China Digital Times

China news tagged with: Hubei (32)

• Journalists Issue Open Letter Against Hubei Governor

  

  Following Hubei Governor Li Hongzhong’s outburst at a reporter questioning him at the NPC meetings, hundreds of prominent Chinese journalists, scholars and activists have penned an open letter protesting his actions and calling for an investigation and a public apology. China Media Project has translated the letter:

  A string of sensational events concerning the people’s livelihood have occurred in Hubei under Li Hongzhong’s leadership. In the Deng Yujiao (邓玉娇) case, awful crimes were perpetrated by township officials. Local leaders turned their special privileges to deception, leveling charges of murder against the victim in the case. They drove reporters away, beat them, put them under surveillance, trampling on rule of law to cover up their own official misdeeds. The Shishou Incident (石首事件) erupted into street riots. Li Hongzhong shirked responsibility in the early stages, and afterwards strove to clear away the damage, but bitterness still has yet to subside . . .

  The “two meetings” are a time when the public inquires into affairs of the nation. As a delegate to the National People’s Congress, Li Hongzhong should attend to the strengths and shortcomings of the ruling party and have regard for the public good. Li Hongzhong’s words depart from civilized political conduct and flirt with personal arrogance. The robbing [of the reporter's recording device] victimized not only the reporter herself. The incident was a setback for the rights of the media, for the public’s right to know, for China’s national image, and it brought shame to the hall [where delegates were assembled]. Li’s actions undermined the faith of the public, damaged the dignity of the NPC, and abused the image of the nation, the party and the people.

  China’s constitution extends to the media and to the people the right to inquire into political affairs, and protest is justified when power flagrantly tramples on those rights. Action is far better than sitting back and posturing. Elder journalists such as Zhou Ruijin (周瑞金) have spoken out, and Zhong Peizhang (钟沛璋), former director of the News Bureau of the Central Propaganda Department, has shouted out [in protest] from his sick bed.

  » Read more
  • March 14, 2010 2:12 PM

• Three Teens Drowned In Jingzhou

  

  Roland Soong of EastSouthWestNorth posts “three reports which reflect the diversity of information sources in China: (1) the Xinhua report which paid tribute to the three heroes; (2) an in-depth investigative report by Southern Weekend; (3) an Internet forum post from a local resident” on the story of three teenagers in Jingzhou who drowned in their efforts to rescue two children from the Yangtze River.

  The story has spread quickly on the Internet, in part due to the many assertions that the teens’ deaths could have been avoided, had people on a nearby fishing boat been willing to assist the students. Background from the Xinhua report:

  A grand memorial service was held Wednesday in central Hubei Province to honor three college students who died rescuing two children from the Yangtze River on October 24.

  Thousands of people holding chrysanthemum flowers went to the Jingzhou Memorial House to see off the teenagers, all 19-year-old students from the Yangtze University based in Jingzhou City. The trio were Chen Jishi, He Dongxu and Fang Zhao.

  State Councilor Liu Yandong, Hubei Provincial Party secretary Luo Qingquan and Provincial Governor Li Hongzhong sent their wreaths to the ceremony. “The three heroes gave life to others and risked death themselves,” said Zhang Zhongjia, Communist Party secretary of the Yangtze University. “They are the pride of their parents, elites of the nation and models of the time.”

  People touched by their selfless act had donated more than 500,000 yuan ($73,206) to their relatives as of Wednesday, Zhang said.

  More than 10 students from the Yangtze University formed a ladder with one student holding another’s arms to rescue the two boys in the river on the afternoon of October 24. One of the students lost his grip on his classmates and all of them were in danger. Several members of a winter swimming team nearby came to help. Chen Jishi, He Dongxu and Fang Zhao were swept away in the torrent, but others were saved.

  Fauna of chinaSMACK has also extensive coverage of the story. Translated from a NetEase post:

  On the day the Hubei university students saved the children in the water, there was a fishing boat stopped no more than 5 meters away from the children. The students involved in the rescue begged on their knees for their help, but the fishing boat boss said “living people we will not save, [only] fish up bodies, 12,000 per body in the day, 18,000 per body at night”, and would not even give their life preserver/buoy. The investigating reporter discovered that there is a local “folk” profiteering salvage/recovery team [organized by the ordinary area residents, not government] that specifically depends on fishing bodies to earn money.

