A 21-year-old Chinese has been sentenced to 19 years in prison for holding a toy gun to a man's head and stealing his backpack unaware that it contained $1.7 million Hong Kong dollars (about $2,18,000) in cash.
Xie Wei carried out the robbery on January nine in a parking lot of a bank in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, and fled with the rucksack, Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court heard.
Xie told the court that he was oblivious to the amount of money stashed inside the backpack and said he would decide whether or not to appeal in the near future, Xinhua news agency reported.
The court also heard that Xie snatched a diamond ring and a platinum necklace - with a combined value of 129,550 yuan -from a shop in Guangzhou on September 14 last year.
Xie was arrested by police on January 25 this year and was discovered to be in possession of 1.61 million yuan, the backpack owner's mobile phone, a laptop, and a pair of diamond rings that were bought with the stolen money.
Xie's family paid 60,000 yuan (USD 7,978) in compensation to the victims.
The court said Xie was "treated with leniency" because he confessed to the crimes, most of the money had been retrieved and his family had offered compensation.
Showing posts with label china. Show all posts
Showing posts with label china. Show all posts
Monday, September 17, 2007
China creates 'man-made oasis' along its longest inland river
China has created a "man-made oasis" along its longest inland river by planting trees and grass and infusing lake water into the lower reaches of the river which had dried up 30 years ago.
In the past seven years, the Tarim River Administration has infused 2.3 billion cubic meters of water from lakes 300 kms away into the 1,321-km river that flows in the arid north-west along the rim of the barren Tarim Basin, a sparsely populated area about the size of Poland.
The waterway is the "mother river" feeding 43.5 square kilometres of oasis inhabited by at least eight million people, 80 per cent of whom are Uygurs.
"The infusion has resumed water flow in the lower reaches and saved the Euphrates poplars from extinction," Xinhua news agency quoted a local official as saying.
The Euphrates poplars with golden leaves of various shapes draw large crowds of tourists and photographers to the Tarim Basin every autumn.
The poplars used to cover 1,33,434 acres in the Tarim Basin in the 1950s. However, excessive cultivation and lack of water pushed the trees to the verge of extinction over the past three decades.
Ambitious land reclamation activities along the river over the past five decades also squandered too much water in irrigation, causing 320 kilometres of the Tarim River in its lower reaches to run dry in the early 1970s and the Taklimakan desert on its south to sprawl faster.
The eight water infusion projects conducted at a cost of over USD one billion since 2000 have expanded the water surface in the lower reaches of the Tarim River by 149 sq kms and 180 sq kms of vegetations have been restored.
In the past seven years, the Tarim River Administration has infused 2.3 billion cubic meters of water from lakes 300 kms away into the 1,321-km river that flows in the arid north-west along the rim of the barren Tarim Basin, a sparsely populated area about the size of Poland.
The waterway is the "mother river" feeding 43.5 square kilometres of oasis inhabited by at least eight million people, 80 per cent of whom are Uygurs.
"The infusion has resumed water flow in the lower reaches and saved the Euphrates poplars from extinction," Xinhua news agency quoted a local official as saying.
The Euphrates poplars with golden leaves of various shapes draw large crowds of tourists and photographers to the Tarim Basin every autumn.
The poplars used to cover 1,33,434 acres in the Tarim Basin in the 1950s. However, excessive cultivation and lack of water pushed the trees to the verge of extinction over the past three decades.
Ambitious land reclamation activities along the river over the past five decades also squandered too much water in irrigation, causing 320 kilometres of the Tarim River in its lower reaches to run dry in the early 1970s and the Taklimakan desert on its south to sprawl faster.
The eight water infusion projects conducted at a cost of over USD one billion since 2000 have expanded the water surface in the lower reaches of the Tarim River by 149 sq kms and 180 sq kms of vegetations have been restored.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Internet keeps the Chinese awake for longer hours in the night: Survey
Chinese people go to sleep later than they did a decade ago, but their total sleep time remains the same, according to a survey. A survey on 2,000 people of all ages and different fields shows people, especially from the age group of 25 to 45, tend to sleep 40 minutes later than 10 years ago, a research by the Leisure Economy Research Center of Renmin University said.
