A controversial insurance policy that will protect "good Samaritans" from being sued by elderly people was recently launched in China, news portal cnr.cn reported on Thursday.

新闻门户网站央广网在星期四报道，一个有争议的保险政策近期在中国推出，该政策旨在保护“好心人”不被老年人讹钱。

Alipay, a massively popular third-party online payment platform in China launched its "Support the Elderly" insurance policy in October, offering financial support and legal aid for people sued for compensation by elderly people who blackmail¹ them following accidents in which they are not at fault.

支付宝，中国的大型第三方在线支付平台，在十月推出“扶老人险”，为好心扶老人反被讹的人提供金融支持和法律援助。

In China, there have been several instances in recent years in which people who helped the victims of accidents were then sued by the victims. Often the blackmailer² will claim that the person would only have helped them if they were responsible for the accident.

在中国，近几年来已经发生过一些帮助了受害者反被起诉的事故。通常情况下，敲诈者会认为帮助他们的人就是事故责任人。

Individuals need to pay 3 yuan ($0.5) a year for the insurance, which covers legal fees of up to 20,000 yuan if the person becomes embroiled³ in a so-called good Samaritan court case. The insurance company also provides free legal consultation⁴ for its clients.

参保个人每年需要缴纳3元（0.5美元）的保费，其中包括高达20000元的律师费，如果参保人陷入了所谓的“好心人”案件，保险公司还为客户提供免费法律咨询服务。

Alipay users in 26 cities - including Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing - can purchase the policy online. A total of 26,000 such policies were sold in the first three days after its launch, of which 24,000 were bought by young users, according to Xinhua.

26个城市(包括北京、上海和南京)的支付宝用户都可以在网上购买该保险。据新华社报道，该保险在推出后的三天内售出26000份，其中24000份是年轻用户购买的。

"The insurance will make good Samaritans feel reassured⁵, which may aid the spread of virtue⁶ and positive energy in society," a customer that has bought the policy was quoted by cnr.cn as saying.

“这个保险让'好心人'放心，这可能有助于社会美德和正能量的传播。”央广网引用一位购买了该保险的客户的评论。

"A series of 'good Samaritan' extortion cases have damaged the trust between people, scaring would-be good Samaritans," Tan Qiugui, a law professor at Beijing's Minzu University of China told the Global Times earlier.

北京中央民族大学的法学教授谭秋桂早前告诉《环球时报》，“一系列的'好心人'被勒索案件损害了人与人之间的信任，吓退了潜在的助人为乐者”。

A total of 149 good Samaritan cases occurred in the first nine months of 2015, of which 84 cases were later exposed as cases of extortion. Most blackmailers were not severely⁷ punished by the authorities for their extortion, the cnr.cn reported.

据央广网报道，2015年前九月总共有149起好心人事件，其中84例被爆出是敲诈勒索案。大多数的勒索者没有受到当局的严厉惩罚。