A university student had been sentenced to death for killing a government official and injuring another, Chinese-language media reported.

Zhou Yichao, who was a student at Zhejiang University, killed an official of Jiaxing City in eastern China's Zhejiang Province when he learned he had been denied a government position because he tested positive for hepatitis B.

Zhou took part in the public servants' recruitment examination for the city in April and won third place in the first round.

The Zhejiang Provincial Government stipulates that the government should not employ people who are hepatitis B positive.

The Jiaxing Intermediate People's Court ruled that Zhou had committed intentional homicide and sentenced him to death.

It was reported that Zhou tore the verdict announcement to pieces when he received it in court. The case of Zhou has drawn people's attention to the rights of Hepatitis B patients in China. A Mr. Wang, host of an Internet forum for Hepatitis B patients, has submitted a report to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, urging it to investigate whether the hepatitis B-biased regulation in Zhejiang Province is against the constitution.

There are 120 million Hepatitis B virus carriers in China, accounting for about 10 percent of the nation's population. Scientific research has shown that the disease is mainly spread through blood, birth and sexual intercourse.

(Shenzhen Daily September 15, 2003)