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BEIJING - Victims of domestic violence will be able to file for court injunctions if a proposal by the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) is adopted by the top legislature during its planned drafting of a new law.

Although injunctions are regularly applied in other countries, such as the United States, normally to protect women from being harassed, molested or assaulted by ex-partners, it is a new concept in the domestic legal system. But a few cities have already introduced it on a pilot basis.

Currently nine clauses in four laws -- such as the Marriage Law and the Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women -- address aspects of domestic violence. But the country has yet to draft an independent law to deal with the offence comprehensively.

Legislation on domestic violence is an important move to better protect the rights of women and children, Jiang Yue'e, head of the ACWF's department for women's rights and interests, told China Daily.

"Domestic violence is not only a severe violation of human rights, but it also leads to divorce, suicide and other social problems," Jiang said.

About 20 leading experts will gather in Beijing next month to discuss details of the federation's proposal, which could be used as a basis to draft the new domestic violence law, she said.

There is no timetable available for the new law.

Existing legal clauses on domestic abuse are flawed, Jiang said, citing as an example their failure "to spell out specific responsibilities of the public security bureaus or judicial departments in handling such cases, and what kind of protection victims can get".

The ACWF and its branches across the country receive more than 40,000 complaints about domestic violence each year, Jiang said, adding that it has always topped the list of complaints filed by women to her organization.

Statistics from the people's court of Beijing's Shunyi district showed that 25 percent of about 800 divorce cases it handled last year were related to domestic violence.

Injunctions -- court orders that require a party to do or not do certain things -- are a proven and effective way in other countries to protect victims of abuse, said Xiao Fei, a judge with Beijing's higher people's court.

An injunction can be a deterrent as it gives the police power to conduct an arrest if its terms are broken.

"It also safeguards the rights and interests of victims in divorce proceedings in terms of wealth division and child custody rights," Xiao said.

Jiang said domestic violence needs a broader legal definition. Currently, domestic violence legally does not cover divorced couples or unmarried couples living together, nor does it include sexual and mental abuse, a situation that the ACWF wants to change, she said.

The current law also puts victims at a disadvantage, according to a marriage lawyer.

It is difficult for victims to produce proof of abuse without physical injuries, such as bruises or scars, said Chen Wei, a lawyer who specializes in marriage at Beijing Yingke Law Firm.

Many Chinese people believe domestic violence is a private affair and are reluctant to intervene, she said.

"You cannot expect your neighbors to come out and tell the police that you are being abused," Chen said.

That is why the new draft law should improve the method of collecting evidence and free the victims from the burden of producing proof, Jiang said.

In addition, the new draft law on domestic violence should address a wider array of issues, including prevention, victim aid and punishment for perpetrators, she said.

Efforts have been made to tackle domestic violence. About 27 provinces and regions have regulations or policies covering domestic violence and forensic centers have been established in 21 provinces.

Many cities, including Tianjin, Shijiazhuang and Xuzhou, have opened shelters for victims, offering short-term accommodation, food and counseling services.

However, few people have turned to these organizations for help, said Guo Liping, director of a shelter in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei province.

"We often receive calls from women asking whether they can come to our center to flee from abuse at home," Guo said. "But most of them never show up.

"Many victims still feel ashamed to talk about their experience. They are also not sure what others can do to help," Guo told China Daily.

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GUIYANG, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Eight workers were killed and three injured in a coal mine gas leak in southwest China's Guizhou Province early Monday, local authorities said.

The accident occurred at about 3:30 a.m. at Luoduo Coal Mine in Yuni Township of Panxian County in Liupanshui City when 95 mine workers were underground.

Eighty-four miners escaped by themselves or were rescued out, said Tan Bo, a deputy director of Panxian county publicity department.

The mine was under technological renovation to expand annual capacity to 300,000 tonnes from 60,000 tonnes, Tan said.

Local work safety authorities were investigating cause of the accident.

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NANJING, CHINA - MARCH 27: Labors work at the construction site of the Nanjing South Railway Station, which is part of the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway Line, on March 27, 2011 in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province of China. The High-Speed railway line is 1,318 kilometres long, running between Beijing and Shanghai. The line will open on June 10, 2011.

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NANJING, CHINA - MARCH 27: A CRH train is seen passing through Nanjing South Railway Station, which is part of the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway Line, on March 27, 2011 in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province of China.

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Waste piles lie outside a plant of Taizhou Suqi Batteries Co in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, on March 24. Some 138 people have been found to have excessive lead levels in their blood because of pollution from the plant. [Provided to China Daily]

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This image shows the before views of the Taipei 101 building with the lights on as Taipei marks 'Earth Hour' on March 26, 2011. Australia's Opera House on March 26 was the first of many global landmarks to go dark as 'Earth Hour' got underway with hundreds of millions of people around the world set to switch off their lights.

