Chinese Cops Taught How to Beat People: Don't Leave Blood on the Face

More encouraging news from the world's rising superpower.

A training textbook telling urban law enforcers how to use violence has drawn outrage in China, after extracts were published on the web.

The advice includes avoiding witnesses and not worrying whether they will harm the person they are trying to subdue. The most controversial section reads: "In dealing with the subject, take care to leave no blood on the face, no wounds on the body, and no people in the vicinity."

The chengguan are employed to deal with low-level crime and disorder but their reputation for brutality has made them widely reviled and they have been involved in several deaths.

Last year four enforcers beat a man to death after he had used his mobile phone to film a violent confrontation between villagers and officials. In another case, three officers were jailed for stabbing a noodle seller to death in a row over his stall.

Here is a photo of Chinese cops training in riot control.