Social Stability - 178. page

According to sources close to the case in China, the true assailant of Todd Bachman, father-in-law of US men’s volleyball head coach Hugh McCutcheon, has yet to be identified. Bachman was fatally stabbed on August 9 while visiting the Drum Tower in Beijing by a knife-wielding Chinese man who, the official Xinhua alleged, leapt to his death. Xinhua identified him as Tang on August 10. However, witnesses closeby indicated that the assailent was a male in a suit who quickly disappeared after the attack, and the person who leapt to their death was a female. Sources suspect the involvement of a faction of the Communist Politburo.

Source: Epoch Times, August 13, 2008
http://epochtimes.com/gb/8/8/13/n2226318.htm

Over ten thousand petitioners are currently being detained in Jiujing Zhuang, a suburb of Beijing, during the Olympics, according to a text message from a rights activist with her real name withheld. Another message sent by this person was a government order targeting hotels, public showering locations, apartment landlords. They were warned not to take in any petitioners during the Beijing Olympics or they could be subjected to a 15 day detention and 1500 yuan penalty.

Source: The Epoch Times, August 12, 2008
http://epochtimes.com/gb/8/8/12/n2225700p.htm

Following the government’s regulations that demonstrations would be allowed in designated parks during the Beijing Olympics, Mr. Li Jincheng and Mr. Liu Xueli applied for and obtained permission to protest in World Park. They were told to come to the authorities to get their written permission on August 9.

But on August 8, Mr. Li mysteriously disappeared near the “Bird’s Nest” Olympic Stadium. The other organizer, Mr. Liu, was also missing. Their protest permit has been invalidated.

Source: Boxun.com, August 10, 2008
http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2008/08/200808102022.shtml

Tang Yongming, a 47 year old man from Hangzhou City, jumped to his death after attacking two Americans and their Chinese tour guide with a knife on August 8, the opening day of the Olympics. An American man was killed and his wife seriously injured.

In a note he left, Tang Yongming said: “The reason I take this extreme action is not cruelty and craziness, I want the world to pay attention to Chinese people’s pain suffered under the Communist Party.”

Source: Boxun.com, August 10, 2008
http://news.boxun.com/forum/200808/boxun2008b/2419.shtml

At 11 a.m. on August 6, a Route 205 bus reportedly exploded at the gate of Qinghua University. Three passengers suffered injuries. At 4:30 p.m. on the same day, a Route 10 bus exploded at Naoshikou Street near Changan Street, a famous street in Beijing that runs through Tiananmen Square.

Per photos taken by eye witness citizens, white powder was scatted everywhere. A middle aged woman suffered from a broken leg. Other injuries were not clear.

Source: EpochTimes.com, August 7, 2008
http://news.epochtimes.com/gb/8/8/7/n2220344.htm

Boxun posted a group of photos from Beijing.

One photo of a poster contains warnings to residents of the 7th district living in the apartment complex of Chinese Academy of Sciences. The photo caption states that the 7th district apartment complex is located across the street from Beijing’s National Stadium [Bird’s Nest]. Through the east side windows, residents will be able to observe the VIPs pass as they enter the stadium.  The poster reads: “On August 2, 5, 8, 24, residents in the 7th district must bring your photo ID with you. For residents with windows on the east side of the building, do not open the windows. Stay away from those windows to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.”

Another photo displayed an Olympic designated traffic lane.  It took space from the regular traffic which has been ordered to be reduced to half of the regular volume. Traffic violators will be imposed with a warning and fines.

Source: Boxun, August, 5, 2008
http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2008/08/200808050609.shtml

Based on a BBC report, on Monday August 4, about 20 citizens who live near Tiananmen held a protest. They are unhappy about the unfair relocation compensation from government-backed developers.

One person said: the developer has no right to seize their properties because of the Olympics, and the citizens should not give up their rights for the Olympics.

The protesters were arrested quickly by the police.

Source:  Chine News Digest, August 5, 2008
http://www.cnd.org/my/modules/wfsection/article.php%3Farticleid=20243

Villages, towns and cities in areas surrounding Beijing recently experienced frequent power outages. Before the 1980’s, the government used to shut off the electricity of nearby cities when major events took place in the capital. But the practice was all but abandoned in recent years, until now.

Rural areas were hit first and for the longest amount of time, followed by low income urban areas, high income districts were next, and government offices were the last to face the outage.

One city in Shandong Province experienced a power outage every other day, each lasting 10 hours.

Source: Boxun, July 31, 2008
http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2008/07/200807310509.shtml