China Scene

Every day the English written China Daily is available to read in Beijing. It features a New York Times cross-word puzzle, some sports news, and a Chinese government favorable slant on world and local news. It also also has a section called "China Scene" with little vignette stories from around the country. Some are sad but many are amusing and more than one will surprise because it tells something about the justice system. For example:

Man gets 8 years in jail for sex with minor
An 18 year old man from Funing county, Tianjin, has been sentenced to 8 years in prison for having sex with a 13 year old girl. He was charged with rape as the country's existing law makes it clear that those having sex with girls under the age of 14 would receive heavier punishment even if she consented.

The man has appealed to a higher court on account he did not know the real age of the girl, who was forced to have an abortion after falling pregnant. The case will be heard soon.

Comment--If the girl was 14 would the man still be punished? Will the appeal hold any validity?

Fine for commuter's cell phone porn video revoked
Police officers in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province traveled to Chongqing to apologize to a local resident after a train policeman invaded his privacy a few days ago.

When Tang Shanghai was accosted by the officer between Chongqing and Hangzhou, he was fined 200 yuan ($29) for having a pornographic video stored on his cell phone.

Tang's experience caused a stir online where a large number of netizens opined that the policeman had invaded his individual privacy.

Hangzhou's public security bureau agreed, and leading officers were dispatched to apologize to Tang and reimburse him.

Comment-So there is a right for privacy to view porno? Is there any compensation for having your name printed all over China for watching porno? And netizens had enough power to have an apology and return of fine issued?

One of the headlines stories today is about Microsoft's anti-piracing system Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) caused screens to go black when an upgrade is automatically installed, if Windows installed on the computer is not genuine. Internet experts and industry insiders have expressed grave concern.