FBIS4-2931 "drchi073_k_94008"
FBIS-CHI-94-073 Daily Report 15 Apr 1994
NATIONAL AFFAIRS Political & Social

Crime and Punishment in the PRC 29 Mar-15 Apr

Crime and Punishment in the PRC 29 Mar-15 Apr HK1504083694 HK1504083694 BFN [Editorial Report] The following is a compilation of reports on crime, investigations, trials, sentencings, and other judicial- related activities in the PRC during the period 29 March to 15 April. The source and mode of processing are given in parentheses at the end of each entry. Certain reports deemed more significant may have been filed separately, in which case the summary will include the serial number of the separately filed item. International Transnational Drug Trafficking Ring Broken Up The city of Liuzhou broke up a major transnational drug trafficking ring, which brought drugs into China from Burma via Yunnan. Police arrested 13 criminals, of whom two were Burmese, and seized some 2.8 kg of heroin and 30,000 yuan in drug money, as well as 280,000 yuan and $500 in counterfeit banknotes [Summary] [Hong Kong WEN WEI PO in Chinese 27 Mar 94 p a3 -- HK0504115494] Pakistani Expelled for Traveler's Check Fraud On 10 April, the Guangdong Public Security Department escorted a Pakistani called Abud Gehav, who held a counterfeit passport, to Guangzhou's Baiyun airport, expelled him, and declared that he is not allowed to re-enter the country for the next five years. On 28 July 1993 Abud cashed nine U.S. dollar-denominated traveler's checks (which had been reported lost), at the Bank of China branch in Guangzhou, receiving 2,395 yuan in foreign exchange certificates. On the same day, he went to another Bank of China counter at a hotel to cash his six remaining checks. This time he failed and was arrested on the spot. On 22 March 1994 he was convicted of swindling. Abud accepted the verdict and had no plan to appeal. [Summary] [Hong Kong ZHONGGUO TONGXUN SHE 0552 GMT 11 Apr 94] Taiwanese Businessman, Partner Abandon Debt-Ridden Company Cai Shunming -- owner of the Daguang Paper Product Company Limited, a Fuzhou Taiwan-capital enterprise -- and his mainland partner disappeared on 1 April leaving 500,000 yuan in debts behind them. Police believe they have not left mainland and are looking for them. The company is a sole-capital enterprise with $150,000 in registered capital, employing about 300 workers to produce tin foil used for religious worship, which is exported to Taiwan and South East Asia. On 31 March, Cai halted production for six days, claiming them as holidays, but the 60 workers remaining behind discovered that Cai had gone. The company owed the workers two months' pay, 110,000 yuan in rent, and some 200,000 yuan of payment in goods. [Summary] [Hong Kong TA KUNG PAO in Chinese 11 Apr 94 p. 2] National Concern Over Secret Societies An article in the latest issue of ZHONGHUA WENZHAI (CHINA DIGEST) revealed that the Central Commission on Politics and Law paid special attention to the activities of secret societies in China and took them as one of the ten major targets of the anticrime action. The Ministry of State Security also took organized crime as a highly dangerous phenomenon to be brought under strict supervision and control. The ministry has launched three major campaigns against secret societies: From Shaoyang in the south, to Harbin in the north. and to Lintong in the west. The article, entitled "Are There Mafias in China?" revealed that hundreds of criminal gangs often fought each other openly in the streets of Shaoyang, western Hunan. The 1991 anticrime campaign solved 4,041 cases, including 1,096 major ones; eliminated 801 criminal gangs; and arrested 6,175 gangsters, including 1,299 backbone members of the gangs in Shaoyang. The crime syndicates in Harbin operated as business enterprises, controlling the construction market in the city. The article also revealed that crime syndicates in China were involved in international criminal activities, such as drug trafficking and counterfeiting. [Summary] [Beijing ZHONGGUO XINWEN SHE in Chinese 1118 GMT 10 Apr 94] Provincial Beijing Policeman Sentenced for Beating Inhabitant A few days ago, a policeman named Zhang, of Beijing's Haiding Public Security Sub Bureau, was sentenced by the Haiding People's Court to one year imprisonment, with a one-year reprieve, for deliberately beating an inhabitant. The accused also had to pay the economic loss incurred by the injured victim, who was having a quarrel with the conductor while traveling on a bus. This is the first sentence passed on a Beijing policeman for beating another person while on duty. [Summary] [Hong Kong ZHONGGUO TONGXUN SHE 0942 GMT 7 Apr 94] Fujian Quanzhou Uncovers Illegal Arms Sales From January this year to the present, the Quanzhou public security organs cracked 5 cases of illegal arms sales, of which one was