Beijing

Official gets life for taking bribes

A former senior official of North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region was convicted of taking bribes and sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday.

The Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court issued the verdict on Liu Zhuozhi, former vice-chairman of the autonomous region, after a trial in early June.

The court found that Liu had taken more than 8.17 million yuan ($1.29 million) in bribes between 2002 and 2010 when he was government head and Party chief of the Xilin Gol League in western Inner Mongolia and later vice-chairman of the autonomous region's government.

In exchange for the bribes, Liu granted favors to 21 individuals and companies to help them run businesses, obtain mining credentials and get promotions, according to the verdict.

Rain expected to cool heat wave

This year's second heat wave continued to sweep through Beijing on Monday, as the high temperature hovered around 36 C.

The Beijing meteorological bureau issued an alert at 10:45 am, warning residents to beware of sunstroke. The heat wave began on Sunday, following a week of rain.

The bureau forecast that the high temperature will continue to hover at 35 C on Tuesday, but a thundershower is expected to cool off the city on Wednesday.

In addition to Beijing, the provinces of Hebei, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Fujian will also see scorching temperatures on Tuesday, with temperatures exceeding 35 C, according to the National Meteorological Center.

Meanwhile, heavy rain will sweep Southwest and Central China in the next three days, while thunderstorms are forecast for regions in the northeast, the China Meteorological Administration said.

By June 29, floods, gales and mudslides caused by rain have killed 50 people and left 42 missing nationwide, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Unified justice system for railways

The Supreme People's Procuratorate announced on Monday that all 76 railway transport procuratorates nationwide have been put under a unified administration of the justice system.

After the completion of a personnel and financial management power transfer, the railway procuratorates are now directly administered by provincial or municipal prosecution authorities, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said.

Railway transport procuratorates, designed to deal with prosecution work regarding crimes on trains and violations of railway-related laws, were previously under the dual administration of the procuratorate system and the railway authorities.

While higher-level procuratorates lead the prosecution work of such agencies, the personnel and financial affairs of these procuratorates were managed by the railway authorities.

China in July 2009 ordered a complete separation of the procuratorates from the industry by transferring the power of personnel and financial management of such agencies to the country's justice authorities.

Sichuan

Protests halt metal manufacturing

Authorities in Shifang city of Southwest China's Sichuan province have suspended a heavy metal manufacturing program amid protests from local residents over pollution concerns.

"We will scrutinize the program from the very beginning of its construction and will not approve the production if it fails environmental tests," said Xu Guangyong, mayor of Shifang.

The kickoff ceremony of the program was held on Friday and drew serious concerns from local residents over potential environmental pollution problems.

The project ignited some "irrational behaviors" from some residents, according to a local government statement.

The program, launched by the Hongda Group with an investment of 10.4 billion yuan ($1.64 billion), will produce copper and molybdenum products.

Xinjiang

Passengers awarded for bravery aboard

The 10 people who helped foil a hijack attempt on a plane in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region received on Monday 100,000 yuan ($15,700) each for their bravery, according to the local government.

Six male suspects attempted to commandeer a Tianjin Airlines flight from Hotan to Urumqi, capital of the autonomous region, on Friday, and they were subdued by crewmembers and security staff with the assistance of 10 passengers.

Zhang Chunxian, Party chief of the autonomous region, gave the award together with an honor certificate to the passengers at a ceremony on Monday in Urumqi.

The crew team was awarded 500,000 yuan at the ceremony.

Hainan

Patrol practices in South China Sea

A patrol team consisting of four China Marine Surveillance ships conducted a formation practice near Yongshu Reef in the South China Sea on Monday.

The two-hour practice session was conducted smoothly but a helicopter scheduled to take part was not able to do so because of adverse weather.

The CMS patrol sailed from South China's coastal city of Sanya in Hainan on June 26 to the South China Sea to conduct regular operations. The team is expected to travel more than 2,400 nautical miles (4,500 km) during the patrols.

Xinhua China Daily

(China Daily 07/03/2012 page2)