up from the bed and helped him pack some clothes, a bank card and some money. The two of them then went out to the roadside together to wait for the police.
At present the suspect Liu X Fei has been placed in criminal detention by the police. The police also contacted other family members on his behalf to take care of the child.
Liuzhou Evening News, 2012-08-20 , P. 03
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Man Uses Bike as Bed
Sleeps in Road Surrounded by Danger
Reporter Kong Defang, Trainee Liao Ting, Correspondent Deng Dakuan, Dispatch to the Evening News
A surprising and dangerous scene played out on Motan Road on the evening of July 31. With an endless stream of traffic on the roadway, a "mellow" man used his motorbike as a bed and fell snoring into a deep sleep in the street – high anxiety for
people in the vicinity.
That evening at 9:30, a twenty-something male unexpectedly parked his
motorbike in the middle of Motan road, then lay down on the bike and fell
snoring into a deep sleep, his motorbike tottering as traffic roared past in both
directions. This surprising and dangerous scene made passers-by extremely
anxious.
When officers on patrol from the West Ring Road police station arrived and
discovered this "mellow fellow", they immediately got out of their car and tried
to wake him up. To their surprise he was sleeping so soundly that they simply
could not wake him no matter how they tried. For his safety, the officers had to
take him from the bike and hold him up as they walked him to the side of road. Finally, more than ten minutes later, the "mellow fellow" slowly opened his eyes and woke up, but he had absolutely no idea of what was happening around him: "Where am I?" He told the officers that his name is Liu. He is 28 this year, from Laibin, and works in construction in Liuzhou. That evening Mr. Liu had gone to a friend's birthday party. He got carried away and had too much to drink. In the end, when Mr. Liu's friends heard the news they hurried over and took him home.
Liuzhou Evening News, 2012-08-02, P. 5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. "Mini-Message" Pervert Rapes Maiden
Police Alert: Caution Necessary When Seeking Friends Online
Synopsis
A young maiden in our city got to know an internet friend via mini-messaging. Unable to resist his honeyed words, they agreed to meet. What she encountered was not her "Prince Charming", however, but a pervert. She was raped the first time they met. After some meticulous detective work, the police arrested criminal suspect Tan Mouyou a few days ago and placed him under criminal detention in accordance with the law.
On July 23, the suspected criminal used cell phone mini-messaging to search for people on line nearby and found A-Lan (a pseudonym). He took the initiative and sent her a message to say hello. The next day A-Lan answered the message and the two started to chat. When he learned she is only 20, Tan Mouyou really started to sweet-talk her. At noon on the 25th, he invited her out that evening to meet him and get a bite to eat. That evening the two met at the appointed place and went to a restaurant on Qingyun Road to eat with friends. Later they went to a bar for drinks. A-Lan was not having a very good time, so she went to another night-spot to look for some friends. Tan Mouyou, who was not ready to stop drinking, also went to another place and continued to drink.
At about midnight that night, when he'd had enough to drink, Tan Mouyou started to feel randy. He took a cab headed toward the night spot where A-Lan was. He called her and claimed he would stop by and pick her up to take her home. After A-Lan got in the cab she was relentlessly harassed by Tan Mouyou. She pulled out her phone to call for help, but the phone was taken away by force.
While she was being assaulted, the cab arrived at the building where Tan Mouyou has an office. A-Lan was forced to get out of cab and was carried up to the office. Although she resisted to the utmost, she still got raped. Even more despicably, right in front of her, Tan Mouyou expressed hope that a friend who he invited over to drink tea would also perpetrate a rape, but the friend refused.
Tan Mouyou's friend suggested that they should go out together to get something to eat. A-Lan was able to get away only after the three of them got downstairs.
The East River Criminal Investigation Unit of the Public Security Department, City Center Section, received A-Lan's report at 1:30 in morning. Officers immediately set up a case file and hurried to scene of the crime, but the suspect had already left his office. Through investigation including analytical comparison of videotapes from security monitors in the elevators and corridors, the officers confirmed the suspect's identity as Tan Mouyou, age 26, from Huan Jiang County, Guangxi, a business affairs officer for a certain Nanning company who is stationed in Liuzhou.
On the evening of the 27th Tan Mouyou, having learned that this matter had been brought to light, turned himself in to the East River Criminal Investigation Unit.
Liuzhou Evening News, 2012-08-01, P. 8
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Aqua-Monster? Pond-Angle Fish? Over 1,000 Kilos?
Searching Many Sources for Proof Reveals Complete Fabrication
Synopsis
Yesterday someone published a claim on the internet that an especially large "pond-angle fish" [parasilurus asotus, Asian catfish] weighing over 1,000 kilos had been discovered in the Shuimen Reservoir of Rong-an County, Daliang Town. It was accompanied by an on-the-scene photo.
