block over a robbery that cost Jiang five of his medals. In the evening of August 16, the alleged robber, Xu Axiao, from Zhejiang Province, sneaked into Jiang's building and then climbed onto his balcony through a window in the hallway. Xu allegedly grabbed cash and other valuable items, including four of Jiang's world champion medals, a medal that the State Council awarded Jiang for his hard work and jewelry Jiang's wife, Wu Yufang, wore when she received a best actress award.

Jiang, a native of Guangdong Province, won six world championships in the 1980s, and his Shanghainese wife, Wu, won the national best actress award in 1985. The family was traveling when the theft happened. Xu was arrested in connection with the theft.

Investigators found that Xu had had a job installing air-conditioners, so moving around on high floors was not difficult for him. They said he was involved in more than 30 thefts in the block Some of the jewelry that had been stolen was recovered at Xu's residence. However, Xu said he threw away the medals because they were not made of real gold.

He said he could not remember where they were. The loss caused the couple mental anguish, according to Wu Dong, the attorney "Picturing his medals in some dirty garbage bin made Jiang very, very sad," feel insecure. The two companies' faulty design and careless management made the The couple is seeking 50,000 yuan (US$6,250) for economic losses and 100,000 "The security door of the building did not work that day, and the management company did not fix it in time," the wife said.

"The security guards don't check the identity of visitors carefully. Also, the management company forbade us from installing windows on our balcony, which "The lamps in the block are dim, which also helped conceal the thief. And the across was easy.

" comment after the hearing. No verdict has been reached yet.