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Workers carry relief materials provided by Chinese government at Narita airport in Tokyo, Japan, March 28, 2011. The second batch of relief materials, including 60,000 bottled water and 3.25 million pairs of rubber gloves, donated by China arrived in Tokyo on Monday night. (Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng)

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The first two police helicopters in Kunming were put into service on Monday, as part of efforts to enhance local police capacity in anti-crime operation, emergency reponse, rescue work, aero patrol and so on.

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Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) welcomes his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy (L) for a working meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 30, 2011. Sarkozy arrived in China on March 30 at the start of an Asian mini-tour that will include a G20 seminar on the world monetary system and a stop in disaster-struck Japan.

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A friend holds a photo of Ramon Credo, one of the three Filipinos executed in China for drug trafficking, after a mass in Bacoor, Cavite south of Manila on March 30, 2011. Chinese authorities executed three Filipino drug mules on March 30, triggering condemnation in the Catholic Philippines and despair for relatives who witnessed their final moments. The three -- Ramon Credo, 42, Sally Villanueva, 32, and Elizabeth Batain, 38 -- were arrested separately in China in 2008 for smuggling heroin and sentenced to death.

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Doctor Li Tongqiang inserts needles, that are connected to an electrical current, into the leg of a patient at Li's medical clinic in the village of Jianhua, located on the outskirts of the northern Chinese city of Shuangcheng in Heilongjiang province March 29, 2011. Li is one of 800 'country' doctors that care for around 600,000 mostly farmers and their families who live in the rural areas surrounding the city of Shuangcheng. Li's annual salary is around 25,000 Yuan (US$3,900), and he sees around 15-20 patients per day, visiting homes of patients if they are unable to visit his clinic. China is in the midst of overhauling the biggest healthcare infrastructure in human history and in the past month, has pledged more money to bring more people under its insurance scheme, raise the levels of reimbursements, and improve services to meet the needs of a 1.33 billion population. Picture taken March 29, 2011

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Peter Ma, Chairman & CEO of Ping An Insurance Co. of China Ltd. speaks during a company result announcement in Hong Kong Wednesday, March 30, 2011. Chinese insurer Ping An says its 2010 profit rose 23 percent to $2.7 billion on double-digit growth in premium income amid a strong economic expansion.

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BEIJING, CHINA - MARCH 29: People visit Chinese artist Huang Yongping's installation art work named 'Leviathanation' at Tang Contemporary Art of 798 Art District on March 29, 2011 in Beijing, China. The exhibition named 'Tracing The Milky Way' will be last until May 14.

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A golden car glitters on a street in Nanjing city, capital of East China’s Jiangsu province, March 29, 2011.

Parked in the wrong place, the car was towed away by police after several minutes, drawing a huge crowd with its eye-catching design.

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The oil tanker "Shengchi", loaded with 10,000 tons of gasoline and 10,000 tons of diesel to help earthquake relief in Japan, is ready to leave a deepwater port in China's northeastern city of Dalian for Japan on March 29, 2011. China has offered Japan 20,000 tons of fuel for free as part of its response to the quake that hit the country on March 11. The tanker is expected to arrive in Japan early next month. [Photo/Asianewsphoto]

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Two donkeys pull a broken down Land Rover in Shenyang, Liaoning province on March 28, 2011. The car owner spent about 2 million yuan ($304,604) to buy the car, but it broke down six times in one year, and he had to replace the engine. When the car broke down for the seventh time, he hired two donkeys to pull the car to the dealer and is now seeking a refund. [Photo/CFP]

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Children participate in an earthquake drill at a kindergarten in Maoping township, Central China’s Hubei province, March 28, 2011. [Photo/Xinhua]

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A little goat walks on its forelegs in a village in Northeast China's Jilin province, March 29, 2011. The goat was born with problems in its hind legs and was only able to walk with two legs from two months old. [Photo/CFP]

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A performance artist lies by the street with a big cup with the message, "Begging, following the Emperor's command" in Beijing on March 27, 2011. Many passers-by took photos of the performer and donated money. [Photo/CFP]

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A man administers an intravenous drip while riding on the back seat of a motorcycle in Lixin county, East China’s Anhui province, March 28, 2011. [Photo/CFP]

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Students get free lunches at a primary school in Rongan county, March 30, 2011. They are required to attend school for at least nine years. [Photo/Xinhua]

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Students get free lunches at a primary school in Rongan county, Liuzhou city in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, March 30, 2011. Starting from the autumn term of 2008, free lunches have been supplied for students from rural areas in three poverty-stricken counties in Liuzhou. About 100,000 students have been covered by the policy so far. [Photo/Xinhua]

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Two American tourists wearing ancient Chinese costumes learn to write Chinese characters on bamboo slips with brushes in the World Park in Fengtai district on Wednesday. Several foreign tourists participated in a series of cultural activities to mark the traditional Tomb-sweeping Day, which falls on April 5. [Photo/China Daily]

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KUNMING - Nineteen workers that were trapped in a collapsed tunnel Tuesday afternoon were rescued on Wednesday evening in Southwest China's Yunnan province, local government said.

