Voices

"It was true that the meeting totally depended on participants' physical conditions in the end. I think only good physical condition could support sober minds under such conditions."
-Bo Xilai, the head of the Ministry of Commerce describing the recently closed WTO ministerial conference in Hong Kong when he was interviewed by CCTV. He said that Chinese participants tried their best to prompt everyone to an agreement.

"It's a pity that the court made such a verdict. The case is destined to be lost, but I don't think that I'm responsible for it."
-Ye Xin, vice president of the China Writers Association. He was prosecuted for plagiarism in his new work and was sentenced to compensate the original writer 900,000 yuan (US$11,000). But he insisted that he just adapted the book the publisher gave him and the publisher said they had bought the copyright of the original book.

"You see this woman has been robbed by me, but you did not give her a hand, you are such a coward and you are not a man."
- A robber sneering at a passerby after he robbed a woman in Siping of Jilin. He robbed and beat the woman December 25, but when he saw that a passerby witnessed the robbery, he stopped beating the victim and began to insult the witness. This passerby did not say a word until the robber left.

"We just told all the residents that police uniforms should not be worn by anyone. Because now it's very cold on the streets, we will not force them to take off the uniform, but in the future we will force them to do so."
- He Yumin, a police officer in Northeast China's Liaoning Province responding when he was asked about the new regulations set by the police. According to the new regulations, any civilian found wearing a police uniform on the street will be forced to take off the uniform immediately.

"Yesterday afternoon this girl was sent to the hospital, but she did not have enough money and the hospital could not find her relatives. Finally, I found her lying on the lawn outside of the hospital. I don't know whether she was kicked out by the hospital."
- A patient in Xijing Hospital of Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province. The girl was injured in a traffic accident and was sent to the hospital December 26, but soon people found that she had been thrown out of the hospital.