Chinese authorities are now addicted to traffic fines

M was locked up in November. She did not stand in a square demanding political rights. Nor did she steal from state coffers. Instead, her crime was to ask a deadbeat debtor to pay her back. The local government in Liupanshui, a city in the province of Guizhou, owes Ms Ma, who is a contractor, 220m yuan ($30m) for building schools. Officials had offered her a mere 12m yuan. She refused. Chinese citizens and business owners are increasingly victims of unscrupulous attempts by local governments to shore up their finances....