The collapse occurred at 4 pm Tuesday at the entrance of a road tunnel that was being built in Xianggelila County, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, said a spokesman with the prefecture.

The rescued workers were sent to a hospital in Xianggelila for health checks and results showed that they suffered no injuries, though they were exhausted after being trapped for 28 hours.

Initial investigations showed that unstable geological conditions had caused the accident, according to the spokesman.

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Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren, center attends the G20 financial seminar on the International Monetary System held in Nanjing, eastern China's Jiangsu province, Thursday, March 31, 2011. Conflicts over exchange rate policy and other economic strategies are surfacing at a Group of 20 financial seminar in Nanjing, China, despite Beijing's insistence that its own currency regime is not on the agenda.

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Contestants have make-up applied in a dressing room before the 6th China Super Model Final on the last day of China Fashion Week in Beijing March 31, 2011.

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BEIJING, CHINA - MARCH 31: German Federal Foreign Minister and Deputy Chancellor Guido Westerwelle (L) meets with Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of People on March 31, 2011 in Beijing, China. Foreign Minister Westerwelle is on an official visit to China from March 30 to April 2.

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Chinese police officers on duty at the G20 financial seminar on the International Monetary System held in Nanjing, eastern China's Jiangsu province, Thursday, March 31, 2011. Conflicts over exchange rate policy and other economic strategies are surfacing at a Group of 20 financial seminar in Nanjing, China, despite Beijing's insistence that its own currency regime is not on the agenda.

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A woman uses her laptop computer at a department store in Beijing on March 31, 2011.

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An artwork "Contemporary Terracotta Warriors No. 9" by Chinese artist Yue Minjun is on display at a preview of Sotheby's Spring Sales as it's estimated to fetch US$1.8-2.3 million in Hong Kong, Thursday, March 31, 2011. Sotheby's Hong Kong Spring Sales 2011 will be held from 1 to 8 April. Over 3,600 lots with a total estimate in excess of HK$2.7 billion or US$344 million will be on offer.

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A worker checks a vehicle for radiation at a Nissan warehouse in Sanyi, Miaoli March 31, 2011. Nissan Motor Co's Taiwan affiliate will check radiation levels on all car parts imported from Japan. Taiwan's authorities have stepped up checks on Japanese products since the earthquake and tsunami caused a crisis at a nuclear power plant in the country, banning food imports from five prefectures around the stricken plant.

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Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff visits a restaurant in Chinatown to eat dumplings in Toronto, March 28, 2011. Canadians will head to the polls in a federal election May 2.

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Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan performs during the "Artistes 311 Love Beyond Borders" charity show to raise funds for Japan's earthquake and tsunami victims, in Hong Kong April 1, 2011. Chan said on stage he will donate HK$3 million ($385,535) for fund raising. About 200 artist from Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia took part in the event.

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Taiwanese singers Li Zhong-shen (L-R), Sky Wu and Richie Ren perform during the "Artistes 311 Love Beyond Borders" charity show to raise funds for Japan's earthquake and tsunami victims, in Hong Kong April 1, 2011.

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A Chinese model parades during the 6th China Super Model contest final at the close of the China Fashion Week in Beijing on March 31, 2011. The bi-annual fashion event highlights the latest designs by domestic and international designers.

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A boy looks at a giant female panda Shin Shin eating bamboo at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo on April 1, 2011. A pair of pandas, leased from China, arrived at Ueno Zoo on February 21, and are now displayed to the public after the zoo closed following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster.

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CHAOHU, CHINA - MARCH 31: Pupils mourn the pioneers at Nanshan Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery on March 31, 2011 in Chaohu, Anhui Province of China. Qingming Festival, also known as the 'Tomb Sweeping Day', is a traditional time when people pay their respects to the deceased and ancestors, involving cleaning, repairing of tombs and sacrifice activities. This year the Qingming Festival will fall on April 5.

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Six American style school buses, with a total value of some two million RMB yuan (about 305,422 U.S. dollars), will soon be put into operation in Lecong Township of Foshan City, south China's Guangdong Province.

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Two models display a new e-bike at the 11th China North Int'l Bicycle & E-bike Exhibition in Tianjin, March 31, 2011. [Photo / Xinhua]

The 11th China North Int'l Bicycle & E-bike Exhibition kicked off in Tianjin on March 31, 2011.