the largest in years. The Quanzhou public security organs first cracked an arms sales case in Nanan, by intercepting the ammunition delivered by the culprits via express mail. The public security organs took note of this crime and called on post offices throughout the city to heighten vigilance. By the end of last month, the public security bureau of Licheng district discovered 50 pellet rifles and 100 boxes of pellets in a parcel. They immediately arrested both the sender and recipient. The official in charge of the case said it was the largest one in the city over the past 45 years. [Text] [Hong Kong WEN WEI PO 23 Mar 94 p. b14] Government, Army Join Forces Against Bogus Military Licenses Recently, Fujian's military command and government have undertaken joint operations to retrieve all expired military vehicle license plates. According to sources, the abuse of military vehicle license plates has been rather serious in Guangdong, Fujian, and Guangxi in recent years. Some people spend tens of thousands of yuan to get a military or armed police license plate "for show," while government officials do not have to spend even a cent. There usually are two ways to get license plates from military or armed police units: First, the Army grants one or two license plates to an enterprise jointly run by the military and the local government; second, the license plates are for rent. Beginning 11 April, the public security department, armed police corps, and various military units in Fujian began to carry out inspections and to ban the use of military license plates on non-military vehicles. [Summary] [Hong Kong MING PAO in Chinese 26 Mar 94 p a13] 50,000 Cases of Counterfeiting Cigarettes Solved in 1993 According to Fujian Tobacco Bureau chief Jiang Chengkang, in 1993, Fujian cracked some 50,000 cases of manufacturing and selling counterfeit cigarettes, destroying more than 2 million packs. According to incomplete statistics, more than 120 illegal cigarette factories and 222 illegal cigarette workshops were shut down in 1993. Counterfeit famous-brand cigarettes can be found everywhere in Fujian. Jiang said the reason counterfeit cigarettes cannot be thoroughly eradicated is that law is not enforced strictly and that some local governments even shield illegal cigarette factories because they turn over large amounts of taxes and profits. He said that the smuggling of imported cigarettes decreased last year, as people had regained confidence in Chinese brands. [Summary] [Hong Kong WEN WEI PO in Chinese 30 Mar 94 p b19] Guangdong Shenzhen Handles Corruption Cases Mayor Li Youwei yesterday disclosed that among Shenzhen government officials who have absconded with public funds, more than 40 are still at large. In 1993, 21 people who escaped with money to places outside the border were brought back. This batch, plus those who have been brought back over the past several years, pushed the number to more than 40, half of them escaping with money. Some of them were brought back from the countries that have no diplomatic relations with China. He estimated that all the escapees had traveled through Hong Kong. He said that the 1994 budget for the police, judiciary, and procuratorate is 208 million yuan -- a 32.5 percent increase over 1993 -- and this sum does not include wages and equipment fees for the personnel in these departments. [Summary] [Hong Kong MING PAO in Chinese 24 Mar 94 p a10] Last year, the supervision organ in Shenzhen handled 118 cases of malpractice and corruption involving state functionaries, and 17 people were brought to the judicial organs. In order to effectively prevent corruption, governments at various levels in Shenzhen have established an anticorruption responsibility system. [Summary] [Hong Kong ZHONGGUO TONGXUN SHE in Chinese 0750 GMT 22 Mar 94] Criminal Arrested for Stock Transactions Using Stolen Codes On 22 March, a stock organization in Guangzhou used a newly designed alarm program to solve a case of using high technology to steal secret codes in order to steal and sell stocks. The case occurred on 14 March in the Guangzhou Stock Business Department of the Shenzhen International Credit, Trust, and Investment Corporation. When a stock trader made phone call entrusting the department with a transaction in Shenzhen stocks, he discovered that his secret trading code had been changed and that someone had bought on his behalf 10 lots of "Shenbaoheng" at 10.9 yuan per share and sold them later at 10.85 yuan per share. Within a dozen days or so, eight similar cases occurred. The department installed a monitoring and alarm system for the buying and selling of stocks by phone, and carried out overall monitoring of various internal business links. On 22 March, the criminal entered the trading hall to commit crimes, and the monitoring and control system at