China Chronicles July 27, 2012

• Promo video sparks graft probe into railway couple

  THE pricey and widely panned promotional video for the Railway Ministry has triggered a corruption investigation against a couple, both railway officials, industrial insiders said.

  The ministry's annual report by the country's top auditor showed it had splurged 18.5 million yuan (US$2.9 million) on a five-minute video, "Chinese Railways," without going through a public bidding process.

  The report has sparked wide suspicion over violations and corruption in the process, and authorities started to probe Chen Yihan, deputy secretary of the ministry's literal and arts department, and her husband, Liu Ruiyang, deputy director of the vehicle department.

  Anonymous insiders said inspectors seized more than 10 million yuan in cash and at least nine Beijing property ownership certificates in their home, and massive deposit books and shopping cards in Liu's office, Caixin.com reported today.

  Both of them were placed under investigation in early July, the report said.

  An unnamed source told the report that Liu was just promoted this April, and he might have gained massive properties when he was in a lower rank and responsible for vehicle purchase.

  Liu might have abused his power by asking for bribes or embezzling national assets because he could identify certain sellers and was never supervised, the report cited the source as saying.

• Owner distraught as famous snake confiscated

  A PET snake which grabbed much attention after being seen swimming in a park lake in Changzhou City of Jiangsu Province, has been taken from its owner who didn't obtain certification to raise the protected animal.

  The five-year-old patteraless, whose nickname is Xiao Guaiguai or little sweetie, will be housed in the Yancheng Wild Zoo while owner Tian Hui felt so distraught at the loss of his pet that he has left Changzhou.

  Changzhou police and forestry authorities said Tian hasn't applied for the approval to raise the endangered specimen and thus couldn't raise the snake. In fact, he may face charges.

  But Tian insisted that he didn't catch his pet in the wilderness and his act follows the wild animal protection rules that people are encouraged to feed the wildlife, Modern Express reported today.

  Li Daibing, a Changzhou animal expert, said the patteraless species have evolved from python molurus, and is unable to survive in the wild.

  It can't be categorized as a wild animal because it has been a popular pet in Europe, Japan and China and many of the snakes can only live under the care of human beings, Li told the paper.

• Russia seizes 2 more Chinese fishing boats

  TWO more Chinese fishing ships have been detained off Russia's Far-East Region after eight others were seized several days ago, Chinese Consulate-General in Khabarovsk in Russia said.

  One ship carried 16 fishermen while the other had 17 on board, Russian border officials said, adding that seafood, including squid, was confiscated from the ships, the Beijing News reported today.

  Officials from the office of Chinese Consulate in Vladivostok have been sent to find out if all the fishermen were accounted for and whether the 33 people are in a healthy condition.

  A total of 10 Chinese fishing ships have been escorted to the Russia's Nakhodka port to await punishment.

  On July 15 and 16, Russia detained 36 Chinese fishermen and seized two ships from China's eastern Shandong province for entering an exclusive economic zone in its far eastern Primorsky region.

  According to the RIA Novosti news agency, a Russian coast guard vessel, the Dzerzhinsky, fired warning shots and then opened targeted fire to stop a Chinese fishing ship that had been fishing for squid, causing a Chinese fisherman to go missing.

  The Russian side has filed a lawsuit against the two heads of the ships. But the court hasn't made any verdicts.

  China has summoned a Russian diplomat and demanded that Russia release the boats and let the fishermen go quickly and make an all-out effort to search for the missing sailor.

• By The Road

  The Real Bear has added a photo to the pool:

  

  These structures are sitting on the low hills by the sie of the road on the way to the Yulin Grottoes. There are no fences, no ticket office, and no information on when they were built. If anyone knows please tell me.
  It is about 500 metres from the road, but what a beautiful scene.