Tiger's Taste for Maotai Takes him Down

Wang Xiaoguang is the latest official to be jailed for 20 years for corruption

While you may think Chinese President Xi Jinping has been busy with Belt and Road, and the Greater Bay Area, don't think he hasn't had time to bag more tigers. One more was recently taken down, the former vice-governor of Guizhou province.

Wang Xiaoguang, who was in power from 2009-2016 was sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined a record 174 million yuan (US$26 million) for taking bribes, embezzlement and insider trading.

Wang was known as the "Maotai collector"

The prosecution claimed that Wang had taken advantage of his position to receive 49 million yuan in bribes, made 163 million yuan from insider trading of stocks and embezzled 4.8 million in land sales proceeds in 2000.

What did he do with all that money? Apparently he liked to collect rare orchids and Maotai, a kind of baijiu that is distilled from sorghum.

The court said Wang's sentence was light because the 57-year-old pleaded guilty to all charges.

In a confession, Wang said he was "addicted to orchids" and the National Supervisory Commission or anti-corruption watchdog said he had amassed so much Maotai that he became known as the "Maotai collector" and even obtained liquor licenses for his relatives to help him sell it. His wife reportedly dunked a lot of the prized Maotai down the sink before the authorities came to arrest him.

Another no-no was that Wang had "enthusiasm for reading politically incorrect overseas publications", a veiled reference to books and journals about Chinese political gossip that people would buy on their trips to Hong Kong.

He also had a penchant for collecting rare orchids like these

But sadly those days are over for Wang.

While a number officials were caught for having mistresses or too much sex, Wang was nabbed for too much Maotai and orchids. Guess each to their own...

Fact of the Day: 61 Million Left-Behind Children

There are 61 million left-behind children like these ones in China

In China, the latest survey by the National Health and Family Planning Commission reveals there's a staggering 61 million left-behind children, a third of them younger than 17, who are not raised by their parents.

The mothers and fathers have gone to mostly coastal cities to find work to send money home and only see their children once or maybe twice a year.

The lack of hukou or residence permit in big cities prevents parents from bringing their children with them because they don't have access to decent housing, schooling and health care.

Many are raised by grandparents or relatives in hometowns

So these children are left to mostly grandparents or relatives to care for, and there are many sad cases of them dying.

Last June, four left-behind children from the same family, ranging in ages from give to 13, committed suicide together by swallowing pesticide in Bijie, Guizhou province. And in November 2012, five boys died from carbon monoxide poisoning after starting a charcoal fire to keep warm inside a dumpster.

Experts believe these incidents happened because the parents were not around to raise them.

But at the same time, where else can these parents go to try to make a better life for their families? Provinces like Anhui, Henan and Sichuan are the sources for the most migrant workers, as 44 percent of rural children in these areas are left behind, way above the national average of 35.6 percent.

What is the central government's response?

In February, the State Council, China's cabinet, issued a guideline to local authorities to improve the physical and psychological health of such children. But there are no details on exactly how they would do that. And would Beijing come to check on the the local authorities to see if the have implemented any programs to benefit left-behind children?

They only have access to basic education which isn't enough

They are the most neglected people in society next to orphans.

Sixty-one million children is not a number to dismiss -- it's almost the population of Britain. And yet they barely get basic education and health care, let alone the emotional support they need to grow up to be confident and relatively happy people with decent jobs.

The government needs to do more for these children, but anything effective and immediate doesn't seem to be a priority. Beijing likes to parrot how it has lifted more than 800 million people out of of poverty.

But what about these 61 million children? They are the next generation who deserve at least a chance to thrive.

Picture of the Day: Happy Birthday Leslie

A large stage set up at Tamar with screens to show the tribute concert

A few days ago I saw posters up on the MTR station advertising Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing's 60th birthday party.

But he passed away in 2003!

However his fervent and loyal fans have decided to get together and celebrate at Tamar tonight so I went to check it out briefly.

Hundreds of fans showed up for the free event

Wow -- it was a huge production -- a massive stage, seating for VIP guests and others stood by the sides. Even though it was free admission, there was a long lineup just to get in. A few of the fans we met had even come from Guizhou and Shenzhen for the event.

They all miss their "Goh Goh" or older brother so much. Some explained they were attracted to him because of his good looks, and later they felt he was very in tune with what people were going through. To them, Cheung was the embodiment of what a man should be like, handsome, sensitive, kind, hardworking and very determined. And they looked up to him like an older brother.

But why hold a birthday party for him when he's not there?

A big birthday card for Leslie from his fans

Perhaps it's a happy occasion for fans to use this as an excuse to play his songs, watch his film clips and reminisce. The other time they gather is on the sad anniversary of his suicide on April 1, 2003 at the Mandarin Oriental...

We're just impressed by not only the setup, but the turnout!

If only he could see his fans celebrating a milestone birthday for him! What would Cheung think?!

