What’s the truth behind
On June 28th, nearly 10 thousand Weng’an locals fought with police in a demonstration for justice relating to a 16-year-old girl’s death, which unfortunately lost control and finally set the local police bureau on fire.
The dead girl’s name was Li. She was with her classmate Wang, who was a girl, and two other teenage boy who possibly were Wang’s friends. Let the time go back; at 6pm June 21, Wang came to Li’s rent place and asked her out, and nearly quarter past 11 pm, Wang called Li’s brother to tell him Li would stay at her home, and at 21 minutes past 12am of June 22, Wang called Li’s brother again and told him Li drown herself out of despair and homesick. 36 minuts past 12 am of June 22, Li’s brother arrived at the spot with police whom he random met on the road and found two teenage boys there with Wang.
Li’s family thought Wang and the two boys were the suspects. But local police provided a postmortem report that stated the death reason as drown, and avoid proving whether Li was sexually harmed, which led to her death.
Now this point, how locals rallied to torch the government building. First, they heard one of three suspects was released because he was son of local county chief or county communist party chief . Second, they heard Li’s uncle was beat dead when he was taken to police station. Third, they heard the uncle’s wife became insane out of police’s beating and threatening.
What’s the ending/ Li was buried, and a third and final postmortem report will out on 8th July. Local government Communist Party Chief and the county Chief were both removed from their post.
Some truth. Li ’s uncle was not dead, and Li’s aunt was not insane, but it was true Li’s uncle was beat by unknown men outside police station. 3 suspects’ parents were ordinary local farmers.
Some assume that: Li refused two boys to copy her answer during the secondary school graduation exam, and two boys wanted to teach her a lesson. They raped Li, and pushed her down in the river. In a similar case many years ago, a girl was raped and killed by three men, who escaped law’s punishment because some unknown reason. Some people compared two cases to think that someone inside government wanted to cover up for the criminal.
Weng’an was not a heavenly peace place, but a place full of crime, thanks to local gangsters. There were a lot of gangs, and they have been living threats on daily basis to local citizens. Local police certainly failed to protect people, and there were deep hatred and disappointment towards invalid government officials, especially police station, so it was ruined by fire.
What’s the truth? Shall we wait until the report is out? But to those who destory police station, did they do anything wrong, and should they answer for their doings?
July 9th, 2008 at 12:21 am
There are many factors to this story and to this problem. One is the corrupt police/government, as you mentioned, it’s known as a place ‘overrun’ by crime - don’t think that it’s not due to paying off officials or having relationships within the system. In addition there is the single incident in which a young girl died - possibly raped, which acted as a straw breaking the camels back. If it’s found that the girl was raped and murdered, I’d like to see real justice done - and heads roll. The people who burned the buildings certainly had some “right of passion”, but at the same time, taking protest to an extent it erupts into violence is very subjective in terms of morally correctness. I am curious some people’s thoughts on this.
July 9th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
I was back east in at my high school reunion and missed the story almost completely. Two weeks of a case of beer a day and no sleep takes its toll at my age.
What strikes me is that the story was reported at all. Each year camera phone videos creep up of riots in China that never made it to the news. Why did this story make it? Is the CP loosing control of media or was this actually taking care of a problem of local corruption by using it as an example to other petty officials on the take. According to our reporter friend, that’s usually how it works when story like this is reported.
The consequence of prolonged inequity and injustice is the threat of insurrection, isn’t it? It’s the same here as there. But I think this may be glimpse of the future if the economic miracle doesn’t start to trickle down a little faster.
July 9th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Different subject but I just heard from a Mongolian friend who had to do a layover in Beijing that all Mongolians, Uighurs and Tibetans are banned from staying in Beijing until after the Olympics. He was flying in internationally and had to do a layover until the next day. He went into the city to find a hotel but none would take him and told him flat out he couldn’t stay in the city.
If this is true, it’s disgraceful.
July 10th, 2008 at 12:41 am
RE: Mongolian friend
It can’t be totally true, I have a friend from Mongolia (not inner mongolia) who lives in Beijing. It may be true for some tourists, or hotels may have been ‘asked’ not to allow certain minorities to stay during the Olympics, but that so far hasn’t affected people I know who live there and are of one of those 3 minorities. Plus I’m sure there are some hotels owned by minorities in Beijing who would refuse that policy. If it is the case that officials asked hotels to refuse minorities, that is indeed disgusting, and I would love some sort of evidence of that to come out and shame Beijing for that kind of policy.
RE: “The consequence of prolonged inequity and injustice is the threat of insurrection”
The history of mankind has proven this over, and over, and over, and over, and over. You’re right about the trickle happening too slowly and it will definitely come to bite some ass as long as China keeps booming at an upward-bell-curve rate and inflation/rising cost of living smacks the povertous (not a word..thought I’d stomp that one out) many into a rage.
July 15th, 2008 at 10:06 am
@Rick, Admin
I’m still curious as to why this one was reported and others go unreported. Any thoughts?
Brian
July 15th, 2008 at 10:29 am
@Rick
I don’t think that the police can do much about the minority residents of the Beijing but the reports from Nei Mongol get worse. Another friend who works for a tour agency wrote to us that the police told the agency not to send Mongolians or Uighers to Beijing until after the Olympics. So the tour company is essentially shut down for now. I’ve heard about a ban from 3 different sources now it appears that the PRC is completely unselfconscious of how such a ban appears to the outside world.
The kid who told us about the tour company asked us in his if it’s normal to ban minorities during the Olympics. I’m not joking. I was on the fence about the OG until now. But by banning people with disabilities and now their own minorities, I’m fed up. The PRC should never have been granted the games. I’m not watching.
July 15th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
I might go to Beijing and wear a full blown minority costume and see if they permit me entrance.
July 15th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
RE: “I might go to Beijing and wear a full blown minority costume and see if they permit me entrance”
Can you also go in drag and while sitting in a wheelchair? That I’d pay to see. Good luck buddy!
July 16th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
@Brian
RE: “Another friend who works for a tour agency wrote to us that the police told the agency not to send Mongolians or Uighers to Beijing until after the Olympics.”
Can you MSN me or send me a hotmail regarding this? rick_harcus@hotmail.com
My friend at the AP would LOVE a story like this. Seriously, if there’s any quantifiable evidence of this, it would be big.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:26 am
what about the geo-political aspect? whatever else it is, the olympics are still the greatest show on earth. a show, a spectacle, a facade. being seen as a gigantic monolith of a billion united Han works to china’s advantage. showing dis-unity does not. the chinese turned the number 1 nation in the world into a laughingstock on the uighur question; what reason do the chinese have to believe the same trick won’t work on nations with lesser resources such as India or Australia?