China Chronicles January 23, 2013

• Rape victim's mother brings labor camp to court

  THE mother of a young rape victim in central China's Hunan Province yesterday brought the local re-education through labor center to court, seeking both compensation and an apology for her detention.

  Tang Hui, the mother petitioning for harsher punishments for those involved in the rape and forced prostitution of her daughter, demanded 1,463.85 yuan (US$235) in compensation from the center for infringing upon her personal freedom, another 1,000 yuan for psychological damage and a written apology in her indictment filed to the Intermediate People's Court in Yongzhou.

  Last year, Tang campaigned in front of government buildings for harsher punishments for those found guilty of raping her then 11-year-old daughter in 2006 and forcing the girl into prostitution.

  Tang also demanded that "two local police officers in Yongzhou be punished by law for raping her daughter."

  However, police took Tang to the labor camp on Aug. 2, 2012 to serve an 18-month term for "seriously disturbing social order and exerting a negative impact on society" through her campaigning.

  Her detention quickly set off a firestorm of public criticism. Under public pressure, Tang was released eight days later, as the center said her daughter, who turned 17 last year, was still a minor in need of her mother's care.

  Tang's story has sparked a new wave of public outcry for the reform of the re-education through labor system, which allows police to detain people for up to four years without an open trial.

  Early this month, authorities in Yongzhou rejected Tang's demand for state compensation for the time she spent in the labor camp.

  Tang, in her indictment, appealed for the court to report her case to the Higher People's Court in Hunan Province, which can designate another intermediate people's court to try the case, so as to rule out the possibility of "interference by power" from Yongzhou authorities.

• Beijing to apply stricter emission standard next month to combat smog

  Beijing will enforce the National Emission Standard V – equivalent to Euro V – next month to reduce its worsening air pollution, the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau announced today.

  The city still bans diesel vehicles under 3.5 tons in net weight because a diesel car emits 3.3 times more nitrogen oxides and other pollutants than a petrol-powered car of the same size.

  A lightweight diesel car can be replaced by a petrol car in the same category, said Li Kunsheng, head of the bureau's emission management department.

  Beijing will adopt the National Emission Standard VI before or after 2016. The city still needs time to decide the fate of lightweight diesel vehicles, Li said in the press conference.

  Beijing was choked by hazardous smog from January 10 to 16 before a cold front brought some relief. However, the city's PM2.5 reading rebounded to serious levels today as smog shrouded the capital again.

  The local weather bureau has issued a yellow smog alert, the third of a three-color warning system.

  At 9am, PM2.5 readings at most of the downtown monitoring stations exceeded 300 micrograms per cubic meter, far exceeding the national limit of 75 micrograms, according to the Beijing Environmental Monitoring Center.

  A thick cloud of airborne particles was spotted moving from the southeast into Beijing yesterday afternoon and covered the whole city this morning, the center said.

• Beijing to apply stricter emission standard next month to combat smog

  Beijing will enforce the National Emission Standard V – equivalent to Euro V – next month to reduce its worsening air pollution, the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau announced today.

  The city still bans diesel vehicles under 3.5 tons in net weight because a diesel car emits 3.3 times more nitrogen oxides and other pollutants than a petrol-powered car of the same size.

  A lightweight diesel car can be replaced by a petrol car in the same category, said Li Kunsheng, head of the bureau's emission management department.

  Beijing will adopt the National Emission Standard VI before or after 2016. The city still needs time to decide the fate of lightweight diesel vehicles, Li said in the press conference.

  Beijing was choked by hazardous smog from January 10 to 16 before a cold front brought some relief. However, the city's PM2.5 reading rebounded to serious levels today as smog shrouded the capital again.

  The local weather bureau has issued a yellow smog alert, the third of a three-color warning system.

  At 9am, PM2.5 readings at most of the downtown monitoring stations exceeded 300 micrograms per cubic meter, far exceeding the national limit of 75 micrograms, according to the Beijing Environmental Monitoring Center.

  A thick cloud of airborne particles was spotted moving from the southeast into Beijing yesterday afternoon and covered the whole city this morning, the center said.