An “amputee” beggar in China got more than he bargained for, when an irate passer-by decided to pull off his pants.

The beggar was seen begging on a street in the city of Altay in Xinjiang, northwest China, said the South China Morning Post, quoting a report posted on the People’s Daily’s WeChat account.

A video of the incident uploaded by Shangahaiist to its Facebook page on July 1 has since been viewed some six million times.

In the clip, the “amputee” beggar moves about with the aid of a trolley which he lies on stomach-side down.

A man is seen bending over and speaking to the beggar. He then begins poking and prodding the man’s “stumps”, asking the man whether what he is doing is right.

“It’s not right to cheat people,” he can be heard saying in Mandarin, in the video, as passers-by inquire what he is doing to the beggar.

He begins to pull off the beggar’s pants, revealing that the latter’s lower limbs are, in fact, intact. His legs are crossed and tucked into a pair of boxers, to make it appear as if he is an amputee.

By this time, a crowd of people have stopped to watch the commotion.

After the beggar’s ruse is exposed, the man is heard yelling at him: “Is it right to deceive people like this?”

Beggars in China eat at restaurants and shop at Cartier

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Sina Weibo

The beggar then rolls away on his trolley, with his legs still tucked inside his boxer shorts.

Reactions on Facebook were mixed.

Some users felt the man should not have pulled off the beggar’s pants in public, while others thought he deserved it.

Said Facebook user Mark Patterson: “This punk is playing on the emotions of others by faking that he is missing his legs. Glad he was exposed as the fraud he is!”

Facebook user Robert Kulikowski, however, thought it was not right to humiliate the beggar.

“How do we know if the man’s legs aren’t paralysed? If you think it’s a scam don’t give him money, but don’t humiliate the man,” he wrote.

xiuhuil@sph.com.sg

See also: 

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Should you ever give money to a beggar in the streets?

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SEOUL – The United States said on Friday it would deploy a high tech missile defence system in South Korea, allowing it to fire projectiles that can smash into incoming enemy projectiles.

Here are some key questions about the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence, or THAAD, system.

Washington and Seoul say it is to defend South Korea from the North. While tensions on the peninsula have been high for more than six decades, relations have become increasingly strained in recent years. Pyongyang has carried out four nuclear tests as well as a series of missile launches, flexing its military muscle and making progress towards being able to strike the US mainland.

Seoul and Washington began talks on deploying THAAD in February, after the North launched a long-range rocket.

Seoul already has an anti-missile defence based on the US Patriot system, but this can only target missiles at relatively low altitudes. The new system is able to hit missiles at a much greater height, making it more effective against rockets that could be carrying a nuclear warhead.

As the “T” in the name suggests, THAAD can only intercept missiles in their terminal phase, i.e. as they move downwards towards their target, not on their way up.

It does this by using radar to detect an incoming threat, before engaging and identifying the target. Then a launcher – which can carry up to eight interceptors – fires a “kill vehicle” attached to the booster, which hits the incoming missile mid-air. The system can target ballistic missiles both inside and outside the Earth’s atmosphere.

China and Russia have been saying for months that the defence system is unnecessary and would tip the balance of power in the Pacific towards the United States.

Some analysts have suggested Beijing is most concerned that THAAD would allow Washington to better track Chinese missiles in their early stages, undermining the country’s nuclear deterrent.

The first THAAD test flight took place in 2005, according to its US-based developer Lockheed Martin. The first operational deployment was in the US island territory of Guam in 2013, and there are currently five THAAD batteries worldwide, including in the United Arab Emirates.

It is not yet clear exactly where in South Korea the system will be deployed or when it will arrive.

PHNOM PENH – Cambodian premier Hun Sen backed down Friday from a government order requiring journalists to refer to him as “glorious, supreme prime minister and powerful commander” in all news reports.

The edict, which sparked widespread ridicule, was handed down in May while the Ministry of Information issued new threats this week to revoke the licences of any media outlets that failed to use the royally-bestowed title on first reference.

The honorific has no exact English translation but the words taken together mean “glorious, supreme prime minister and powerful commander”.

The order had been ignored by English news outlets and independent radio stations while most Khmer language outlets have long used the title.

But Hun Sen, who has ruled the impoverished country for three decades, made a rare U-turn Friday when he conceded that journalists could decide whether to print the full title.

“As for the use of titles of government leaders, it is not compulsory to write the exact titles if journalists do not want to use them,” the premier wrote on Facebook, a forum he has embraced with gusto in recent months.

Cambodian PM Hun Sen’s party wins election

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Reuters

Hun Sen has dominated Cambodian politics for the past 31 years in a reign marred by accusations of corruption, electoral fraud and rampant rights abuses.

He has come under growing criticism in recent months from rights groups who accuse the strongman of abusing the courts to sideline political rivals ahead of elections in 2018.

On Thursday, the Britain-based watchdog Global Witness released a report accusing the premier and his relatives of carving a $200 million business empire out of the impoverished country’s economy to buttress their political power.

“Behind the scenes of Hun Sen’s dictatorial reign, his family is amassing vast personal fortunes,” the watchdog said, describing a “huge network of secret deal-making, corruption and cronyism which is helping secure the prime minister’s political fortress”.

The government dismissed the report, calling it an effort discredit the premier, but has yet to directly address the specific allegations detailed by researchers.