Freeing the proletiat from the chains of their opressors.(NSFW)

[Prince Glittersnatch III]

Astonished medics are trying to save the hands of tormented Zhang Chuanqiu who was chained so tightly in an illegal prison that his flesh grew over his shackles.
Zhang, 27, had been chained to a cowshed in Hunan, southern China, in 2005 after falling out with village officials over a loan to build his house.
But his chains had been so agonisingly tight that Zhang's own flesh began to absorb them.
"The only person who did not give up on me was my mother who waited for her time and rescued me," he explained.
Now Zhang is trying to raise the 1,000 GBP surgeons have told him he needs for an operation to remove the chains and save his hands from further infection.
"They cause me a lot of pain. They are always inflamed and ooze pus all the time. But we have no money so I have to rely on charity or the good heart of a hospital or doctor to save my hands," he said.

http://austriantimes.at/image/19091/news/Around_the_World/2010-11-11/28315/Chain_Man_needs_Handout_

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

The most interesting aspect of this story, to me, is that China appears to not only no longer be denying the hideous state of corruption in their rural provinces, but is also letting stories about their investigations reach the outside. Is it just a PR campaign, or are they actually addressing some of their civil rights issues and trying to curb abuse of power by their rural officials?

Most of China's poverty problem is due to misappropriation of funds by rural officials who operate almost with no oversight whatsoever, and subject the rural poor to peasant treatment at best, including depriving them of medical treatment that the central government pays for... or would pay for, if the local magistrates didn't steal the funding. It's very ugly.

[Epimetheus]

  shit!

[Jenne]

Yeah, this is the kind of shit I think of when I get to feeling sorry for myself.  Fuck.

[Cain]

The most interesting aspect of this story, to me, is that China appears to not only no longer be denying the hideous state of corruption in their rural provinces, but is also letting stories about their investigations reach the outside. Is it just a PR campaign, or are they actually addressing some of their civil rights issues and trying to curb abuse of power by their rural officials?

Most of China's poverty problem is due to misappropriation of funds by rural officials who operate almost with no oversight whatsoever, and subject the rural poor to peasant treatment at best, including depriving them of medical treatment that the central government pays for... or would pay for, if the local magistrates didn't steal the funding. It's very ugly.

I think they are trying to curb it, to a degree.  It depends on the particular province and the players, naturally.  But they did execute one of their top anti-corruption investigators a couple of years ago, for being on the take, and let that news be reported, so it seems the government is on a big anti-corruption kick around now.

Of course, I wouldn't expect that kick to ever expand to, say, Fujian province's organized crime syndicates.  China seems content to ignore some kinds of corruption so long as they bring in economic returns, such as people smuggling does, and political stability.  This kind of thing though...well, that only breeds resentment, and China does not want to see that growing.

I believe China also directed the national militia to take more of an active role in security in rural areas, though I'm having trouble finding a source for that.  It was a couple of years ago, IIRC.