once accurately indicated his location. He was arrested at the telephone and has admitted all his crimes. However, whether the criminal committed the crimes alone or with others remains to be investigated. [Summary] [Hong Kong ZHONGGUO TONGXUN SHE in Chinese 1138 GMT 27 Mar 94] Daya Bay Kidnapping Case Ends With Hostage Killed In the small hours of 24 March, Huizhou's Daya Bay Public Security Bureau cracked a kidnapping case in which the hostage was killed. Four criminals were arrested, and 320,000 yuan in illicit money, a pellet pistol, and a fruit knife were seized. On the morning of 3 March, the No. 1 Criminal Investigation Team of the Daya Bay Public Security Bureau received a report that on the evening of 28 February, self-employed businessman Zhou Yanming, 31, had been kidnapped and a ransom of 3.6 million yuan had been demanded. It was agreed that the ransom would be paid and the hostage released at midnight on 2 March. At 0030 on 3 March, following negotiations with the kidnappers, Zhou's relatives put 430,000 yuan on the roadside of the Aoxia Highway, as demanded by the kidnappers, then drove away. At 1900 that day, the Zhou's body was discovered in the river below the Dutou Bridge. On the basis of the clues provided by the victim's family and the results of on-the- spot analysis, the Daya Bay Public Security Bureau carried out an investigation. After 20 days, kidnappers Yuan Yongfa, Chen Kejian, Chen Jintian, and Chen Dongyi were arrested. [Text] [Hong Kong ZHONGGUO TONGXUN SHE 1138 GMT 27 Mar 94] Province-Wide Crackdown on Vehicle Theft Between January and February, 263 motor vehicles were stolen or hijacked in Shenzhen, representing a 11.4 percent increase over the same period last year. According to Shenzhen's public security authorities, 92 percent of the hijackings occurred on remote roads on the outskirts, while 86 percent of the thefts occurred in the vicinity of residential areas, hotels, and restaurants. It is said that criminal syndicates hire thieves from Hong Kong who often succeed in stealing a car in 10 minutes or so. [Summary] [Hong Kong MING PAO in Chinese 26 Mar 94 p a13] A total of 2,246 cases of car theft and carjacking occurred in Shenzhen in 1993, inflicting losses amounting to 430 million yuan. [Summary] [Hong Kong TA KUNG PAO in Chinese 30 Mar 93 p 4] Shenzhen police recently set up a special operational group and office to combat car theft. This morning, a large-scale operation was launched to hunt down car thieves after statistics -- 105 vehicles and 150 motorcycles stolen in the first two months of the year -- showed that car theft has become a major problem for the city. According to concerned officials, during the operation, first they will issue notices urging citizens to report crime, set a deadline for criminals to surrender themselves, and ban illegal car transactions and changing car colors or license plate numbers. Investigations then will be stepped up, leading to the arrest of identified gangs that steal, ship and sell stolen cars. Roadblocks will be set up in Baoan and Longgang Districts on nine highways leading to Huizhou and Dongguan Counties, and 600 officers from the police and armed police corps -- including PLA soldiers -- will be deployed to mount a 24-hour guard in interception operations. The city also will launch a full cleanup of the auto trade and repair industry. Auto maintenance plants that refit and handle stolen cars must be shut down to await rectification, and some with serious involvement may see their licenses revoked. Unauthorized remodeling of car engines and changing of license plates also will become punishable by law. [Excerpts] [Hong Kong ZHONGGUO TONGXUN SHE in Chinese 1203 GMT 29 Mar 94] At a news conference on 30 March, the Guangdong Public Security Department said that a province-wide campaign would be launched to combat car theft. The campaign will include 28 roadblocks on major highways to intercept stolen cars and fugitives. Car thieves are required to turn themselves in by 31 May or face sever punishment. Last year, more than 4,000 cars and more than 26,000 motorcycles were stolen or hijacked. Cases of vehicle theft in the first two months of this year show an increase of 45 percent over the same period last year. [Summary] (Hong Kong TA KUNG PAO in Chinese 31 Mar 94 p 3] At a news conference on 9 April, Guangzhou Public Security Bureau Director Zheng Guoqiang disclosed that since the publication of the provincial government circular instituting a crackdown on vehicle theft, Guangzhou has solved 457 cases of vehicle theft, destroyed 45 criminal gangs, arrested 243 culprits, and recovered 36 cars and 221 motorcycles. The director demanded that those who have committed such crimes surrender themselves to public security organs before 31 May as stipulated by the circular. [Summary] [Guangzhou