【英语中国】骗局与丑闻笼罩世博会

The 2010 World Expo in Shanghai has already been declared an official success. But, like perhaps any event of this scale, the six-month Expo has also been a hotspot for scams and scandal--despite a massive effort by Chinese police and officials to ensure it proceeds smoothly. Chinese media report that some 60 suspects have been arrested this year for theft, swindling, and intellectual-property rights crimes related to the Expo, and that authorities are also working to prevent commercial bribery and construction fraud during the event. Here is some of the Expo misbehavior:

1. Fake disabled people. Visitors to the exhibits are discovering that there is no better way to beat the long lines at popular pavilions than to fake a disability and move to a much shorter queue. From the unusual rise in wheelchair rentals alone, Expo organizers suspect that thousands of people are faking disabilities every day, according to a Shanghai Daily article. The park has fought back by requiring disabled people to show a government-issued ID proving their disability. Now, fake government IDs certifying a disability are on the rise.

2. Latvian scandal. Aerodium, the company behind the Latvian pavilion's 'vertical wind tunnel,' is accusing the Latvian Investment and Development Agency, or LIDA, a state institution, of asking for a heavy bribe in order to seal the $4.4 million Expo deal. The public scandal has turned ugly as LIDA's director and the head of Aerodium trade personal barbs and insults, according to the Baltic Times.

3. Questionable creativity. A promotional song for the Expo called 'Right Here Waiting for You in 2010' was silenced after a flurry of furious accusations that it was plagiarized from a song written by Japanese pop singer Mayo Okamoto. Chinese Expo authorities are reportedly going to pay $3.2 million in copyright-infringement fees to make the mess go away. Meanwhile, many observers have raised the question: Doesn't Expo mascot Haibao look suspiciously like the American claymation star Gumby?

4. Fakes of all kinds. Fake Expo tickets, fake hotel reservations, fake merchandise, mountains of fake Haibao, and now fake ATMs. A bogus cash machine that steals money and user information was discovered in Beijing, raising fears that this innovative scam might migrate to the Expo, which has more than 100 ATMs and bank outlets to service the flood of foreign visitors. The Shanghai Public Security Bureau has already cracked hundreds of credit-card fraud cases, though most were before the Expo's opening, according to China Daily. Now police will have to be on the lookout for rogue ATMs.

中国已宣布2010年上海世博会正式成功。但尽管中国警方和官员采取了大规模行动以确保世博会进展顺利，或许像任何此类规模的活动一样，长达六个月的世博会已经成为骗局与丑闻的热点地区。中国媒体称，今年已有60名嫌疑人因与世博会相关的盗窃、诈骗和知识产权案件而被捕，并且当局还正在努力防止在世博会期间出现商业贿赂和建筑欺诈事件。下面让我们看一看与世博会有关的不端行为。

1. 假残疾人。参观世博会的游客发现热门场馆外均排起了长龙，而假装残疾人可以排一条短得多的队，没有比这更好的办法了。《上海日报》文章称，世博会组织者发现轮椅出租率不正常的增高，因此怀疑每天有数千名游客假冒残疾人。为了应对这一情况，园区要求残障人士出示由政府颁发的残疾人证。如今，假残疾人证又开始增多。

2. 拉脱维亚丑闻。拉脱维亚馆“垂直风道”的承建商──加拿大Aerodium公司指责拉脱维亚国家机构──拉脱维亚投资与发展局(Latvian Investment and Development Agency ，简称LIDA)在与其签订价值440万美元的世博合同期间向其索取巨额贿赂。据《波罗的海时报》 (Baltic Times)报道，LIDA的负责人与Aerodium公司贸易部的负责人相互嘲讽和辱骂，导致这起公共丑闻愈演愈烈。

3. 受到质疑的创造力。一首名为《2010等你来》的世博会推广歌曲被指抄袭日本流行歌手冈本真夜(Mayo Okamoto)所写的一首老歌。在受到狂风骤雨般的猛烈指责之后，这首歌遭禁。据报道，中国世博当局将支付320万美元的侵权费以了结此事。与此同时，许多观察人士也提出一个问题：世博会吉祥物海宝与美国粘土卡通明星Gumby不也相像到令人生疑的地步吗？

4. 各类作假行为。假的世博会门票、假的酒店预订、假的商品、大量的假海宝，现在又出现了假的ATM机。北京发现了会盗取资金和用户信息的假冒自动提款机，不禁让人担心这种新发明的骗局或许也溜进了世博园区。园区内有100多个ATM机和银行网点为人山人海的外国游客服务。据《中国日报》称，上海市公安局已破获了数百起信用卡诈骗案，但这些案件大多发生在世博会开幕之前。现在警方将不得不留意假冒的ATM机。