The event, which will go until April 2, simultaneously takes place at Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center and Tianjin International Exhibition Center.

More than 500 companies are displaying their latest models of bikes or e-bikes at the exhibition.

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Confiscated guns are displayed at a news conference held by the Guangdong provincial public security department on Friday. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

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GUANGZHOU - A total of eight criminal gangs involved with guns were broken up and seven illegal gun-making sites destroyed in the first month of a special-purpose campaign carried out in South China's Guangdong province, according to authorities.

In a nation where the average citizen is largely barred from owning firearms, a total of 40 suspects were detained and 42 illegal guns and 295 imitation guns confiscated since early last month, Yang Jianghua, director of the criminal investigation bureau of the provincial public security department, said at a news conference on Friday.

On March 1, the provincial police launched the campaign against crimes involving guns, killings and car thefts. The initiative will stay in effect until the end of November.

In one case, the police of Qingyuan city smashed a drug and gun-making site, according to police.

In an earlier campaign, officers in Zhuhai city confiscated 131 non-military air guns smuggled from overseas through a logistics company. They are retrieving the guns already distributed across the country by the company.

The police also said on Friday that they solved 318 criminal cases involving killings in Guangdong in the first three months of this year, and caught one suspect who had been at large for 21 years.

More than 300 car theft cases were solved between January and March, with 57 cars recovered and a number of guns and ammunition confiscated.

"The number of cases involving Toyota cars declined by 57 percent month-on-month in March," Yang said. Many gangs had focused on Toyotas.

In one case, the police caught suspects and cars in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, busting the gang's car sales network there.

As the campaign continues, Guangdong police are offering a 2,000 yuan ($305) reward for each useful clue to the whereabouts of 10 suspects in cases involving firearms.

China has launched an eight-month campaign against gun and ammunition trafficking in border areas to ensure civil safety, according to a Ministry of Public Security statement issued on Thursday, the Xinhua News Agency said.

Some criminals are turning to overseas suppliers for ammunition after local police have stepped up the fight against gun-related criminal activities, the statement said.

China Daily

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BEIJING - China's top prosecution body has filed charges of breach of duty against 16 government officials implicated in a tainted pork scandal, while the alleged misdeeds of another 41 are still being probed.

An official with the Supreme People's Procuratorate confirmed to China Daily that investigations are being conducted into the actions of 12 civil servants, who include quarantine inspectors and animal-epidemic prevention coordinators in Central China's Henan province, as well as four officials from the commerce bureau and animal health control department in East China's Jiangsu province.

The official, who asked to not be named, said prosecutors also have another 41 officials in Henan under scrutiny and have applied coercive measures against 72 farmers and brokers suspected of producing and selling tainted pork.

The Henan-based Jiyuan Shuanghui Food Co Ltd, was accused this past month of purchasing pigs fed with clenbuterol, an illegal addictive also described as "lean meat powder". The banned supplement, which is often used to produce leaner meat, can cause heart palpitations and dizziness in human beings.

Wan Long, board chairman of Shuanghui Group, apologized to consumers on behalf of the company on Thursday, the second time he has done so after the exposure of the company's use of the illegal additive.

Wan said Shuanghui has adopted six measures to prevent such contamination from recurring and said the company has been made into a "scapegoat". He also said the incident has cost Shuanghui more than 12.1 billion yuan ($1.85 billion), according to the latest calculations.

The tainted pork, whose harmful effects have been described as "isolated" by the Ministry of Agriculture, has added to the country's long list of food scandals.

Following the scandal, the Ministry of Agriculture announced the results of a spot-check that tested more than 310,000 pigs in Henan province, saying that only 134 of the animals were found to have been fed with the illegal additive.

Even so, pigs in Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces and Shanghai yielded positive test results, suggesting the tainted pigs have been sold outside of Henan province.

Yang Guizhi, a 53-year-old Henan resident, said she is very worried and that she stopped buying meat when she heard of the scandal.

"I feel scared when I look back and realize I always bought lean pork," she said. "I may eat beef or lamb in the future, but no more pork."

Yang said she has told her daughter - who works in Beijing - to eat less meat.

Sang Liwei, a food safety lawyer in Beijing and a representative of the Global Food Safety Forum, a non-government organization, told China Daily that "third-party tests", conducted by an agency independent of both food producers and the government, may be the best way to respond to the concerns that have arisen over food safety during a series of recent scandals, starting with an infamous discovery of tainted milk in 2008.

"The results will be disappointing if we let companies check the quality of their own food products," he said. "So our organization has been promoting the idea of third-party tests for a long time, and I hope this tainted-pork case will make food processors aware of the importance of this idea."

The country's quality watchdog, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the China Association for Quality, said it is adopting a system to assess the efficiency of the quality supervision measures undertaken by local governments.

China Daily

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