SHENZHEN: To most people, a pair of bright eyes is the window through which they explore the whole world around them. So vital is that window that they will not abandon it, even as life itself draws to a close.

But two people in Foshan a city 20 kilometers southwest of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province proved to be different. By arranging for their corneas to be donated to those in need after they pass away, they put action behind a simple wish: to let more people see this beautiful world.

Jian Jie donated his corneas to the Zhongshan Eye Center just before his death in February 1999. Xiao Li, a primary school teacher from Shunde District, donated her corneas to an eye bank in Shenzhen before she died in April 2005.

"But when Xiao Li made her donation in 2005, the Zhujiang Times called her 'Foshan's first citizen to donate corneas after death', which was totally inaccurate," said Jian Xianrui, Jian Jie's son, who sued the Zhujiang Times, claiming its report damaged his father's reputation. He sought an apology and 3,000 yuan ($387) in compensation.

"My dad's donation took place six years before that," Jian said. "How did she become the first?"

Jian cited media reports in the Southern Metropolitan News and the New Express News, which called his dad "Foshan's first person who donated corneas".

The court ruled against Jian. "There was no sufficient evidence that Jian Jie's reputation was greatly harmed or any laws supporting Jian Xianrui's requests," the verdict said.

Zheng Jianzhong, a veteran judge explained to China Daily: "To decide whether a person's reputation has been harmed, all of the following four criteria must be met: 1. facts that this person's reputation was really harmed; 2. the behavior by the sued party broke the law; 3. a cause-and-effect relationship between the unlawful behavior and the results it caused; and 4. the sued party behaved in a wrong way deliberately.

"In Jian's case none of these appears to have been met."

The evidence Jian submitted included a cornea donation certificate issued by a Guangdong eye bank and a few letters saying that Jian Jie's family, especially his wife, wept upon hearing people say her husband faked his donation.

Lin Qingyuan, lawyer with the Guangdong Xingchen Law Firm told China Daily: "Although the sued newspaper did not break the law or made the story wrong deliberately, it did provide inaccurate information to its readers and therefore hurt the feelings of Jian's family.

"From that perspective, the newspaper owes Jian's family an apology."

The controversy in Foshan, curiously, has put cornea donation in the spotlight.

(China Daily 02/08/2007 page5)