Guangdong People's Radio Network in Mandarin 0400 GMT 10 Apr 94] Zheng said that following the crackdown, the number of cars reported stolen in the city dropped from an average of three to eight, to an average of one to two. The crackdown included inspections of parking lots, auto repair shops, and car rental agencies. The public security sub bureau in the town of Xicheng arrested four gang members who confessed to 13 car theft cases in Xintang, Baoan, and Dongguan. A small-gauge shotgun and 10,000 yuan also were seized from the gang. [Summary] [Hong Kong TA KUNG PAO in Chinese 10 Apr 94 p. 4] Public security organs in Huizhou have installed a telephone hotline for people to report vehicle thefts. Statistics show that more than 1,800 vehicles were stolen or carjacked in Huizhou's downtown areas, accounting for more than 50 percent of the city's total. [Summary] [Beijing ZHONGGUO XINWEN SHE in Chinese 0717 GMT 11 Apr 94] According to information from the Guangdong Public Security Bureau's Command Post Against Car Theft, on 10 April, Maoming City's public security organ cracked a serious case of murder and car theft, arresting all four culprits, among whom were two women. Investigation reveals that it was a case of seduction and premeditated murder. One week ago, Lin Yongwen, a driver with the Maoming City Grain Bureau Materials Trading Company, met dancing companions Li Moping and Hong Jinwen in the Maoming Building. The women got his pager number and later arranged a meeting with him. After getting him drunk, Chen Hong and Xu Ming, the other two culprits, strangled Lin with electrical wire. They put him in his vehicle and tried to drive away, but were found and arrested by patrolling police. [Summary] [Hong Kong WEN WEI PO in Chinese 12 Apr 94 p a3] Shenzhen Breaks Up Drug, Burglary Gang Based on the confession of an arrested burglar, a police unit of the Luohu sub bureau of the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau smashed a drug and burglary gang, arrested 44 addicts and thieves, and seized drugs and such stolen goods as wallets and bracelets. The burglary occurred on 24 March when owner of a house caught the burglar red-handed. All the 44 who arrested hailed from Sheungde County, Hunan Province. [Summary] [Hong Kong WEN WEI PO in Chinese 2 Apr 94, p a3] Fugitives Returned to Guangdong The recently concluded Third Plenary Session of the Guangdong Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission disclosed that since last September, Guangdong has successfully waged an anticorruption struggle and adopted resolute measures to clamp down on economic crimes, with the result that a total of 55 fugitives involved in many major economic crimes have been captured and repatriated from foreign countries, foreign regions, as well as other Chinese provinces. The successful arrest and repatriation of these criminals has made significant contributions to the province's work in investigating and handling major and serious cases. [Text] [Guangzhou Guangdong People's Radio Network in Mandarin 0400 GMT 4 Apr 94] On 9 April, three scoundrels were returned under escort from Beijing to Guangzhou. They had been involved in a murder and been fugitives for eight months. Armed with knives, the three -- including Yu Pei and Zhang Lixin -- broke into a public lavatory at the junction of the Huangshi Center and Tongxin Roads on 1 August 1993. They ordered a Mr. Chen to surrender his belongings. When he put up a struggle, they stabbed him to death and fled the scene with Chen's mobile telephone. [Summary] [Guangzhou Guangdong People's Radio Network in Mandarin 0400 GMT 10 Apr 94] Guangxi Two-Year Antismuggling Campaign Yields Results Following an intense two-year effort, the Guangxi antismuggling force has gained control of smuggling activities once rampant along the coast. Antismuggling force officers said they had solved 236 smuggling cases involving 540 million yuan, and had seized 1,369 cars, 1,874 motorbikes, and 8,121 television sets. The recent smuggling activities display three characteristics: 1) They concentrated in economically open areas like Beihai, Qinzhou, Dongxing, and Fangchenggang, with cars and electric machinery as the main items; 2) Drug and gun smuggling occur mostly in border areas, exploiting the complicated terrain there; 3) Smuggling is run by individuals. Guangxi has adopted the tactic of "making arrests at sea, intercepting on the coast, carrying out inspections on land, and tightening up controls over markets." Last year, Beihai Customs solved 47 smuggling cases involving 180 million yuan, seizing 350 cars, 8,600 air conditioners, 4,523 color televisions, and 5,992 compressors. A particularly serious car smuggling case that was solved in Qinzhou straddled four provinces, three regions, and one city, and involved some $11.2 million. [Summary] [Hong Kong ZHONGGUO TONGXUN SHE 1022 GMT 2 Apr 94] Large Number of Abducted Women, Children Rescued Miss Liu, 18, has left her 57-year-old "husband" and returned to her native place in Jingxi County, thanks to rescue efforts by the police. One year ago, she was sold by human traffickers to Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which is thousands of kilometers from her hometown. A person in charge of the Guangxi Office for Cracking Down on the Abduction and Sale of Women and Children said that Guangxi is one of the country's major disaster areas for the abduction and sale of women and children, and that according to statistics, the number of women and children abducted and sold in Guangxi ranks second in the country, just after Sichuan. In order to crack down on the abduction and sale of women and children, Guangxi's public security organs have adopted many measures simultaneously, and have tried their best to rescue abducted and sold women. According to reports, since 1991, public security personnel have rescued thousands of women and children every year. From August to September 1993, Guangxi carried out a special campaign to crack down on the abduction and sale of women and children, and the whole autonomous region transferred more than 60 public security personnel from nine cities and prefectures, organized them into six work teams, and sent them to Hebei, Shandong, Anhui, Jiangsu, Fujian, Guangdong, and other places, to verify and rescue women and children who had been abducted and sold. During the campaign, 84 women and children were rescued. In 1993, Guangxi cracked more than 1,740 cases of abduction and sale of people, detected 1,928 human traffickers, crushed 292 criminal gangs, and rescued 997 women and 72 children. At the same time, Guangxi's public security organs and women's federation launched extensive propaganda throughout the region against the abduction and sale of women and children, and also strengthened education for women, so as to achieve the effect of prevention and rectification by the masses. [Text] [Hong Kong ZHONGGUO TONGXUN SHE 10 Apr 94] Hainan Campaign Against Fake, Substandard Products Since last year, Hainan industrial and commercial departments have launched many operations against fake and substandard products. Personnel numbering 17,000 were deployed to inspect shops, guest houses, restaurants, and so on in townships and towns. Of these businesses, 904 were found to be operating illegally or without proper authorization, 33 factories producing fake goods were broken up, and 1,126 offenders were investigated. Fake goods included 3,300 cigarettes, 23,316 bottles of wine, 60,000 items of medicines, 88,000 food and beverage items, and 41,000 household appliances, as well as wire, trademarks and logos, and so on. Vice Governor Mao Zhijun said that fake goods still remain a serious problem, exhibiting four characteristics: 1) Many brandname goods are still being copied on a massive scale; 2) Trademarks are still being traded without authorization, and with increases in quantity and variety; 3) Fake and substandard household electrical appliances can still be seen frequently -- the 260 National color televisions imported last year to Keshan County, Guangdong, were found to be home products; 4) There are many fake brandname cigarettes. Public security forces and coast guards seized 4,500 cartons of fake cigarettes last year in Haikou, Lingao, and other places. [Summary] [Hong Kong WEN WEI PO in Chinese 4 Apr 94 p. b5] Heilongjiang Three Arrested for Stealing Capital Gains Tax Invoices In close cooperation with taxation departments, Harbin public security organs recently solved a case of stealing capital gains tax invoices. They arrested three culprits and recovered all the invoices. In March this year, Harbin's Hulan county taxation bureau was robbed of 1,600 books containing a total of 40,000 copies of invoices. The three robbers included Deng Yucai, a Harbin inhabitant, who remained in post with his salary temporarily suspended; Yu Min, who was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment for robbery and looting; and Sui Guohua, who was sentenced to 17 years imprisonment for robbery and injuring others. The police recovered 23,000 yuan of stolen money. The case is still in progress. [Summary] [Beijing ZHONGGUO XINWEN SHE 1226 GMT 1 Apr 94] Hunan Procuratorial Sector Cracks Down on Economic Crime Since the beginning of the year, Hunan's procuratorial sector has done a good job in investigating and handling major and important cases of economic crime, such as graft and bribery. In the first two months of the year, a total of 211 major and important cases were investigated and handled, accounting for 64.3 percent of the cases filed, an increase of 85.1 percent over the same period last year. Some of the special characteristics of processing major and important cases are: 1) New breakthroughs have been made in cases related to such key sectors as party and government organs, judicial organs, executive and law-enforcement sectors, and the economic management sector, with a total of 273 cases involving these sectors handled in the first two months this year. Parties involved in these cases included eight cadres at or above the county and office level. 