Effective measures to stop conflicts

A Beijing court says its timely intervention and mediation in two disputes stopped them from becoming "large-scale" incidents.

Tongzhou district court said yesterday it successfully dealt with a petition case that involved 30 workers from a storehouse in Zhangjiawan township. The workers claimed they planned to petition in Tian'anmen Square about the closure of the storehouse where they worked and the fact that they had not been compensated.

The court said it sent judges to talk to the laid-off workers and investigations found that the owner of the warehouse had a villa he had not reported to the court.