HK court freezes Gome founder's assets

One might think that Gome founder Huang Guangyu might be getting sick of being in trouble. Apparently not: Today, Huang and his wife Du Juan are being accused of yet more securities fraud, specifically for manipulations related to Gome’s recent share offering in Hong Kong. In response the Hong Kong court has ordered some of Huang’s assets frozen, specifically the US$214.1 million in Gome shares they hold. Huang is not the only one in trouble. US brand shoe maker Timberland (not to be confused with the alternatively spelled hip hop artist), famous for making tough hiking boots for those whose SUVs never exit the inner ring roads, is wiping some thousand-year egg off of its face for buying from suppliers which are – like Huang Guangyu – repeat offenders. Shanghai Richina Leather has been cited by pollution watchdogs every year for the last six years, mostly for exceeding emission limits. Falcon Tannery violated in water pollution limits in 2004, 2005 and 2008. Timberland, which markets itself as environmentally responsible, is under pressure from NGOs to put its money where its boots are. Finally, dogs are in trouble. State media is now blaming a dog for the outbreak of pneumonic plague in Qinghai. Apparently the dog caught the plague by eating a dead, infected marmot. We expect the mildest reaction to this to be a regional dog cull, along the lines of those conducted in Yunnan and Shandong recently. At worst, we might be looking at a canine version of the Campaign against the Sparrows.