China Scene: North

Family wants money after father pulls out air tube

The relatives of an old man from Changchun, Jilin province, sued a hospital for 310,000 yuan ($43,900) in compensation after the man pulled out his tracheal tube and suffocated.

The patient, surnamed Liu, got a tracheotomy at the hospital on Jun 25, 2005. One day, he became so agitated that he pulled out all the tubes linking him to the breathing apparatus. He died.

His family members argued that hospital staff failed to notice the patient's pathological reaction, which led to his death.

Hearing the case on Monday, a judge said further investigation would be needed to find out which party bore responsibility.

(New Culture View)

Internet love is no longer for the young only

Wu Jieqin, an 81-year-old professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, fell in love with a 57-year-old woman in Chengdu, Sichuan province, he met through the Internet.

The two will be marrying soon.

He found the woman, surnamed Jiang, through a friend-finder website last September. The two got along so well during their chat sessions that they decided to meet in Chengdu after knowing each other for just 10 days.

Wu soon decided he would move to Chengdu and marry his new love.

"I don't care what people think about finding love through the Internet because it does not only belong to the youth," he said.

(Chengdu Evening News)

Fingers make way for toe where thumb should be

Doctors at a hospital in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, attached a toe to a 20-year-old man's right hand to replace his shattered thumb.

"The attached digit is working well," the doctor said. "After a few months of physical therapy, the patient should recover 95 percent of the function of his right hand."

The young man, surnamed Li, smashed his thumb several months ago, but failed to have it treated. "Without the thumb, his injured hand would have lost 40 to 50 percent of its function," an expert surnamed Guan said.

(www.xinhuanet.com)

Obscene text messages come with a heavy cost

A middle-aged man surnamed Wang from Dalian, Liaoning province, had to pay 1,000 yuan ($140) to Gao, his female colleague, to offset the spiritual damage he caused when he sent her nine obscene text messages.

Wang had flooded Gao with messages earlier in the month. Upon discovering the messages, her husband suspected her of having an affair and quarreled with her. Gao urged Wang to stop sending the messages, but the latter turned a deaf ear to her.

With the help of a lawyer on Tuesday, she forced Wang to compensate her for the harassment and apologize.

(New Culture View)

Robber runs out of luck in police chase

A knife-wielding robber is in custody after a police officer chased him for 3 km - until the thief was exhausted.

Two policemen began pursuing the thief soon after he robbed a female cab driver in Huludao, Liaoning province, last Monday.

The robber fled the scene, but couldn't shake off one of the police officers, Wang. He was later told that the police officer was formerly a soldier, specially trained in long-distance running.

(Liaoshen Evening News)

(China Daily 03/25/2008 page6)