  Also from the chinaSMACK post:

  

  This picture is spreading on the internet today. It shows the fishermen after they have fished up a drowned student’s body and refusing to hand the body over until he is paid. I saw a girl reading this news and looking at this photo on the metro today too.

  Chinese blogger Han Han has also posted a response to the “Fisherman Incident” on his blog. An excerpt, translated by CDT:

  Fourth, we see a microcosm of Chinese society within this and other related incidents. That is, in their derivatives and on their periphery, there are good people who don’t get rewards, mercenaries, and indifference. Some people are in need of help, and their lives are contingent on it; people extend a hand, and as a result are also dragged into the water; good people waiting on the shore are anxious, but their kowtowing and kneeling are of no use because the resources [for help] are monopolized, and those behind these resources see no profit motive. There is not even a corpse.

  Fifth, I recommend that Chinese citizens carry 20,000 yuan on them. First, you can’t go wrong with carrying a bit more money given recent skyrocketing commodity prices. Second, on the off chance you get ‘fishhooked,’ you will need to pay between 10,000-20,000 yuan in fees. Third, if you or your friend fall into the water, you can hold up the cash over your head, and in this way you may have a semi-official group come fish you out. If you are fortunate enough to be saved, with the other party being very virtuous and deciding to have you and your body serve as a standard fee — well, then, you still have 8,000 yuan for rescue efforts done by the hospital or the ambulance.

  » Read more
  • November 6, 2009 8:38 PM

• Farmers Selling Blood to Make Ends Meet

  

  In Hubei’s Yunxian County, some come to sell their blood plasma — 600 cc for 168 yuan — to make ends meet. From China Youth Daily [CN], excerpted and translated by CDT:

  The white boat with 35 passengers measures about 5 meters long, and is headed for Shiyan metropolitan area’s Yunxian County seat in Hubei province. It embarked from Sunjiawan, 30 kilometers upstream. For 10 years, the boat has sailed down Han River, the longest tributary of the Yangtze, and is called a “liner” by villagers.

  But when Zhou Wenfen and her neighbor, surnamed Liu, boarded the boat with others, some were accustomed to calling the boat “blood boat.”

  Passengers would ask them: “Are you coming to do that?”

  The majority of these passengers were nearby fellow villagers. Although behind their backs, they would directly use the three words “selling blood plasma,” they would all substitute the phrase “do that” when speaking face to face.

  Indeed, these two village women had come to “do that.” Their goal was to come to Yunxian’s blood plasma collection (plasmapheresis) station. There, each time they give 600 cc of their blood plasma, they receive 160 yuan for a “nutrition subsidy” and 8 yuan for a “travel subsidy.” Aside from farming, this is practically their only way to make money.

  From China Daily:

  China implements an uncompensated blood donation system, in which healthy citizens aged 18 to 55 are encouraged to donate blood voluntarily. Relevant government departments or units can subsidize donors, according to the country’s Blood Donation Law that went into effect in 1998.

  No more than 600 cc of blood can be collected each time. Donors are not allowed to donate more than once every two weeks, according to the Ministry of Health’s blood plasma collection station administrative measures that took effect last March.

  One health expert said that donating blood frequently is safe, if the procedures are followed properly.

  “Regular donations would not harm farmers’ health if its operation conforms to the national standards and laws,” Tan Xiaodong, professor with school of public health of Wuhan University, told China Daily yesterday.

  “But instead of donating blood, the Yunxian county government and local farmers should take more active measures to change their poverty-stricken life,” he said.

  

  On August 11, the 'liner' transports villagers into town.

  

  On August 18, most of the passengers came in order to go to the blood plasma center.

  

  Most are women in the reception area of the blood plasma collection center.

  

  Zhou Wenfen.

  » Read more
  • November 5, 2009 12:21 PM

• Video: Riots in Shishou, Central China over Death (Updated)

  

  Violent riots are being reported in Shishou, Hubei Province. Reuters reports:

  Police in central China’s Hubei province have been called in to quash protests over the mysterious death of a man in a government-owned hotel, eyewitnesses told Reuters on Saturday.

