China Scene: North

Confident thief leaves phone number behind

A young thief surnamed Wang was so confident in his ability to evade capture that he often left a card with his name, phone number and an offer to return the goods he had stolen - for a price.

He tried the scheme on Sunday in Fushun, Liaoning province, after breaking into a car and stealing all of the owner's personal documents.

However, rather than calling the number on the card, Cu, the car's owner, called police.

A police officer then pretended to be Cu and arranged to meet the thief so they could exchange money and goods. Police arrested the thief at a roadside call box.

(Liaoshen Evening News)

Sister refuses to share marrow with unfilial brother

A woman from Xingtai, Hebei province, refused to donate her bone marrow to her dying brother, a leukemia patient, because of his unfilial attitude toward their parents.

Zhang Minglu, the brother, is dying at a hospital in Beijing. Doctors had contacted both his brother and sister, but only the sister had matching marrow.

To Zhang's dismay, she refused to help him, saying he had left her to look after their aged parents in their hometown.

A doctor said on Sunday that he hoped she would have a change of heart and help her brother.

(Beijing Morning Post)

Anemia patient makes gift of her organs

Li Xiao'e, a 24-year-old woman from a poor family in Ulanqab, the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, will donate her organs to those in need after she dies.

She has suffered from aplastic anemia since 1995, and her family is too poor to afford the bone marrow transplant she would need to survive.

"I've been living on my sickbed for 13 years, and during that period, I've received help from my family and many other warmhearted people. To return that love, I'd like to donate my healthy organs to those who may need them," she told local media at a hospital in Hohhot on Friday.

(Inner Mongolia Daily)

(China Daily 03/28/2008 page6)