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1. Awaiting Friend by Road When Robbers Arrive
Fish Peak Police Crack Serious Robbery in 20 Hours
All Three Suspects Arrested
Reporter Xiao Jun, Special Correspondent Zhou Liuning, Dispatch to the Evening News
He was parked on the side of the road, in broad daylight, waiting for a friend. Nobody would have figured that, before his friend showed up, 3 men armed with knives would come along and rob him. The case occurred December 11 on Liushi Road. Police officials in Fish Peak District considered it a priority case and organized a crack force to investigate and solve it quickly. After only 20 hours, all 3 suspects who had fled out of town were arrested and brought to justice, successfully bringing this especially significant robbery case to a close.
Hijacked in Broad Daylight
At about 3:00 on the afternoon of the 11th, city resident Mr. Wu arrived at Liushi Road driving a car. He had previously agreed to meet a friend on this section of the road, so he parked by the side of the road and sat in the car to wait. Suddenly a man ran up to the side of the car, jerked open the door and stuck a shiny blade to his neck. "Get in the back seat!" Then two other men jumped into car.
After the men abducted Wu, they put pedal to metal and sped toward Intramountain Town in Liu River County.
While they were on the road, the 3 men not only took more than 400 yuan (≈$66) in cash and a cell phone that Mr. Wu had with him, but also stopped at 3 banks along the way and coerced him to withdraw 13,000 yuan (≈$2,131). Only after they could squeeze no more "grease" from Mr. Wu did the 3 men drive to a secluded area by a sugar cane field in Intramountain Town, where they released him and the car and ran away.
Mr. Wu, still frightened out of his wits, reported the incident to the police.
Suspects Pulled from Black Briefcase
After the alarm was sounded, the Fish Peak District police gave the case priority. Officers from the Criminal Detection Brigade responsible for the Flying Horse area opened an investigation of the incident at once. While searching Mr. Wu's sedan, they found a black briefcase which had been left inside. At first they thought it was Mr. Wu's, but when he saw it, he said it wasn't his and must have been left behind by the robbers. By a stroke of luck, there was an ID card, a bank card and other articles in the briefcase. Mr. Wu identified a Mr. Hu as one of the robbers from [his picture on] the ID card.
Following this important lead, the police quickly locked in on information [identifying] the 3 men who had hijacked Wu. On the 12th at about 1:00 am, police rushed to Elephant County and arrested the suspects Hu (age 27, from Hubei Province) and Liao (age 27, Jiangxi Province) who had fled there to hide. They arrested the other suspect, Tang (age 27, Hunan Province), about noon on the 12th.
According to the 3 suspects' confessions, they met each other not long ago in Elephant County. Originally they had each gone there to look for work and earn some money. Because they couldn't find suitable jobs, they each became "reduced to poverty, far from home". They thought long and hard and decided to come to Liuzhou to find "work". When they saw Mr. Wu parked along the side of Liushi Road on the afternoon of the 11th, with the car door unlocked, the idea of kidnapping him germinated in their minds. After committing the crime, they divvied up the loot and escaped to Elephant County to hide. What they didn't expect was that the police would track them down so incredibly fast.
At this time, in accordance with the law, Hu and the others are being held in criminal detention by the police on suspicion of robbery.
Liuzhou Evening News, 2013-12-18, p. 3
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2. Can Children Enter KTVs with Parents? [Edited]
Synopsis
If the songs that a child in your family sings in a KTV (karaoke club) are all love songs, would you be surprised? Recently, an Internet user filed a post on Sina Weibo. The parents of the poster's niece had thrown a party for the family in a KTV on the occasion of the girl's 9th birthday. During the party the girl sang a lot of love songs, which surprised and concerned the author of the post.
As the Internet discussion grew more heated, the focus turned to the question of whether a child can enter a KTV accompanied by his or her parents. Upon visiting several KTVs in our city over a period of days, your reporter found that many parents harbor misunderstandings about this. The provisions prohibiting minors from entering places of entertainment are broken by parents and many KTVs. Reporter Lu Wang
A 9-year-old's birthday party in a KTV!!!!!!! The post on Sina Weibo commented "…It seemed like my niece grew up overnight."
