Today in China

At the Tilanqiao Prison in Shanghai, inmates get their sentences reduced if they invent a new technology. For example, a car thief saw his life term reduced to 12 years after inventing an anti-theft device for cars. So far, no less than 132 projects proposed by prisonners have won prizes in different technology competitions.

“I am so grateful to the prison who set up the platform for us to show our gifts,” said an inmate surnamed Zhang. “I was granted a sentence reduction twice and will be released next April.” Zhang, 42, was a post graduate majoring in architecture at one of the city’s top universities when he was sentenced to 10 years for taking bribes in 2001.

A quick search about this Tilanqiao Prison returned some interesting findings. Back in 2004, they conducted the first hearing in a Chinese Prison, seaking the opinion of thousands of inmates about the prison’s management. Since then, the prisonners may get married during their sentences and supermarkets as well as psychological hospitals have been opened in the prison’s walls.

The possibility of reducing a prisonner’s term by contributing to the scientific effort of the country seems another good way to prepare the reinsertion of the prisonners.

Source
Shanghai Daily - 2006 04 08