2) There are imbalances between different areas in terms of the processing of cases. For instance, in less than a month and a half, from 28 January to 4 March, the procuratorial body of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, a remote impoverished area in the west, solved five cases of graft and bribery involving cadres at or above the county and office level. [Text] [Changsha Hunan People's Radio Network in Mandarin 2300 GMT 4 Apr 94] Jiangxi Couple Executed for Abduction, Sale of Children Li Wenchu and Luo Zhenlan, a peasant couple from Xiafu township's Hushan village, in Jiangxi's Pingxiang city, collaborated with Lai Changjian to kidnap children. From the August 1989 to April 1993, they abducted nine children aged between four and eight from the city's Xiangdong, Laoguan, Quantian, Futian, Mashan, and Nankeng townships, making a profit of 36,000 yuan by selling them in Changding and Sanming, in Fujian. The local public security organs arrested all the human smugglers and sent all the children back to their parents. The two principal culprits were sentenced to death, and other culprits also were punished by law. [Summary] [Hong Kong ZHONGGUO TONGXUN SHE 0747 GMT 1 Apr 94] Jilin Peasant Arrested for Passing Counterfeit Money In the latter half of March, after three months of investigation, public security organs in the city of Jian solved an exceptionally large case of counterfeit bills and arrested culprit Qu Changjiang, a 27-year-old peasant from a village in Baishan City. Late last year, he bought 500 kg of ginseng from a trader for 19,900 yuan. After Qu had gone, the trader discovered that the same number was printed in all those bills he had received, which later were proved to be counterfeit. Qu said following his arrest that the counterfeit bills had been purchased on the black market in Guangzhou and that the batch of ginseng had been sold at a low price and all the proceeds spent. [Summary] [Hong Kong ZHONGGUO TONGXUN SHE in Chinese 1024 GMT 10 Apr 94] Liaoning Peasant Wins Lawsuit Against Township Government While handing a dispute between Wen Shixia, a peasant businesswoman, and another person in early 1993, the Xiliu township government in Liaoning illegally detained the plaintiff's license and 91 jackets, which caused a serious economic loss. The Haicheng People's Court re-examined the case and passed a verdict, urging the accused Xiliu township government to withdraw the decision to illegally detain the property and to repay economic losses of 9,775 yuan to the plaintiff. [Summary] [Hong Kong TA KUNG PAO 27 Mar 94 p. 3] Ningxia Public Security Organs Crack Down on Crime Public security organs at all levels in Ningxia have seriously implemented the guidelines of the National Politics and Law Meeting and the National Meeting of Directors of Public Security Departments and Bureaus, closely linked the guidelines with local reality, sternly cracked down on crime, conducted different forms of special anticrime struggles, improved social order, solved conspicuous public security problems, and effectively safeguarded stability and social security throughout the region. In view of the increasing crime in some localities since last winter, the public security organs at all levels have severely and quickly punished criminals who have committed serious crimes; focused efforts on cracking down on crimes that seriously endanger public security, such as murder, robbery, rape, serious theft, and swindling; and gone all-out to safeguard social stability. In November 1993, three dagger-wielding criminals entered a house in Zhenan, Qingtongxia, stealing more than 10,000 yuan's worth of property. The Qingtongxia Public Security Bureau solved the case in only 10 hours. Since the Yinchuan Public Security Bureau started to conduct activities to "ferret out criminal gangs and crack down on roving bandits" in December last year, it has wiped out more than 30 robbery or roving criminal gangs, and has recovered stolen money and property amounting to more than 700,000 yuan. In February this year, the Xiji County Public Security Bureau arrested a criminal involved in a serious ambush case. The bureau also succeeded in arresting 11 other robbers and thieves and solving more than 40 other cases. In January, the Shizuishan Mining Bureau cooperated with the public security organs to arrest