  “There are still a lot of armed police around,” a local resident surnamed Chen told Reuters. “But they haven’t convinced (the protestors) to go home yet.”

  On June 17, Xu Yuangao, a 24-year-old chef, was found dead at the Yonglong Hotel in the city of Shishou, and while the police say they found a suicide note, Xu’s family continue to allege foul play.

  And from AFP:

  “There were at least 10,000 people gathered near the hotel yesterday (Friday). Police were being chased away by residents, who were hitting the police,” a woman employee at a nearby hotel told AFP by phone.

  The woman, who would not give her name, said she also saw police vehicles that were damaged or overturned.

  She added that large crowds were still present on Saturday near the Yonglong hotel where the man was a chef.

  The official Xinhua news agency reported that more than one thousand people crowded outside the hotel at 5pm (0900 GMT) Saturday, with hotel walls “blackened by fire,” it said.

  See also a Xinhua report. The following photos are from this blog, although it is currently inaccessible.
  

  Amateur video of the incident is up on YouTube:
  
  
  

  Update: Reuters reports on Sunday that calm has been restored to Shishou:

  Crowds that clashed with paramilitary police in a small town in central China on Saturday have dispersed, leaving police in control, local residents and state media said on Sunday.

  Unusually, the protestors in Shishou, Hubei province, appear to have included local government employees, showing the depth of dissatisfaction in the city of 620,000.

  Crowds set fire to the Yonglong Hotel on Friday night after the death of 24-year-old chef Tu Yuangao. The man’s family had refused to accept the hotel management’s explanation that Tu had committed suicide by jumping out a window.

  By Saturday, the confrontation had escalated into one of the most serious “mass incidents” in China since the alleged rape of a teenage girl found dead in Weng’an, Guizhou province, sparked riots last year involving 30,000 angry locals.

  More photos of the protests can be found here and on ESWN.

  » Read more
  • June 20, 2009 6:42 PM

• Deng Yujiao (邓玉娇), Who Killed Official Bailed After Online Outcry

  

  “Case of Deng Yujiao, who stabbed to death man she said tried to rape her, puts spotlight on abusive officials.” Tania Branigan reports for the Guardian, from Beijing:

  Chinese police have released on bail a woman who became an unwilling hero to tens of thousands of compatriots after stabbing to death an official who she said tried to rape her when she rejected his advances.

  The state newspaper China Daily said authorities in Badong, Hubei, released Deng Yujiao last night because she had turned herself in after the killing more than two weeks ago.

  But today many bloggers speculated that the decision reflected public pressure. Comments on the killing inundated blogs and bulletin boards, and news of the 21-year-old’s release from custody was widely welcomed.

  Deng’s case – and its handling by police – has become emblematic of the struggle of ordinary people against abusive officials.

  The message was spelled out in a protest at a Beijing university this week in which a gagged female student bound in sheets was shown with a message reading: “Anyone could become a Deng Yujiao.”

  Each twist in the investigation has aroused fresh sympathy for Deng, from the claim that the dead man hit her with a wad of cash when she refused to have sex with him to the allegation that police tried to label her mentally ill and that her mother was pressed to fire her lawyers.

  Read also: Killing makes Chinese hostess a symbol of discontent from the Reuters:

  A Chinese waitress accused of murdering a government official when he tried to assault her has become the latest symbol of public discontent with untrammelled power, drawing a wave of sympathy for the woman.

  More English news stories on Deng Yujiao, please see here and here.

  » Read more
  • May 27, 2009 7:00 AM

• Have You Left No Sense of Decency? How China’s Latest Internet Hero Will Test the Rule of Law

  

  From the Chinaelections.org:

  In the seemingly never-ending struggle of the common people vs. the corrupt officials, every once in awhile, there is a case that attracts nationwide attention. In 2003, there was the Sun Zhigang case, while last year protests in Weng’an, Guizhou surrounding the suspicious death of a high school girl attracted widespread attention online, and Yang Jia became famous for killing six police officers in Shanghai.