This post attracted comments from many netizens. @Bring-a-Bowl-Liuzhou: "Singing doesn't have much influence, like books, television and movies might." @Old_Street: "Don't be afraid, accept it, because they don't know what they're singing."
As the discussion grew hotter, some people raised the question of whether children can enter a KTV. Some parents asked further, can they be admitted if accompanied by a parent?
Many KTVs [around Liuzhou] have posted signs such as "Entry for Minors Prohibited". A young server at one KTV, however, said minors could go in if accompanied by a parent, but the parent would have to keep a close eye on the child.
At [another KTV]… the attendant said parents often bring their children to teach them how to sing.
Captain Deng Ming of the Liuzhou Cultural Inspection Brigade says, "Even when accompanied by parents, children are prohibited from entering places with recreational singing and dancing like KTVs" under Article 36 of the Law for the Protection of Minors… and Article 47 of the Entertainment Management Regulations….
Captain Deng explained that over 150 KTVs in Liuzhou have had their business licenses revoked or suspended [for violation of these rules]. The Inspection Brigade has been combating and investigating the phenomena of KTVs admitting minors… but it's difficult to collect evidence without the support of parents and schools. "If ID cards were required to enter KTVs, like Internet cafes, perhaps the situation would be better," he said….
Wu Rong, the Party Secretary at the Goose Mountain Road Elementary School, believes that minors are immature and therefore susceptible to uncultured influences when they enter places of entertainment like KTVs. They might also be subject to communicable diseases because their immune systems are not developed and the cleanliness of such places cannot be guaranteed.…
Huang Jun, an administrator at Levee Bend Road Elementary School, says that… parents should set an example for their children. They should not ignore regulations prohibiting them from taking children into KTVs, and should let their children hear more music that is actively uplifting and healthful….
Liuzhou Evening News, 2013-12-24, p. 11
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3. Help Friend Make Payment on Debt, Get Treated as Debtor
3 Men Armed with Knives Demand Payment, Shopkeeper Texts for Help
Reporter Chen Feng, Correspondent Tan Li, Dispatch to South China Today in Liuzhou
At about 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon, three "customers" came into a shop facing the street in the "Golden Century" residential community on East Ring Avenue in Liuzhou. Without even looking at any merchandise or asking about prices, the 3 entered the store and straightaway dragged the owner, Mr. Fu, into a small room in the shop and closed the door. Really, what was going on?
It was also at this time that Liuzhou resident Ms. Zhang, who had just taken her child to an extracurricular class, received a text message from her husband: "Kidnapped, save me." And what was that all about?
The fact is, it was Mr. Fu who had texted Ms. Zhang.
In Fu's liquor store, he usually took care of everything himself. [He was therefore alone] when 3 men in their thirties walked into the store yesterday afternoon.
Fu thought some business had come through the door so he rushed up to greet them. Before he knew what was happening, the 3 grabbed him and, without a word, dragged him into an area of the store that had been partitioned off. He took advantage of the confusion to pull out his cell phone and send his wife a text message asking for help.
Once in the room, the 3 men explained why they had come. "We are here for the money!"
As soon as the man opened his mouth, his accent let Fu know that he was not being robbed, but rather, that he had become involved in dispute over a debt.
It seems that the 3 men were from the same village in Hunan as Fu. They had been hired by someone specifically to come to Liuzhou to demand repayment of a debt.
While they were talking, one of the men flashed a knife and demanded that Fu immediately come up with 200,000 Yuan (≈$32,800). Fu told them that he was in fact not the debtor and they had the wrong guy.
The 3 men of course wouldn't listen. They began to beat Fu to force him to pay the money. Then one of them put a knife with an ox-horn handle to Fu's neck and issued an "ultimatum": If he didn't pay back the money, he would "see blood."
At this time, the door of the small room was kicked open. The outer room was full of police officers.
It turned out that Ms. Zhang had called the police as soon as she received her husband's text message asking for help. She had led the officers to her family's shop right away and the rescue came just in time. The officers arrived just as the knife was being put to Fu's throat.
The 3 men did not resist the officers. They surrendered meekly without a fight. Sources indicate that this was their first trip to Liuzhou, and they had come straight to the shop when they got off the train.