a thief. This led to the solving of nine criminal cases. From December last year to the end of February this year, public security organs throughout the region solved a total of 1,082 criminal cases of various kinds, of which 291 were major cases, and seized stolen money and property amounting to 1.749 million yuan. Various localities also have conducted different forms of special struggle in light of conspicuous problems in social order. People complained about bicycle thefts, so Yinchuan organized a 100-day special struggle against the stealing of bicycles. As a result, 1,217 bicycles were retrieved and most were returned to their owners. Yinnan and Guyuan Prefectures focused efforts on activities to crack down on encroachments upon the interests of peasants. Since January this year, the public security organs have retrieved returned to the collective or peasants 500,000 yuan's worth of property and livestock for agricultural production. At present, the Ningxia Regional Public Security Department has made arrangements for conducting a region-wide "spring struggle" to continue to sternly crack down on various kinds of crimes, and to organize the police forces to strengthen control over social order and precautions against crimes. It wants to provide a good social environment for the opening of the meetings of the region's people's congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. [Summary] [Yinchuan NINGXIA RIBAO in Chinese 31 Mar 94 p. 1] Qinghai Major Drug-Trafficking Case Cracked Recently, the Qinghai public security organ cracked a major drug- trafficking case, in which 6,220 grams of heroin were seized. It was the most serious case in the province ever. The culprits, Chen Ziyong and You Yutai, two peasants from Zhejiang, were apprehended according to the law. [Text] [Beijing FAZHI RIBAO in Chinese 18 Mar 94 p 3] Anticorruption Campaign Successful Qinghai Province has scored initial success in fighting corruption, as more than 94 percent of cadres at and above the county level have undergone self-examination and self-correction. A number of cases of violation of law and discipline have been investigated and handled, and new progress has been made in the operation to rectify unhealthy tendencies in different trades. An anticorruption campaign was launched in last August. By the end of last year, most leading bodies at and above the county level throughout the province had called self-examination and self- correction meetings for cadres. To cope with the issues exposed, party and government organs at all levels have formulated and revised regulations to promote honesty and clean government. Meanwhile, discipline inspection and supervisory organs at all levels have intensified the system for processing letters of complaint and handling visits from complainants. The numbers of letters and of visits received have been increasing remarkably since last August. The provincial discipline inspection commission and supervisory department alone processed more than 1,000 complaints lodged by letter or visit from September last year to February this year. Last year, discipline inspection and supervisory organs throughout the province placed on file and processed a total of 559 cases of violations of law or discipline, and disciplinary actions were taken by the party and the government against more than 200 offenders. Cases involving criminal violations have been transferred to judicial organs for further processing. So far in the province, more than 1,000 service charge items have been sorted out and reviewed, of which 206 classified as arbitrary and unreasonable have been sorted out and revised. Most localities and government departments now are studying to learn methods of disconnecting the managerial relations of economic entities from their related party and government organs. [Summary] [Xining Qinghai People's Radio Network in Mandarin 2300 GMT 5 Apr 94] Shaanxi 14 Major Corruption Cases Solved Courts in Shaanxi recently cracked 14 corruption cases involving 27 state workers. This was announced by a provincial court chief. Of the 27 criminals, three were sentenced to death for embezzling public funds, three to life imprisonment, and the remaining 16 to three to 15 years' imprisonment. [Summary] [Beijing ZHONGGUO XINWEN SHE in Chinese 1342 GMT 31 Mar 94] Shanghai Success in Uncovering Tax Evasion In the first three months of this year, following the adoption of the new taxation system, Shanghai's taxation department followed the clues in 208 tax evasion cases, solving 104 of them, in which the taxes evaded amounted to more than 6.9 million yuan. There were 17 serious cases in which the amount of taxes evaded exceeded 100,000 yuan, while cases involving legal persons numbered eight. [Summary] [Hong Kong ZHONGGUO TONGXUN SHE in Chinese 0916 GMT 22 Mar 94]