  This year’s unlikely heroine is Deng Yujiao, a 21 year old waitress at an entertainment club in Badong County, Hubei. On Sunday May 10, she became the perpetrator in the stabbing murder of Deng Guida, a township level official, and she also injured his companion and colleague Huang Dezhi. The popular telling of the event starts with the officials Deng and Huang finding Deng Yujiao washing clothes in a service room right next to their leisure room and asking her to provide “special services,” a not so subtle euphemism for sexual services. The three got into an argument when she refused, saying she did not work for the hydrotherapy area. During the argument, Mr. Deng took out a pile of money and hit her with it, questioning, “are you afraid I don’t have enough money?” and pushed her down on to a sofa twice, which is when she took out a pedicure knife and stabbed him repeatedly, also stabbing Huang Dezhi when he moved towards her. However, reports from the official media have been slightly different, as they claim that the knife used in the stabbing was a fruit knife, not a pedicure knife, implying that it is possible that the murder was premeditated, because why would she be carrying a fruit knife? They also don’t mention that Deng Guida hit the young girl with his money. When the police arrested her the next day, they found depression medication in her bag and are currently keeping her in a mental institution[zh].

  Also read: Legality Issue in Deng Yujiao’s Case from the Seagull Reference blog:

  Twenty one years old Deng Yujiao is a staff in a small town resort in remote eastern Sichuan, until the evening of May 10, 2009. Three local officials, after dined with a local business (treated by the business because they helped to suppress a labor uprising), arrived the place and found Deng washing her clothing in the laundry room. The officials asked Deng to perform ‘Special’ service (sex). Deng refused. Then Deng ran to employee lounge to hide. The officials followed Deng to the lounge. One of the officials used a big stack of money bill to slap Deng Yujiao’s face, and firmly demanded special service as a self-claimed ‘wealthy customer’. Deng tried to run away, but was blocked by the other two officials. The first official lost his patience, and pressed Deng Yujiao to the bed. Deng managed to get away. The first official again pressed Deng Yujiao to the bed. While the second and the third officials pressing Deng Yujiao to the bed, the first official raped Deng. After the first official got off from Deng, Deng managed to grab a pedicure knife she used at work and struck the first official four times. Deng Yujiao called police while fencing the officials with her pedicure knife. After police arrived, the first official fell, and died later.

  Shen Zhen Red Song Club, a left-wing Maoist group will dedicate its weekly gathering on May 24 to ‘Heroine Deng Yujiao’. This is one of few moment when left and right in China’s political composition agrees and recognizes a common ground. Outside the political turmoil, people are outraged. The entire online presence of Chinese language are covered with petition to honor Deng Yujiao as a hero.

  And China Daily’s Report: Official stabbed to death for ’special service’ request.

  Also read “Sympathy for Waitress who Stabbed Official” from CDT.

  » Read more
  • May 21, 2009 7:16 AM

• Sympathy for Waitress who Stabbed Official

  

  Deng Yujiao (邓玉娇), a waitress in Badong County of Hubei Province, stabbed an official after he made unsolicited sexual advances toward her. The official later died en route to the hospital. It is unknown what Deng’s legal fate will be. Many netizens have expressed support for Deng.

  From the China Internet Information Center (china.org.cn):

  Deng Guida, the 44-year-old victim, was director of the business promotion office of Yesanguan Town in Badong County of Hubei Province.

  [...] Deng visited an entertainment venue with Huang [Dezhi] and another colleague about 7:30pm on Sunday after drinking alcohol, police said.

  The three found Deng Yujiao and asked her if she offered “special services,” which are normally understood to be sex services in Chinese.

  After attempting to resist Deng Guida and his colleagues, Deng Yujiao then stabbed Deng Guida three times and slashed his colleage Huang Dezhi once.

  From Global Times:

  Deng Yujiao was sent to a hospital in the Enshi Autonomous Prefecture yesterday for a mental-health checkup after anti-depression medication was found in her luggage, sources in Enshi told the Global Times yesterday.

  Rage over the officials’ alleged actions, and sympathy for Deng Yujiao, has blanketed many news portals. As of yesterday evening, more than 50,000 online users had written comments on Sina.com, a popular forum in China.

