The term "corporate rivalry" has been given a new meaning in central China where over 100 people have been killed or injured in a three-year turf war between the monolithic state telephone service and local television stations. At issue is lucrative advertising revenue in an increasingly competitive market. Like many other major telephone companies in the world, China Telecom is diversifying into television, but has met resistance from local television stations.
When it erected roadside advertisements for its television services in Hunan province's Shaodong county, for example, local television station employees pulled them down. Officials from China Telecom, which runs China's domestic telephone service at a loss, quickly retaliated. They grabbed the deputy head of the local television station and beat him savagely with batons and hammers. Police arrived to restore peace as station employees fled into their building. But things spiralled out of control. A China Telecom official took the wheel of an army truck and crashed it through a wall of the station, injuring 10 people. The driver was taken hostage inside the building as dozens of Telecom officials and their allies surrounded the station threatening to burn it down. At this point, soldiers were called in to help police and civilian militia protect the station and keep the two sides apart.
Violence erupted again after television employees hacked through a China Telecom cable servicing Linxiang city. Enraged, a local China Telecom official gathered an armed gang and invaded the television station firing home-made guns and brandishing long knives. Six people were reported injured and the branch officer was given a three-year jail term.
These battles were detailed in the most recent edition of the official Wenzhai Weekly which said the turf war began when China Telecom launched TV programming in 1997 to compete with broadcast and cable TV stations. The violence, which affected 40 towns and counties, prompted a government order instructing both sides - with little effect - to keep out of the other's business. China Telecom still provides cable television in Hunan province and stations have been upgrading their services to provide telephone and Internet access.
Reuters adds: China executed four men yesterday, including a Taiwanese man and a Hong Kong resident, for counterfeiting and smuggling fake currency. A Taiwanese fishing boat captain was put to death for trying to smuggle in 62 million yuan (£6.6 million) in fake Chinese currency/.
A Hong Kong resident and his mainland accomplice were executed for counterfeiting Taiwan and Hong Kong currency and possession of counterfeiting equipment. Another mainlander was taken to the killing grounds of his native Guangdong province for leading a ring of counterfeiters which made bogus Chinese banknotes.