The survey listed 24-hour television, overtime work, increasing demand for education, and in particular, the spread of Internet as reasons for going late to bed. However, the total sleeping time remains the same at an average daily eight hours and 41 minutes and one hour longer on days off.
The widespread use of household appliances has reduced the burden of housework, allowing more time for rest. Meanwhile, more people begin working at 9:00 am, one hour later than 10 years ago, which enables people to maintain their sleep time, the survey said.
Professor Wang Qiyan of Renmin University, who has studied sleep for more than 20 years, said, "Good sleeping habits and reasonable sleeping period are beneficial to health and work efficiency. "If late-sleepers regularise their sleeping period and ensure six to seven hours every day, their health will not be affected," he said.
The survey listed 24-hour television, overtime work, increasing demand for education, and in particular, the spread of Internet as reasons for going late to bed. However, the total sleeping time remains the same at an average daily eight hours and 41 minutes and one hour longer on days off.
The widespread use of household appliances has reduced the burden of housework, allowing more time for rest. Meanwhile, more people begin working at 9:00 am, one hour later than 10 years ago, which enables people to maintain their sleep time, the survey said.
Professor Wang Qiyan of Renmin University, who has studied sleep for more than 20 years, said, "Good sleeping habits and reasonable sleeping period are beneficial to health and work efficiency. "If late-sleepers regularise their sleeping period and ensure six to seven hours every day, their health will not be affected," he said.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
It happens in China too: Sending dirty jokes, SMSes made punishable offence in China province
Those who send a dirty joke, a suggestive text message, a naughty email to their female colleagues in east China's booming province of Zhejiang will have to think twice as now it is legally a punishable offense.
The Zhejiang provincial legislative body on July 26 passed an amendment to its implementation of the country's law to protect women's rights, stipulating that, from September 1, a woman can file a sexual harassment lawsuit against a man if he oversteps the line in conversation or during on-line chat or via text message.
Those who are found guilty of sexual harassment of women will be punished by police or even held criminally responsible, according to the new regulation.
"Women who feel they are being sexually harassed can report their cases to their employers, public security departments or women federations who should take measures to stop the harassment," it states.
"In recent years, the cases of sending pornographic text messages and pictures via cell phones or the Internet are on rise," said Deng Weixia, a law official with the provincial people's congress.
"Thus the legislature has added the new forms of sexual harassment into the amendment in addition to the traditional form of physical contact," Deng said.
But law experts say there are still difficulties in implementing the law as evidence for sexual harassment is difficult to collect.
"Except for long and frequent sexual harassment, it is impossible for the victims to always have video cameras or recorders on their person, which poses problems for future lawsuits," said lawyer Luo Zhonghong.
The Zhejiang provincial legislative body on July 26 passed an amendment to its implementation of the country's law to protect women's rights, stipulating that, from September 1, a woman can file a sexual harassment lawsuit against a man if he oversteps the line in conversation or during on-line chat or via text message.
Those who are found guilty of sexual harassment of women will be punished by police or even held criminally responsible, according to the new regulation.
"Women who feel they are being sexually harassed can report their cases to their employers, public security departments or women federations who should take measures to stop the harassment," it states.
"In recent years, the cases of sending pornographic text messages and pictures via cell phones or the Internet are on rise," said Deng Weixia, a law official with the provincial people's congress.
"Thus the legislature has added the new forms of sexual harassment into the amendment in addition to the traditional form of physical contact," Deng said.
But law experts say there are still difficulties in implementing the law as evidence for sexual harassment is difficult to collect.
"Except for long and frequent sexual harassment, it is impossible for the victims to always have video cameras or recorders on their person, which poses problems for future lawsuits," said lawyer Luo Zhonghong.
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