A number of different comments were also published, and for a time the
chat rooms were a-buzz with confused chatter. Upon receipt of the materials,
this writer contacted [various officials] and learned the truth. The post was a
complete fabrication…. The photo published in the post has previously
appeared in a number of QQ groups and chat rooms. Through comparison it
has been discovered that the picture actually isn't any place in Daliang Town,
and the people shown in the picture aren't part of the populace in Daliang
Town…. The largest pond-angle fish on record weighed about 25 kilos.…
Liuzhou Evening News, 2012-08-15, P. 5 [abridged]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Old Fellow Steals Ride?
Cab Driver Helps Oldster Call Police, Find Home
Reporter Lu Bin, Correspondent Ma Yuzhong, Dispatch to the Evening News
Yesterday morning a Grandpa Zhang, who was lost, got in a cab driven by taxi driver Mr. Wei and indicated he could not find his way home. The kind-hearted Mr. Wei called the police for assistance and took the old man safely home.
At 8:00 a.m., Grandpa Zhang stood unsteadily on the side of the road waving his hand. Mr. Wei pulled over and let him in, and he said he wanted to go downtown. When the cab got near North Liberation Road, the oldster ordered him stop and announced that he wanted to get out.
When Mr. Wei requested payment from Grandpa Zhang, the oldster's words alarmed him: "It costs money to ride in a car? Well, I'll go home and get you some." With his full head of white hair, kindly appearance and polite words, the old fellow did not seem like someone who would purposefully steal a ride. Feeling worried about the old fellow, Mr. Wei decided to call the police to help him get some assistance.
Officers from the Liuhou Park Police Affairs Station arrived in a few minutes. The meticulous officers found that Grandpa Zhang had a residence badge and an ID card on him.
When he learned what had happened, [Grandpa Zhang's son] Mr. Zhang said "Our entire family has been looking for Grandpa." He thanked the officers over and over, and also asked how to contact Mr. Wei so that he could thank him as well.
Liuzhou Evening News, 2012-08-25, P. 9
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. She Bought Meds, But Client was Gone
Principal had Passed, So Family Refused to Pay
Were Medication Costs Reasonable?
Reporter Li Lanri – When Lao Tan heard that Xiao Yang's company was sending her to a certain country on an inspection tour, he entrusted her to buy something for him: some famous and valuable medicinal materials produced in that country. When Xiao Yang returned from the inspection, she took the medicines she had purchased, valued at 8,000 Yuan, to Lao Tan's home. However, Lao Tan's son told Xiao Yang that his father had passed away a few days previously. The medicines had been intended to treat his illness, but since he was gone, they were no longer needed. He asked Xiao Yang to deal with them herself. Xiao Yang was very angry. Regardless of whether Lao Tan was or was not alive, she believed, she had purchased the medicines at his behest, and his family should take them.
Confronted with this problem, Xiao Yang consulted our column: Who is finally responsible for covering the cost of the medicines?
【A Lawyer's View】Hua Shang Law Firm, Guangxi
Lawyer Huang Hua of the firm believes: Costs which have been incurred by a representative in the course of the representation should be underwritten by the person being represented. If the person being represented dies, then the heirs of the person being represented bear the responsibility to the extent of the estate of the person being represented. In this case, Xiao Yang's purchase of medicinal materials was done under commission from Lao Tan. Her actions are within the scope of a civil agent. Even though Lao Tan has passed away, the cost of these medicinal materials should be the responsibility of Lao Tan's heirs to the extent of Lao Tan's estate.
【Legal Sources】General Principles of Civil Law
Article 63 provides: "When an agent acts within the limits of his commission to perform acts authorized under the civil law in the name of the principal, the principal bears civil responsibility with regard to the agent's acts." The Opinions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues concerning the Implementation of the General Principles of the Civil Law of the People's Republic of China (For Trial Implementation) provides in Article 82: "The agent's actions as agent are valid after the death of the principal under any one of the following four conditions: (1 The agent does not know of the principal's death; (2 The principal's heirs all recognize them; (3) The principal and the agent stipulated that the agency would terminate upon completion of the subject of the agency; (4) The actions were initiated prior to the principal's death, and after the principal's death the agent continued and completed them in the interests of the principal's heirs."
Liuzhou Evening News, 2012-07-30, Page 5
[Fannyi's Note: The above translation of the Basic Principals of Civil Law, Article 63, is mine. It differs somewhat from the translation provided by the Library of University of Science and Technology of China (中国科学技术大学图书馆) at http://lib.ustc.edu.cn/lib/view.php?aid=294: "An agent shall perform civil juristic acts in the principal's name within the scope of the power of agency. The principal shall bear civil liability for the agent's acts of agency."
The translation of Opinions of the Supreme People's Court, Article 82, is also mine. The online translations of that source I was able to find are available to paid subscribers only, and I declined to pay.
Chinese text available here.