Abducted Engineer Freed

Through efforts of both governments, the Chinese engineer abducted by Taliban militants in Pakistan, Long Xiaowei, was released on February 14. He was moved to the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad the next day, under the escort of the military and police.

Long, 28, an outsourcing engineer with Shenzhen-based ZTE, China's second largest telephone network equipment maker, was freed after having been held captive for nearly six months. He previously worked on a hydroelectric project in Pakistan and was abducted last August in the Dir region in northwest Pakistan along with another colleague. They tried to escape in October, but Long injured his ankle and was recaptured.

As militants tightened security to avoid escape, Long had been confined to a space of 15 square meters where he lived on corn flour. Recalling the ordeal, Long said he suffered from constant fear and despair and was prepared to commit suicide.

Long returned to China on February 18.

Billionaire Starts Charity

Forbes-listed Chinese billionaire, Cao Dewang, Chairman of Fuyao Glass Industry Group Co. Ltd., recently announced that he would donate 70 percent of his family's stake in the company to the establishment of a charity foundation.

Fuyao, China's largest maker of auto glass, closed at 6.49 yuan ($0.88) per share on February 16. On this basis, Cao's donation is estimated at 4.38 billion yuan ($640 million). Cao ranked 53rd among Forbes-listed rich Chinese mainlanders last year, worth 4.83 billion yuan ($705 million).

Cao, 64, a native of southeast China's Fujian Province, was forced to quit school at 14 due to poverty. In the early 1980s, he managed to acquire a local glass manufacturing plant in the form of a contract operation. Cao restructured the business and founded Fuyao Glass in 1985, China's first domestic auto glass maker. In 1993, the company was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Cao is known for his generosity. After the Sichuan earthquake in May 2008, he donated 20 million yuan ($2.92 million) to disaster relief efforts. According to the provincial charity society of Fujian, Cao had donated a total of 15.27 million yuan (roughly $2 million) to the society by 2008.

Cao received a philanthropy award from the Ministry of Civil Affairs in 2008. He was also listed in last year's China Philanthropy List, which was released by Shanghai-based researcher Rupert Hoogewerf, ranking 14th by donating 146 million yuan ($21.35 million). It marked the fifth straight year of Cao's inclusion in the list.

Netizens Topple High-spending Official

Zhou Jiugeng, an official known for enjoying finer things in life in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, was recently detained for further investigation on corruption charges.

Zhou's downfall was triggered by the exposure of his pictures on Internet forums last December, in which Zhou, then Director of the Jiangning District Real Estate Bureau, smokes expensive cigarettes and wears a name brand watch worth at least 100,000 yuan ($14,620). As questioning over his ability to afford such expensive luxury items based on his moderate wage as a civil servant intensified, Zhou was removed from his post on December 28. It was later found that Zhou smoked cigarettes costing 1,500 yuan ($220) per carton and drove a 300,000-yuan ($43,860) Cadillac.

As details of Zhou's alleged embezzlement involving at least 2 million yuan ($292,400) emerged, the authorities intervened to investigate the case.