Fu was "greatly aggrieved" by this encounter. He said that it was a friend who owed the debt, not him. He'd paid half the debt to help his friend, so the creditor had assumed the two were partners and hired the men to collect the balance from him.
The police found two knives with ox-horn handles being carried by the 3 men. These are controlled knives, so the men who carried them have been placed in administrative detention.
South China Today, 2013-12-22, p. 4
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4. Hundred-Year-Old Falls in Street
Dragon City People Have Courage to "Support" Him
Reporter Zhang Jie, Correspondent Wei Jirong, Dispatch to the Evening News
"Help! Somebody fell down! Hurry!" Yesterday, across the street from Liushi Road
Alley 107, Urban Control [officers] and passers-by reached out to help a 103-year-old get up,
and promptly escorted him home.
Recently the Evening News reported the story of city residents who built a "wall of
seats" shielding a seventy-plus senior citizen who had taken ill and fallen on the street.
heard the news about the 9-year-old boy in Sichuan who assisted a senior citizen [and then
got sued for assault], not a few of them wondered whether they really should "help or not",
"rescue or not." In the end, they took the sick person to a hospital where, unfortunately, the
oldster passed away. It was the same way when someone fell and the people of Liuzhou
helped the 103-year-old get up, disseminating positive energy. [Fannyi – This bit of jargon is Senior Citizen Being Escorted
from the "Let's Be Civil" campaign, reflecting the Party's belief that if a few people start to Home by Neighbor and Urban
act civilly, the good vibrations will spread throughout society.] Control Officer
Sometime after 10 that morning, Zhang Hailiang, Captain of the Motor Vehicles Platoon
of the Fish Peak Legal Administration Department, was driving a car on patrol and was across the street from Liushi Road Alley107. When he saw an old man slip and fall, he immediately pulled to the side of the road and stopped. The owner of a pharmacy facing the street rushed out as well, and together they helped the oldster get up. The pharmacy owner also brought out a stool for him to sit on and rest. Fortunately he had no serious problems.
Nearby residents also hurried over. It turned out that the man who had fallen lives in Liushi Road Alley 107. At the ripe old age of 103, he was crossing the road to buy an herbal plaster [for sore muscles]. He accidentally fell when he stepped up onto the sidewalk.
After the centenarian recovered his wits, Zhang Hailiang and Cai Xiaocheng of the Legal Administration Department, along with a concerned member of the public who also lives in Alley 107, helped him home. When Zhang and Cai escorted the centenarian inside, they found no one else at home. They helped the oldster pour some hot water and then left.
Zhang Hailiang told this reporter that when he saw the fellow slip and fall, his first reaction was to step forward and help him up. He didn't have time and didn't even think of taking video or otherwise gathering evidence, since being "able to help" means you should "take on the job".
Liuzhou Evening News 2013-12-13, p. 44,
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5. Girlfriend Goes to Toilet, Is Taken for "Swindler"
Says "Bye Bye" to Suspicious Man
Reporter Li Jie, Correspondent Hu Haiguan, Dispatch to the Evening News
A man named Blue was out shopping with Ms. Wei, a girl he had known for 9 days, when she suddenly disappeared. Blue actually thought she was trying to ditch him. He hunted her down and grabbed her tightly and wouldn't let her go. He didn't realize his girlfriend had just gone to the bathroom. This dramatic scene played out on the street at Gubu [shopping center] on the afternoon of November 29.
Blue, a 38-year-old fellow from Laibin, had been away from home working in Guangdong Province for many years. He had some money saved up and decided to come to Liuzhou to find a wife. He got back from Guangdong on November 20 and was introduced to 29-year-old Ms. Wei by a matchmaker. Ms. Wei looked like a refined young lady. She was delicate and pretty and really caught Blue's eye. Right then and there, he generously gave the matchmaker a 350 Yuan bonus (≈$57).
Ms. Wei subsequently took Blue home to meet her parents. Blue presented the family with a set of bedding as a greeting gift and invited them out for a great meal.
Both families were satisfied, and Blue and Ms. Wei got engaged. They also agreed to go to Guangdong together to look for work. The couple went to Gubu Street on November 29 to buy clothing and shoes in preparation for the trip to Guangdong.
