China Local News

Pregnant Woman Causes Havoc In Beijing Subway Because There’s No Seat

A pregnant woman has caused havoc in the Beijing subway today when nobody would give up their seat for her. Incidents of aggression at Beijing’s most busy subway line are nothing new; cases often involve young women.

Published

4 years ago

September 1, 2016

Manya Koetse

Netizens have filmed how a pregnant woman sat in between the doors of a Beijing subway train because she was angry that nobody would give up their seat for her.

The incident occurred on line 10 during the day of September 1. The woman allegedly said she was pregnant, and when people did not stand up to give her a seat, she complained to subway staff and blocked the doors by sitting in between them, preventing the train from leaving.

Line 10 is the longest and most-used train line within Beijing’s subway system, which is one of the busiest metros in the world. With about 9.75 million passengers riding the Beijing subway lines each day, trains can get incredibly crammed.

Pregnant Woman Causes Havoc In Beijing Subway… by whatsonweibo

In the video, you can hear passengers saying that it is peak hour and that people are in a rush to leave.

Beijing’s subway often has to deal with angry and aggressive passengers. Overcrowded trains and stations can lead to outbursts of aggression from hurried passengers. According to local officers, many incidents involve female passengers, especially of women aged between 20-30; this group accounts for approximately one-third of all fights at Beijing’s most busy transit station.

For the local police, intervening in these fights is often difficult and time-consuming. Local officers handle female-related violence differently from when there is an altercation between men, as they have previously told Beijing Times.

When aggression involves men, the police will normally let passengers cool off and then mediate by letting them talk to each other, which generally solves the case within ten minutes. When dealing with violent outbursts amongst young women, however, the passengers have to be taken apart to avoid further escalation. An officer will hear their stories separately to win their trust and settle the case. The disputes are often more complicated because the passengers want to be compensated for dirty clothes or missed hours at work. Mediation for these cases generally takes the police over half an hour.

The case of the pregnant woman was not much different. According to Caijing Economy, she finally left after local police calmed her down and talked to her.

“Maybe it would be sensible to have given her a seat, but there is no legal obligation to do so!” one Weibo netizen responds. “Being pregnant may not be easy, but it’s nobody’s duty to give up their seat!”, other commenters say.

“I am also pregnant and I don’t understand this woman’s behaviour at all,” another netizen says.

– By Manya Koetse
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo

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China Local News

Boy, 15, Fatally Beaten and Buried by Group of Minors in Shaanxi

The heinous crime has sparked discussions on the problem of campus violence and China’s criminal liability age.

Published

2 months ago

November 10, 2020

Manya Koetse

A brutal incident that took place in the city of Xingping in Shaanxi province is top trending on Chinese social media today.

On October 29, a 15-year-old boy by the name of Yuan (袁) was fatally beaten and buried by a group of six people, all minors.

Beijing News reports that Yuan was a second-year student at the Xianyang Xingping Jincheng Middle School. He had taken time off from school and had a temporary job in Xi’an before the incident occurred.

Yuan’s father told reporters that his son had returned to Xingping on October 29. A small group of minors, including four students, allegedly demanded money from Yuan, which he refused. It is also reported that a conflict occurred because Yuan added one of the minors to his phone’s ‘blacklist’ (电话拉黑).

According to various news reports, the group of minors attacked the boy with a pickaxe after which he became unconscious. They then brought him over to a nearby hotel and discovered he was dead the next day. They later buried his lifeless body in a pit near the school premises.

The location where Yuan’s body was buried, photo by Beijing News.

On November 2, other students who had heard of the crime reported it to the police. Yuan’s body was found in the pit shortly after officers arrived at the scene.

Local authorities released a statement about the case on November 10, in which they stated the suspects have been detained and that the case is still under investigation.

Various sources on Weibo claim that Yuan previously also suffered beatings at school, with severe school bullying being the main reason for the 15-year-old to temporarily drop out of school.

In a video report by Pear Video, Yuan’s father says they are still unsure of how their son died, suggesting he might have still been alive when he was buried in the pit.

China has been dealing with an epidemic of school violence for years. In 2016, Chinese netizens already urged authorities to address the problem of extreme bullying in schools, partly because minors under the age of 16 rarely face criminal punishment for their actions.

On social media site Weibo and on the news app Toutiao, many commenters are not just angered about the incident but also focus on China’s laws regarding the criminal responsibility of minors.

Some write: “Our criminal laws for minors should protect minors instead of protecting juvenile offenders!”

China’s criminal liability age is currently set at 14. Last month, Global Times reported on a proposal to lower the age of criminal liability in China from 14 to 12 in response to concerns about an alleged increase in juvenile violence.

“These minors need to be severely punished,” multiple commenters wrote: “Who knows who else they might hurt?”

By Manya Koetse
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo

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China Food & Drinks

Viral Video Exposes Wuhan Canteen Kitchen Food Malpractices

Boots in the food bowl, meat from the floor: this Wuhan college canteen is making a food safety mess.

Published

2 months ago

November 8, 2020

Manya Koetse

A video that exposes the poor food hygiene inside the kitchen of a Wuhan college canteen has been making its rounds on Chinese social media these days.

The video shows how a kitchen staff member picks up meat from the floor to put back in the tray, and how another kitchen worker uses rain boots to ‘wash’ vegetables in a big bowl on the ground, while another person is smoking.

The video was reportedly shot by someone visiting the canteen of the Wuhan Donghu University (武汉东湖学院) and was posted on social media on November 7.

According to various news sources, including Toutiao News, the school has confirmed that the video was filmed in their canteen, stating that those responsible for the improper food handling practices have now been fired.

Can imagine the students at Wuhan Donghu University were not happy to see this behind the scenes footage from their canteen – kitchen staff smoking, picking up food from the floor and putting it back in the tray, and using their boots to mix vegetables in the bowl 😵 pic.twitter.com/vV9NnsQX6v

— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) November 8, 2020

The Wuhan Donghu University also posted a statement on their Weibo account on November 8, saying it will strengthen the supervision of its canteen food handling practices.

“The students at this school will probably vomit once they see this footage,” some commenters on Weibo wrote.

Wuhan Donghu University is an undergraduate private higher education institution established in 2000. The school has approximately 16,000 full-time undergraduate students.

“I’m afraid that this is just the tip of the iceberg,” one popular comment said, receiving over 25,000 likes.

Students from other universities also expressed concerns over the food handling practices in their own canteens, while some said they felt nauseous for having had lunch at the Wuhan canteen in question.

By Manya Koetse
Follow @WhatsOnWeibo