China’s first conviction for selling personal info

A man was sentenced to one and a half years in prison in the first known case in China of violating the security of personal information. Zhou Jianping set up a spy office in Guangzhou in November 2008, selling personal information including phone numbers and call histories. Another man, Lin Guiyu, visited the office and bought 14 officials’ phone numbers and call histories and then pretended to be the vice-mayor of Zhuhai, in Guangdong, and cheated RMB50,000 (US$7300) from his relatives by conspiring with another six
accomplices. A total of RMB830,000 (US$121,000) was accrued by falsely using the names of officials including the party secretaries of Foshan and En’ping city. The criminals were sentenced to three to 11 years in prison with a fine of RMB40,000 (US$5900) to RMB150,000 (US$22,000) by the higher court of Guangdong province.

China equips courts with anti-corruption supervisors

Justices in China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC), as well as judges in local courts, have started working side by side with anti-corruption supervisors. Fourteen full time supervisors were installed in the SPC to oversee judges, court order enforcers and other court staff. It was reported that 24,521 anti-corruption supervisors had been in place in 2392 courts across the country. The system arose out of the efforts ‘to better combat corruption and redress injustices in a timely manner’, said Shen Deyong, the SPC executive vice-president.

Senior judge jailed for life over corruption

A Chinese court has sentenced Huang Songyou, a former Supreme Court judge, to life imprisonment for taking RMB3.9 million (US$571,000) worth of bribes and other corruption charges while he was the deputy head of the Supreme Court. It is reported that Huang is the most senior judge to have been convicted in China on such charges. He has been thrown out of the Communist Party and will not be allowed to hold public office again.

Shanghai may sell foreign publications at Expo

Zhu Yonglei, deputy director general of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo 2010 Coordination, said the authorities will consider the demand of exhibitors and visitors in deciding whether to allow the sale of newspapers from outside the Mainland at the Expo site and even in the whole of Shanghai temporarily. Zhu said the authorities will provide a solution to satisfy such needs based on the relevant laws and regulations of China. During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, about 100 overseas newspapers and magazines were allowed to be sold at news
kiosks located in areas catering to athletes and international media covering the event.