While they were shopping, Blue went off for a smoke. When he came back he was surprised to find that Ms. Wei was gone. He couldn't get her on the phone. He became anxious and kept thinking of stories he'd seen on the news about "marriage fraud" and mistakenly thought Ms. Wei had ditched him.
Blue looked all over and finally found Ms. Wei by the toilet door. He ran up and grabbed her, shouting "swindler."
"Who are you calling a swindler?" Ms. Wei was astounded and told Blue to let go of her. He held on even more tightly, and the two pushed and shoved each other on the street. Passers-by called the police as soon as they saw what was happening. An officer from the Red Light Police Affairs Kiosk rushed over and pulled the two apart. At this point Ms. Wei explained that she wasn't ditching Blue. She had just put the things they purchased in a locker at the supermarket and gone to the toilet.
The misunderstanding was resolved, but Ms. Wei decided that Blue was overly suspicious and she did not want to continue seeing him. Blue wouldn't accept that. "I've spent 6,000 Yuan over the last few days. If you want to break up, you'll have to pay me back!" Ultimately, Ms. Wei paid him 2,000 Yuan and the two will no longer associate with one another.
Liuzhou Evening News, 2013-12-02, p. 9
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6. Rebuffed Playboy Knocks Masseuse Unconscious
Reeks of Booze, Spaced Out on Ground When Police Arrive
Reporter Tang Sisi, Correspondent Ma Bin, Dispatch to the Evening News
At about 10 o'clock on the 27th, 41-year-old Wei had been drinking and was looking for a bit of fun. He went to a massage parlor on Peace Road looking for a young lady to give him a "massage." When his request for special services was refused, he had the audacity to raise his hand in violence and beat the masseuse until she went into shock.
When the thoroughly besotted Wei passed by a massage parlor on Peace Road that evening, he was attracted by a young lady waving to him in the doorway, so he went in to enjoy a "massage". Do you have special services? The masseuse, Ms. Fan, declined this request from Wei, saying that she didn't feel well and that only normal massage services were available. "OK, then, I'll have a massage." He then lay down on the massage table for a massage only. After being massaged for a short while, however, he began to act inappropriately and groped Ms. Fan drunkenly. Not wanting to offend a customer, Ms. Fan at first wriggled to avoid the groping, but Wei lost all restraint and became even more wanton.
Ms. Fan couldn't take the harassment and started to leave, which infuriated Wei.
He immediately jumped off the table and hit Ms. Fan with his fist. Ms. Fan was knocked for a loop and fell to the floor in a faint, but this didn't put an end to Wei's anger. He continued to hit and kick Ms. Fan, who had long since gone into shock. The massage parlor employees were terrified and hurried to call the police.
The duty officer at the West Ring Road Police Affairs Kiosk received the call and rushed to the scene. He saw that Ms. Fan had been beaten and was still unconscious. She had contusions about the head and her nose was bleeding incessantly. Her attacker, Wei, reeked of alcohol. He was lying limp and in a fog on the ground.
The officer thereupon dialed 120 [the emergency service]. Ms. Fan was taken to a hospital for treatment, and Wei was handed over to the West River Police Precinct for further processing.
Liuzhou Evening News, 2013-11-29, p. 15
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7. Neighbors War over a Sliver of "Sunlight"
Patient Local Mediator Intervenes, Turns Swords to Plowshares
Reporter Li Jie, Dispatch to the Evening News
"My house's window has been nailed up by my neighbor and I can't see a ray of sunshine! Tell me, how can she do such a thing?" Recently Ms. Feng, a resident of Lion Mountain Community in Fish Peak District, came in a rage to the Community Mediator, Ms. Liu, to report the situation. But when Ms. Liu went to the neighbor, Ms. Lo, to get an understanding of the circumstances, Ms. Lo said that she was the victim. It turned out that the two had made a "declaration of war" over their "right to daylight".
