This is NEWS Plus Special English.
Two volunteers from a nongovernmental organization were reportedly summoned and interrogated by the police in Ningde in Southeast China's Fujian province, following a tip-off that they were involved in prostitution.
Since the two were conducting a private investigation into local environmental pollution before their detention and they were released the following day, there are suspicions that the Ningde authorities were trying to deter such public supervision.
A commentary on ifeng.com lauded such public supervision and urges local governments to keep an open mind on efforts aimed at exposing polluters.
It said the police summoning of the two volunteers for questioning was a normal move after receiving such a tipoff, but that does not mean an investigation can be carried out without solid evidence and limits.
The article stressed that it is their legitimate right to check on the activities of enterprises suspected of violating the law. The latest incident has raised concerns about the obstacles placed in the way of public supervision aimed at curbing pollution.
You are listening to NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
The appointment of former Olympic table-tennis champion Deng Yaping as an adjunct professor at the China University of Political Science and Law has been confirmed. The event came amid controversy over the way her appointment was made and her academic qualifications for the job.
Deng became a sports legend in China after winning four Olympic gold medals between 1992 and 1996. She recently found herself in the spotlight again when the university said it would support her as an adjunct professor in the department of physical education to help build the varsity table-tennis program.
Some questions the procedural legality of the move as well as Deng's competency for an academic role.
The university posted a statement on its micro-blog a week ago, backing its original decision published on Dec 2.
The statement said proper procedures for faculty appointments were followed. But it didn't answer specific questions raised by students and faculty members about how Deng was evaluated and what her academic duties will be.
Although she holds a PhD in land economy from the University of Cambridge for research on the Olympic Games' influence on social development in China and served as a member of the organizing committee for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, Deng's academic competence as a professor was still questioned.
