Beijing police publishes cartoon images of residents who tip off police

Beijing police Thursday publishes cartoon images of Xicheng dama (middle-aged women of Xicheng district) (L) and residents of Chaoyang district (R) on its official account on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like social networking site in China.

Beijing police published cartoon images of residents from two of its districts who have tipped off the police in the capital and greatly helped maintain social order on Thursday, Legal Evening News reported.

The efforts are aimed at encouraging more residents in Beijing to join ranks and tip off the police, Beijing police said on its official account on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like social networking site in China.

China's Internet users have amusingly nicknamed residents of Beijing's Chaoyang district (or acronym BJCYQZ in Chinese pinyin) as the "fifth largest intelligence agency" in the world after the Central Intelligence Agency in the US, the Committee of State Security (KGB) in the former Soviet Union, Mossad in Israel and Military Intelligence 6 (MI6) in the UK.

The nickname came after a number of high-profile Chinese celebrities were found using drugs by the police all based on tips provided by BJCYQZ or residents in Chaoyang.

While Chaoyang residents have earned the title of the "fifth largest intelligence agency" in the world, their peers in Xicheng district prove they are no second.

A total of 11,937 tips have been reported to police by Xicheng residents in the first half of this year. Among them, 72 were related to terrorism cases. Most of these residents are aged 58 to 65 and women take up 70 percent of the total number, gaining the group the nickname Xicheng dama (middle-aged women).