  [...] However, a law professor at Beijing Normal University told the Global Times on the condition of anonymity that because she killed a man, Deng Yujiao is unable to avoid being punished under Chinese law.

  “But the punishment may be mitigated, given the conditions of justifiable self-defense,” the professor said.

  Xu Zhiyong, a law lecturer at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, had a different opinion, saying the woman’s actions could be regarded as justifiable, exempting her from any crime.

  In his own blog, Xu Zhiyong explores Deng Yujiao’s case. Two entries devoted to the topic were posted on May 14 and May 16. As regards the question of self-defense, Xu notes Article 20 of China’s penal code:

  Article 20. Criminal responsibility is not to be borne for an act of legitimate defense that is under taken to stop present unlawful infringement of the state’s and public interest or the rights of the person, property or other rights of the actor or of other people and that causes harm to the unlawful infringer.

  Criminal responsibility shall be borne where legitimate defense noticeably exceeds the necessary limits and causes great harm. However, consideration shall be given to imposing a mitigated punishment or to granting exemption from punishment.

  Criminal responsibility is not to be borne for a defensive act undertaken against ongoing physical assault, murder, robbery, rape, kidnap, and other violent crimes that seriously endanger personal safety that causes injury or death to the unlawful infringer since such an act is not an excessive defense.

  Nevertheless, Deng Yujiao’s legal fate still remains an open question.

  Deng Yujiao’s story has been compared to the famous Yang Jia case, though they differ in one important aspect: Deng Yujiao’s stabbing was done out of self-defense, whereas Yang Jia’s stabbing was considered manslaughter.

  Read more about the case at South China Morning Post (pay site).

  » Read more
  • May 16, 2009 3:14 PM

• China Cigarette Order Goes Up In Smoke

  

  From Reuters:

  A county government in central China has rescinded an order which was intended to make officials smoke more to help the local economy, local authorities said on Tuesday.

  Functionaries in Gongan county in rural Hubei province had been ordered to smoke at least 23,000 packs of cigarettes a year, worth nearly 4 million yuan ($586,700), to cushion government finances, according to regional media reports.

  Those who failed to meet smoking targets or were caught smoking brands from other provinces would have been fined, the reports added, citing a government document issued earlier this year.

  But the government has now backtracked after an uproar in the local press criticizing the policy as being harmful to health and a waste of public money.

  » Read more
  • May 5, 2009 12:33 AM

• Photo Series: Memories of 2008 in Hubei

  

  This slideshow is a collection of photos, most of which were taken in Hubei in 2008. It reflects daily life and also the impact of the Olympic Games on the common people. It also documents some scenes of the Sichuan Earthquake, via QQ.com:

  » Read more
  • February 17, 2009 10:04 PM

• No Layoffs Without Permission in Shandong, Hubei

  

  Tan Yingzi reports in the China Daily:

  Firms in Shandong and Hubei provinces that want to lay off 40 or more workers have been told they must first apply for approval from their local human resources and social security authorities, the Legal Daily reported on Sunday.

  The order, released last Tuesday, is an amendment to the national labor contract law, which came into force in January and states that all companies that want to lay off more than 20 employees must first get approval from their labor unions and report their layoff scheme to the labor authorities.

  Provincial authorities have now decided to launch the order in response to the global financial crisis, and in the wake of several cases of company bosses from Shandong, Guangdong and Zhejiang, fleeing their responsibilities and leaving workers stranded, Wang Kexing, head of the unemployment and social insurance section of the Shandong human resources and social security department, told China Daily Monday.

  » Read more
  • November 17, 2008 9:11 PM

• Pollution Sickens 1,300 Farmers In Hubei

  

  From Shanghai Daily:

  More than 1,300 farmers in a remote county in Hubei Province have been diagnosed with skin ailments due to pollution from smelting plants.

  The government in Jianli County has promised to tear down all plants that smelt the highly profitable alloy vanadium, Changjiang Times reported today.

  The smelting plants discharged waste containing toxic cadmium and arsenic into waterways, which led to the pollution of both water and farms. The contaminated water also spread to several villages and polluted tens of thousands of hectares of fields.

  Officials said yesterday that all sick farmers from eight townships have received treatment and medical experts are still investigating how the contaminated water and fields caused the skin ailments.

