Beijing Bites

China Daily | Updated: 2010-01-11 08:17

Snow-cleaner recovering

The municipal cleaner who collapsed and lost consciousness after clearing snow almost non-stop for four days regained consciousness on Saturday, Beijing News reported yesterday.

The man's family has received more than 25,000 yuan in donations from vice-mayor Huang Wei, the clearing company and many other individuals and organizations.

More than 20,000 workers toiled around the clock during the past week to clear snow from roads following the heaviest snowfall since 1951.

Musician blackmailed

A man surnamed Jia, who received 60,000 yuan in blackmail payments from a musician because of sex video footage that showed the musician and Jia's girlfriend, was sentenced to nine years in prison and fined 24,000 yuan, Xicheng district court said, without specifying the date of the verdict.

The court heard that Jia found out that his girlfriend, surnamed Zhang, had an affair with the famous musician in 2006. He and Zhang decided to make a video and blackmail the musician. The musician paid the pair on two occasions but called police when they asked for money a third time.

Chengguan chief jailed

The deputy chief of the Fangshan urban administration squad, known as chengguan, who blackmailed truck drivers out of 520,000 yuan in three years, was sentenced to one year in prison with one year of probation, the Beijing high court ruled. Zhang Fengyou was convicted of taking more than 520,000 yuan from truck drivers by charging hefty parking fees between 2003 and 2006.

Prostitutes robbery charges

A 21-year-old woman who allegedly organized the robberies of four prostitutes during one week, netting cash and goods worth almost 60,000 yuan, has been charged along with four alleged accomplices at Dongcheng district court, Beijing Youth Daily reported yesterday.

The woman, surnamed Zhao, allegedly hired the other four and commissioned them to rob the prostitutes between July 3-9.

Drug trafficker sentenced

A 28-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison and had his property confiscated after he was convicted of carrying 315 g of methamphetamine into Beijing railway station, the Beijing railway intermediate court said Friday.

The man, surnamed Huang, was convicted of transporting the drugs on a train from Chengdu to Beijing on May 26, 2009.

He was arrested when he reached Beijing.

He said he will not appeal.

Online drug ads watched

Websites publishing exaggerated ads about medicines or fake medicines may be closed, the Beijing municipal bureau of food and drugs has said, according to the Mirror Evening News.

The authority will also inspect delivery companies regularly to find out if such drugs are being mailed to consumers.

Gas explosion injures three

A mechanic who allegedly caused a blast that injured three people while he was fixing a gas stove has been detained for 15 days, Fengtai police said.

The man, surnamed Liu, went to a home on Dec 24 and lit his lighter, causing the blast that injured the landlord, his daughter and Liu himself, said authorities.

Foreigners held for overstay

An African, identified as Ochuko, who borrowed a friend's passport after he overstayed in Beijing and who hid two of his brothers in the city, has been detained by police.

The man who loaned him the passport, identified as Charles Chambers, has also been advised to withdraw from a Beijing university, the exit and entry administration of Beijing police said yesterday.

Ochuko arrived in Beijing on business in 2006 and did not renew his visa, overstaying in China for two years.

He borrowed the passport to return to his home country for a visit in December and the fact that he was holding another person's passport was discovered following a quarrel at a bar.

Ochuko was subsequently found to have been hiding two of his brothers in his Beijing apartment.

Police vow to respond faster

The Beijing police department launched a new command center yesterday to shorten response times to crimes, coordinate the workforce and supervise their work.

Police said they received 6.88 million calls to their 110 police hotline last year.

Response times to the hotline have already been cut from eight minutes to 4.5 minutes. They also provided 2.57 million people with consultation services and organizations.