Cowboys and Cowgirls

[WTMHouston]

Just imagine what would have happened to her in China. Texas is down right liberal in comparion.

Try this:

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200312/17/eng20031217_130607.shtml

The notorious mass prostitution case relating to a group of Japanese tourists in September in Zhuhai was adjudicated Wednesday, with two Chinese defendants sentenced to life imprisonment and another 12 sentenced to 2 to 15 years in prison for organizing prostitution or assisting the organization of prostitution.

The Zhuhai Intermediate People's Court made the verdict after its trial of first instance.

Chinese police has also requested the Interpol to issue red notices targeting three Japanese citizens involved in the crime.

The three Japanese, namely Hirobe Isao, Takahashi Shunji and Fukunaga Koji, were accused of organizing prostitution for over 200 Japanese tourists during their stay at a hotel in Zhuhai during Sept. 16 to 18, police sources said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry has made representations with the Japanese side, requesting assistance to the Chinese police for the capture of the three suspects.

The three-day party, allegedly involving hundreds of Chinese prostitutes, ended on Sept. 18, and triggered wide anger among theChinese public as it coincided with the sensitive anniversary dateof a 1931 Japanese attack on Northeast China, an event marking thestart of Japan's invasion and occupation of China.

The Zhuhai Intermediate People's Court opened the trial on Dec.12 with 14 Chinese defendants accused of organizing prostitution, but the public and non-essential court employees were barred from the courthouse due to privacy concerns

According to the court hearing, Ye Xiang and Ming Zhu, employees of an unspecified Zhuhai hotel, two prime offenders, were sentenced to life imprisonment and all their property was confiscated.

Liu Xuejing and Zhang Junying, another two organizers from the hotel, were sentenced to 15 year's imprisonment and 12 years respectively and both were also fined. Another 10 defendants were sentenced to prison terms of two to 10 years in addition to fines.

According to the hearing, Hirobe Isao of an Osaka-based construction company first contacted the hotel in March to arrange a meeting for the company. But the plan was postponed due to the SARS crisis in China.

At the end of August, Isao came to Zhuhai with his colleagues Takahashi Shunji and Fukunaga Koji to sign an agreement with the hotel and clearly requested sexual services for the tourist group during talks with Liu Xuejing, a manager with the hotel, the courtwas told.

With this request, Ye Xiang, who worked for the hotel, contacted prostitutes Ming Zhu and Zhang Junying, who later gathered a group of prostitutes from a number of entertainment outlets.

The 200-member Japanese tourist group arrived in Zhuhai on the afternoon of Sept. 16. After the meeting, some of the tourists brought the prostitutes to their hotel rooms for sex, the court heard. All the members of the tourist group left China at 8:00 am, Sept. 18.

Investigations have indicated that no Party or government officials in Zhuhai were involved, government sources said. But 15officials in the local public security and tourist administration departments have been disciplined for negligence.

By People's Daily Online
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From AP:

BEIJING (Dec. 17) - A Chinese court on Wednesday sentenced two people to life in prison, while 12 others got up to 15 years for organizing a three-day sex party for hundreds of Japanese tourists that caused an uproar in China. The incident in September at a hotel in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai fell on a sensitive wartime anniversary and caused outrage in China. The Chinese government complained officially to Tokyo.Chinese authorities also have issued arrest warrants for three Japanese accused of organizing the sex party and asked Japan to help in detaining them, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.It said China also asked the international police agency Interpol to circulate the warrants, suggesting that Chinese authorities didn't know where the three were.Xinhua identified the three Japanese as Isao Hirobe, Shunji Takahashi and Koji Fukunaga. It didn't give any other details about them or how they were involved in the incident.Japan hadn't decided how to respond to the request, a foreign ministry spokesman said in Tokyo. He said the two governments have no extradition treaty.''These things would probably be decided on a case by case basis, with consideration for the legal issues of each individual case,'' he said on customary condition of anonymity. ''But we haven't decided on a response for this case yet.''As many as 400 Japanese men and 500 Chinese hostesses had sex at the Zhuhai International Conference Center Hotel over a three-day period that ended on Sept. 18, according to earlier Chinese news reports.The period in which the party occurred coincided with the anniversary of a Japanese attack on a city in China's northeast in 1931 that many Chinese regard as the start of Japan's World War II invasion and occupation.The 14 defendants - all of them reportedly Chinese - were charged with prostitution, soliciting, conspiracy and other offenses, according to an earlier report.The trial began Friday and ended Saturday amid tight security in the Zhuhai Intermediate Court. The public and nonessential court employees were barred from the courthouse by officials who cited privacy concerns.On Wednesday, the court sentenced Ye Xiang, assistant to the hotel's general manager, and Ming Zhu to life in prison, Xinhua said. It didn't give any other details about Ming.The hotel's deputy sales manager, Liu Xuejing, was sentenced to 15 years.Another defendant, Zhang Junying, was sentenced to 12 years, and the 10 others received between two and 10 years in prison, the report said.Previous Chinese news reports have described the 14 defendants as two hotel employees and 12 organizers of prostitution.Prostitution, though illegal, is common in China and often practiced openly in tourist hotels in major cities.But the timing of the event in Zhuhai drew anger as word spread over the Internet in China, where many feel that Japan has failed to atone for its wartime brutality.Many of the Japanese involved were said to be employees of a Japanese construction company that sponsored their trip.Japan's Foreign Ministry has said the company acknowledged paying for ''companions'' at a reception but denies sponsoring the events that followed. Japan has launched its own investigation into the incident.News reports have not identified the company involved, but said it was based in the western Japanese city of Osaka.

12-17-03 0558 EST

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Death in this one:

http://fpeng.peopledaily.com.cn/200104/24/eng20010424_68486.html

The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court has sentenced to death the ringleader of a gang forcing women including minors to serve as prostitutes.

The culprit, by the name of Miao Changshui, was also deprived of his political rights for life and all his personal property confiscated.

Miao was the manager of the Jinbao Restaurant in Shijingshan District of the city.

Between October of 1999 and March of 2000, he and his wife, Geng Xiuzhen, together with four other criminals to coerce four young women and two minors to serve as prostitutes in the restaurant and other places, by restricting personal freedom, beating them and monitoring them.

Miao also raped a young woman and incited his accomplices to beat up the victims.

The court sentenced Miao's wife to 15 years in prison, with her political rights deprived for three years and given a 30,000 yuan (3,614.50 US dollars) fine.

Another four criminals involved in the case were also punished severely and fined heavily.