New Express
May 15, 2009

A new high school that claims to be the first to offer students "Advanced Placement (AP) courses and tests in South China" was announced yesterday in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province.

According to today's New Express, the Huafu AP American-Style High School, which is affiliated with South China Normal University, plans to recruit a total of 50 students this September. The annual tuition charge is 75,000 yuan, which far exceeds what most people in the country can afford.

AP courses are rigorous courses offered in high schools throughout the US and Canada; high marks on AP exams may exempt students from basic-level requirements in college. Wu Yingmin, the president of the new school, told the newspaper that the school is not for "ordinary students." Instead, it offers "high-end courses that are targeted at excellent students."

Wu said that experience with AP courses and tests is a top consideration for admission to overseas universities, so Huafu AP American-Style High School will greatly increase the chances of Guangdong high school graduates being admitted to top universities in the US.

In other news, Influenza A (H1N1) continued to be a big concern of newspapers today. The New Express's top headline reports that all students in Guangzhou's schools are required to test their body temperature.

The big photo shows a Qing Dynasty armor in exhibition in the city. Underneath is a headline reporting that six suspects involved in an intentional homicide case were found guilty yesterday in Dongguan.

Last July, Wu Weizhong, one of the suspects on trial and a former government employee in the local Environment Protection Bureau, hired four thugs to injure a government official identified by the name Xiang.

According to one of the thugs, Wu told them to not to be too cruel: "Don't kill him. Just make him unable to come to work." The thugs complied: they injured Xiang's feet and one of his hands, and beat him with a metal bar, leading to what the court determined to be substantial limitations on his ability to do his job.

Wu confessed that he committed the crime out of the belief that Xiang's unfavorable comments about him had affected his chances at a promotion. Xiang, who outranked Wu but was not his superior, was is in charge of discipline in the same bureau.

At the bottom of the front page, a Guangzhou court ruled that a Hong Kong-based company is entitled to the moon cake brand name "Rong Hua" (荣华), ending a ten year legal marathon with a Dongguan company over rights to the name.