  Read also 4 detained over illegal smelting plants by Yang Lifei, and Polluting smelters shut down after damaging farmers’ skin by Cui Xiaohuo and Gong Zhengzheng.

  » Read more
  • October 16, 2008 4:58 AM

• Man, Possibly Mentally Disordered, Kills 6 Villagers in Central China

  

  From Xinhua:

  Police in central China arrested a man who, possibly suffering mental disorder, killed six villagers and injured one on Saturday.

  Zhang Jinfu, 43, a farmer of Xuyang village in Luodian Town, Hubei Province, slashed two old men who were brothers in their 60s,a couple in their 50s and their mother aged 80 or so and a 7-year-old boy named Zhang Tiantian early Saturday morning, with a sickle and a tool with tines on both ends for rice harvest.

  The boy’s mother, Xu Lizhen was also injured by Zhang when she tried to rescue her son. Xu has been sent to hospital. Doctors said she had not passed through a danger period.

  » Read more
  • August 3, 2008 2:24 PM

• Severe Snow Hits Central China – BBC

  

  From BBC News:

  Unusually heavy snow has left at least 16 people dead and brought transport chaos to large areas of central and eastern China, state media said.

  Worst hit is Hubei province, where crops have been destroyed and roads blocked by the heaviest snow seen in the area for 16 years….[Full Text]

  - Read also Heavy snow kills 17, cuts power in many areas of China via China Daily and a previous post via CDT
  
  [Image:Two villagers make their way through the heavy snow in Yuexi County of Anhui Province, January 20, 2008, from China Daily]

  » Read more
  • January 22, 2008 8:55 AM

• Heavy Snowfall Kills 15 in China – Xinhua

  

  From Xinhua via China National News:

  Heavy snowfall over large parts of China Monday caused widespread traffic disruptions and left at least 15 people dead in weather-related accidents.

  Five people died in collapse of buildings under the weight of fallen snow in central China’s Hubei Province , which had its heaviest snow in 16 years, and one person died in a building collapse in the eastern province of Anhui , where it has been snowing since Jan 11. The snow affected 7.8 million people in Hubei and caused losses of 1.43 billion yuan ($198 million), said Liu Hui, an official said Monday. [Full Text]

  » Read more
  • January 21, 2008 1:36 PM

• Killing of Wei Wenhua and the Evils of the Urban Management System – David Bandurski

  

  In light of the murder of citizen Wei Wenhua, who was killed by “urban management” (城管）officials in Tianmen City, Hubei Province while filming their dispute with villagers, observers are asking who exactly are the “chengguan.” On China Media Project, David Bandurski says Wei could be considered “China’s first ‘citizen reporter’ to be killed while attempting to document a breaking news event” and writes:

  “Five minutes of darkness,” in the words of columnist Xiong Peiyun (熊陪云). That was all it took for the “urban management officers” (城管) of Hubei’s Tianmen City (天门市) to tragically end the life of Wei Wenhua (魏文华), the general manager of a local architectural engineering firm who dared to step out of his car and document a violent attempt to bring local villagers to heel.

  …The Wei Wenhua Affair, vaguely reminiscent of the Sun Zhigang story back in 2003, could become one of the most important China stories of 2008. Some media and Web users are already calling for the disbanding of the urban management system.

  “Five minutes of darkness, and who will be next?” Beijing scholar Xiong Peiyun wrote in today’s Southern Metropolis Daily and The Beijing News. “Perhaps no one wishes to face this question. Wei Wenhua’s death stands as clear proof of the violent ways of local urban management officers. It’s 2008 and another citizen goes down. When will we stand up and restrain the law enforcement violence of this urban management system?” [Full text]

  Over the past thirty-five hours, there have been 154733 comments on this event on QQ. One, from a netizen from Yingtan, Jiangxi Province, says:

  Zhou Zhenglong took a photo of tiger, alive!
  
  Wen Wenhua took a photo of Chengguan, dead!
  
  Chengguan is more dangerous than tigers. 城管猛如虎。[Original Chinese text]

  See also “Citizen reporter killed — by who?” from Global Voices.

  » Read more
  • January 11, 2008 3:32 PM

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