Ms. Lo and Ms. Feng live in facing apartments on the same floor and share an open-air balcony. A few years ago, without getting permission from Ms. Lo, Ms. Feng put up a simple structure on the balcony to use as a kitchen. Its window faced a bedroom in Lo's apartment and it completely blocked sunlight from the bedroom. Not only that, every day at mealtimes greasy smoke from cooking in Feng's kitchen invaded Lo's home and made the bedroom reek. Ms. Lo repeatedly complained and asked Ms. Feng to change the direction of the exhaust fan, but Ms. Feng turned a deaf ear. The two quarreled over this a lot. Once Ms. Lo became too angry to contain herself and got revenge by maliciously piling garbage in front of Feng's door. When Ms. Feng found it she poured dirty water on Lo's door to get even. The neighbors were at war and things were coming to a head.
Last month Ms. Lo made a two-meter-high wood panel and nailed it up in an empty space on the balcony in such a way that it blocked Feng's kitchen window. After this, Lo's family no longer had to put up with the nuisance of greasy smoke, but the sunlight was blocked from both homes. When Ms. Feng angrily picked up a brick to pound Ms. Lo, they took their complaints to the police station, but the problem didn't get resolved.
"One has to really understand how each side sees things in order to solve the problem." To this end, Ms. Liu mediated with the two women separately, listening carefully to what each one said. Ms. Feng insisted that Ms. Lo take down the panel so that her apartment could get sunlight again. Ms. Lo demanded that Ms. Feng change the direction of the exhaust fan so that the greasy smoke would no longer encroach on her apartment. Eventually Ms. Feng agreed not to direct the smoke toward Lo's place, and Ms. Lo lowered the panel.
With the matter satisfactorily resolved, the hatchet was finally buried and resentments built up over several years were buried with it. The two women thanked Ms. Liu for her patient mediation.
Liuzhou Evening News, 2013-11-26, p. 16
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8. Teacher Strikes Child, Causes Swollen Face
School Refunds Tuition, Pays Damages
Throughout history, people have believed in the traditional concept "A strict teacher makes a brilliant student." But is it really true? Recently, at the Tom Thumb Kindergarten in the Prosperous City Development Zone of Liu River County, a 4-year-old child was struck 5 times with a [rolled up?] newspaper by a 17-year-old teacher at the school, named Wei, for mischievously telling a joke. The child's face was red and swollen and the swelling would not go down. On the afternoon of the 5th, after representatives of the school talked things over with the parents, the matter was settled.
On the afternoon of the 3rd at about 6 pm, Jun Jun, the child who was beaten, complained tearfully to his mother, Ms. Fan, "Mom, my face hurts." When she inquired into the matter, Fan learned that Teacher Wei had struck her son. She was very angry and went with her son to seek an explanation from the school.
The kindergarten's principal, named Yu, asked Wei to confirm what had happened. Wei admitted to making a mistake and striking Jun Jun. The school apologized and Teacher Wei, as the person implicated in the matter, voluntarily purchased medication to disperse the swelling and rubbed it on Jun Jun's face that very evening. Since it was late, Fan didn't pursue the matter further.
However, the next day around 3 pm, Fan noticed that the redness and swelling of her son's face had not improved. There were even two fingernail-sized red marks. Furthermore, Wei had not even contacted them to make a [personal] apology. Subsequently, Fan went to the kindergarten and demanded that they take Jun Jun to a hospital for an examination.
The hospital doctor was of the opinion that a scan of the skull and facial region showed no abnormality. The doctor also stated that the bones and soft tissue on the right side of Jun Jun's face had been bruised. There was inflammation and swelling, as well as tenderness and other symptoms. The school paid the 400 Yuan fee for this examination.
Since the parties could not come to an agreement, Fan's husband filed a police report. An officer from the Labao Precinct of the Liu River County Public Security Bureau came out to arbitrate. After two hours of discussion, the school refunded Jun Jun's tuition for the year and paid damages for emotional distress. The parents accepted this result.
Liuzhou Online, 2013-12-6
Chinese text available here.
News Translations Published in December 2013
1. Police Crack Broad Daylight Robbery
2. Can Children Enter KTV with Parents?
3. Men Armed with Knives Collect Debt
4. Hundred-Year-Old Falls in Street
5. Girlfriend Mistaken for "Swindler"
6. Rebuffed Playboy Beats Masseuse
7. Neighbors War over a Sliver of "Sunlight"
8. Teacher Strikes Child, School Pays