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Author Archives: GovWorldMag

Honest boy who admits damaging car rewarded by owner

 

Chen Yifan [Photo: dahe.cn] 

A student left an apology letter and 311 yuan (US$45) to the owner of a car that the boy hit accidentally with his electric scooter. The owner of the car, who was not there when his car was damaged, was so impressed by the student’s honesty that he has donated 10,000 yuan to go toward that student’s future tuition, reported dahe.com on Sunday.

The apology letter left by Chen Yifan [Photo: dahe.cn] 

Teenager Chen Yifan is a student from Xinmi city, Henan province. At the beginning of February, he accidentally hit a BMW car while he was riding an electric scooter.

The money left by Chen Yifan as compensation for damaging the car [Photo: dahe.cn]

Chen’s letter to the driver contained an apology for the damage done to the car, and explained that the money he was leaving was all that he had, as he was a student and his only income was from a part-time job.

 

 The car owner and the car that was damaged by the electric scooter [Photo: dahe.cn]

 

After finding the apology letter, Xue Zhanmin, the car’s owner, said he found no need to blame the boy for the accident. “The boy is honest and kind as he took the responsibility and made the compensation. We should praise such behavior,” said Xue.

Xue Zhanmin contacted the boy’s family with the help of local police on February 11. He gave the money back to the boy and offered to financially help the boy finish his studies. The boy’s mother learned of the incident and offered to make the full compensation, which was 13,000 yuan but this was refused by Xue.

On Sunday, Xue sent 10,000 yuan as a donation to cover the boy’s tuition fees. Chen Yifan expressed gratitude but refused the money. After persuasion from the local police and staff members, Chen’s family finally accepted this donation that is full of love and care.

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East Asia • •

The UK leaving the EU is no divorce and we certainly do not have to pay alimony

One of the more absurd analogies that pass for debate in the EU is that the EU and the UK need a divorce settlement. For a body which loves Treaties and lawyers it is bizarre. The Treaty makes no provision to require a departing state to pay an extra one off payment, nor does it seek or have any power over former states to carry on paying contributions. There is no need for lengthy negotiations on this obvious point. The answer to the request for a large one off financial contribution is No.

To make this a more interesting and longer article, I will however extend the divorce metaphor that so many like. Were this a divorce, it is between two high earning partners. The domineering husband, the EU, earns six times as much as his UK wife. He lives in a large suburban family home in Berlin, with a smart modern flat in Brussels. His wife has a country cottage in Wiltshire where she has retreated to as whenever they meet she just gets shouted at and told what to do. He has a large Mercedes. She drives a modern Mini.

Fortunately there are no children from the marriage. She is generously offering a clean break settlement to the husband to speed things up and to get on with her life, free of his endless demands for cash and obedience. It’s none of her business that he has run up huge bills with his Greek affairs, as she did not agree to any of those and made clear her wish to keep out of it all at the time.

As the husband wishes to undertake the divorce in a foreign court and she intends to live under UK law it is difficult to see how the husband thinks he can carry on with his demands once his foreign jurisdiction no longer applies.

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John Redwood MP • • •