Finally Counting Those Left Behind

Many left-behind children are raised by their grandparents

After more than 30 years of "opening up", when paramount leader Deng Xiaoping named Shenzhen a special economic zone where migrant workers left their families to work in factories, the Chinese government has finally decided to look into how many children they left behind since then.

The issue has resulted in children, some now adults, who don't have a proper education and have estranged relationships with their parents, as they only saw them once a year.

Researchers estimate there are more than 60 million of these left-behind children, but the government will try to find out the exact number so that each of the kids can get some kind of assistance, according to China Youth Daily.

The government ministries will also include migrant juveniles, those who followed their parents from the countryside to the city, which could be as many as 36 million.

Some children have to fend for themselves in rural areas

Ni Chunxia, deputy head of the Ministry of Civil Affairs' social affairs department, said there was no authoritative data on the issue, even though it has long been a major social problem.

A number of these children have led lives of juvenile delinquency, or have committed suicide. Last year a boy and three girls, aged between five and 13, who lived in poverty near Bijie, Guizhou, killed themselves by drinking pesticide.

In the same place in 2012, five left-behind boys living on the streets were found dead in a large garbage bin after having inhaled carbon monoxide while burning charcoal to keep warm.

Last month a directive from the State Council ordered local governments to build a database of these children. The authorities must have one file per child, and each updated on a regular basis.

Lawyer Li Ying, director of the Beijing Yuangzhong Gender Development Centre and an activist in helping left-behind children, said having the database was essential in providing better care and support.

Left-behind children don't get much of an education

"After many years of services, I really think that we can't replace parents after all," she said. "We saw many tragedies and learned that the absence of parents not only means  a lack of caring for their daily life, but also a lack of fundamental education, about telling them what's right and what's wrong.

"The authorities should focus more on luring the parents back home, such as creating jobs and improving their social insurance," Li said. "That way their children can enjoy normal family love."

It's shocking three decades later the government is finally taking some interest in this major group of people, and when it comes to security, one would have thought the government would want to pay more attention to them.

These migrant workers are the ones who sacrificed so much to help build the country economically to the world's second-largest economy, and yet the government only now thinks to focus more attention on their left-behind children.

If there are over 60 million of them, imagine how many aren't properly educated, don't have the necessary social skills let alone life skills to become fully-functioning members of society?

Some NGOs have tried to help this group of people, but were previously thwarted by the government through accusing them of not having proper licenses to run schools for children of migrant workers or making it hard for people to donate to charities that want to help them.

Perhaps now the government see the disparity is too great to ignore?

Crime in Hong Kong, Trial in Shenzhen

Bossini heiress Queenie Rosita Law spoke to the media after her ordeal

Nine men are on trial related to the kidnapping of Bossini heiress Queenie Rosita Law.

Six of them are charged with kidnapping, three others -- including a Hong Kong resident -- are charged for handling stolen property.

Law was kidnapped last April from her luxury home in Sai Kung, and the kidnappers demanded a ransom of HK$48 million, but the amount was later negotiated down to HK$28 million.

Mainland police hold up some evidence that was recovered

After three days she was freed when the ransom was paid and then the nine were eventually caught.

The strange thing about this case is that it is being heard in Shenzhen Intermediate Court and not in Hong Kong.

Even lawyers on both sides of the border have questioned the arrangement for the mainland courts to handle the case as the principal acts took place in Hong Kong.

But the mainland authorities insist they have jurisdiction over the case, arguing the gang had plotted the crime in Shenzhen.

While the suspects were caught in Guangdong and Guizhou provinces, Hong Kong police arrested alleged kidnapper Zheng Xingwang at the city's immigration control point in May last year. He is the only suspect in the case who will be tried in Hong Kong.

Law Society vice-president Thomas So agreed that the mainland authorities had jurisdiction over the case, which is of a "cross-border" nature.

"While the kidnapping took place in Hong Kong, some of the plotting was done on the mainland, he said. "If either of the jurisdictions makes the arrests, the trial can take place there."

One of the suspects was brought to one of the crime scenes

But University of Hong Kong principal law lecturer Eric Cheung Tat-ming said the case showed the lack of mechanisms under which Hong Kong could prove itself to be a more suitable venue than the mainland to hear certain cases.

One such example is the trial of "Big Spender" Cheung Tsz-keung by Guangdong courts in the 1990s. Cheung was sentenced to death and executed.

A mainland lawyer working on the Bossini kidnapping case, who refused to be named, agreed that Hong Kong's judicial independence would be eroded in this case.

It is understood Hong Kong police provided their counterparts across the border with related documents and photographs of the HK$4 million worth of jewellery stolen from Law's home. Practically all the cash was finally recovered.

This is an indictment on Hong Kong's pride of having the value of rule of law -- but can't even do that in this particular case.

The crime took place in Hong Kong so why can it not be tried in the city? To say that the trial should be in Shenzhen because the kidnapping was planned there seems like a weak argument, though it is true there aren't mechanisms to deal with situations like this.

Why were these scenarios not sorted out when the Basic Law was being hammered out? How could something like this be overlooked?