BEIJING - An attacker with a cleaver hacked to death seven children and two adults at a kindergarten in northwest China on Wednesday, the latest in a string of savage assaults on the country’s schools. Eleven other children were wounded.

The killer, 48-year-old Wu Huanming, returned home after the attack on the outskirts of the city of Hanzhong and committed suicide, the local government reported.

The official Xinhua News Agency said Wu owned the property used by the school and had argued with the school’s manager, who was among the victims.

It was the fifth major assault on young students in China since late March and occurred despite increased security at schools countrywide, with gates and security cameras installed at some schools and additional police and guards posted at entrances. It was not clear if security had been beefed up at the school attacked Wednesday.

The latest deaths were sure to fuel speculation about why assailants — usually lone males — are targeting schools.

Sociologists say the recent attacks that have killed 17 and wounded more than five dozen reflect the tragic consequences of ignoring mental illness and rising stress resulting from huge social inequalities in China’s fast-changing society.

“The perpetrators have contracted a ’social psychological infectious disease’ that shows itself in a desire to take revenge on society,” said Zhou Xiaozheng of Beijing’s Renmin University.

“They pick children as targets because they are the weakest and most vulnerable,” Zhou said.

The recent attacks are classic “copycat crimes,” the effects of which may be amplified by media coverage, Zhou said.

Limited media coverage
After past attacks, authorities have banned or limited media coverage, and early reports on Wednesday’s attack were removed from Chinese websites or moved to less prominent pages. There was no mention of it on state television’s national evening news report.

The apparent attempts to play down the assault may indicate fears that coverage inspires other assailants, but authorities may also have wanted to avoid the embarrassing news, especially during the World Expo in Shanghai, a pet government project.

The attack began at about 8:20 a.m., as children were arriving at the private Shengshui Temple Kindergarten in Hanzhong’s Nanzheng county, a Hanzhong government statement said. The area is on the city’s rural outskirts in a relatively poor part of the country, and images posted on the Internet showed the school, which had only about 20 students, housed in a tumbledown two-story farmhouse.

Wu killed the school’s manager, 50-year-old Wu Hongying, and a student on the spot, then hacked at 18 others, the statement and Xinhua said. Six students and Wu Hongying’s 80-year-old mother later died in the hospital, the reports said. None of the 11 others hospitalized was in immediate danger, it said.

Wu is a common Chinese surname and it wasn’t clear if the assailant and administrator were related.

Citing the police, Xinhua said Wu had rented his house to Wu Hongying for the kindergarten without government approval. He then demanded the property back, but Wu Hongying had asked to hold onto it until the children went on summer vacation.

The ages of the seven children killed were not disclosed, but kindergarten students would typically be 5 years old or younger. Xinhua said they were five boys and two girls.

Problem under control?
State media have steered clear of examining what might be motivating school attackers, preferring to focus on increases in security.

The government has sought to show it has the problem under control, mindful especially of worries among middle-class families who, limited in most cases to one child due to population control policies, invest huge amounts of money and effort to raise their offspring.

Recent scandals in which children have been the main victims have sparked public anger and occasional protests, such as when at least 3,000 children around the country were found to have lead poisoning from polluting factories built too close to villages, and when more than 300,000 infants were sickened by tainted baby milk powder.

The statement from the Hanzhong city government after Wednesday’s attack vowed to “leave no stone unturned, learn from the mistakes, and strictly ensure nothing happens like this again.”

The city government earlier reported that about 2,000 police officers and security guards had been detailed to patrol public schools, kindergartens and surrounding areas beginning last week. The city in Shaanxi province has a population of nearly 4 million.

Parents and grandparents waiting to pick up children at schools in Beijing and Shanghai said they were reassured by the increased security.

“When we hear about those attacks on children, all parents worry. We don’t let the child walk home alone,” said Guo Xiumei, 52, waiting to pick up her 7-year-old grandson at Beijing’s Yonganli Elementary School. Two police officers and a pair of security guards flanked the downtown school’s tall metal gate.

In Shanghai, a father waiting in his car outside the Aiguo Elementary School, where a single uniformed policeman stood watch at the gate, said he would adjust his work schedule to drop off and pick up his daughter.

“Who knows how those people think? They shouldn’t take out their dissatisfaction with society on innocent children. It’s not fair,” said the man, who gave only his surname, Su.

The string of school assaults began with an attack on a primary school in March in the city of Nanping in Fujian province where eight children were slashed to death by a former community clinic doctor with a history of mental health problems. Since then, dozens have been wounded in similar attacks.

Source (article): MSNBC

Source (picture): CHINADIGITALTIMES, THEEPOCHTIMES

XIANGNING, China - Mine officials ignored safety rules and danger warnings in their haste to open a coal mine in northern China, leading to a flood that has trapped 153 workers since the weekend, a government safety body said Wednesday.

Officials say there have been no signs of life at the Wangjialing mine in Shanxi province since 108 miners escaped or were rescued following the flooding Sunday.

Desperate relatives have traveled from afar to the site to demand that efforts to save the missing miners be speeded up.

About 1,000 rescuers have been working around the clock at the mine in southern Shanxi province, tunneling and laying pipes to drain away water, but hopes are fading.

The flood was triggered after workers who were tunneling broke through into an old shaft filled with water, the State Administration of Work Safety said in a notice posted on its Web site.

It also said the shaft became overcrowded as extra tunneling crews were assigned in a rush to finish the work, and that warning signs went unheeded.

“Water leaks were found numerous times on underground shafts,” it said, but the mine’s managers “did not follow the safety instructions or guidelines when the leaks were reported and did not take the actions necessary to evacuate people.”

Families demand action
Dozens of family members have turned up at the mine demanding explanations and quicker action in heated confrontations with officials.

By Wednesday, most of the relatives had been moved off the site to a nearby town and security was beefed up. The main, winding mountain road leading to the mine was sealed off by police, who allowed only authorized vehicles to pass.

At the site, dozens of police officers, many carrying batons, stood guard around workers’ dormitories, preventing the remaining two dozen or so family members from getting close to the mine shaft.

“They’ve been standing here all night,” said Wang Wenkui, 24, a miner who lives at the dormitory. “It’s because of the family members who were here yesterday. They don’t want them to cause trouble.”

Cao Yuying, 30, from Henan province, said he was waiting for news about his 45-year-old uncle who is stuck below, but was getting impatient.

“They are not working fast enough. I believe they are not actually interested in rescue work. They are just trying to resume production,” said Cao, who added police and government officials had tried to keep him in a hotel in a nearby city, but he had made it out to the mine at night.

“I will wait here until they rescue people,” he said.

‘We are the weak ones’
A Wangjialing miner said workers were angered because officials did not respond to their demands for answers.

“The victims stuck underground may not be my family but they are like my brothers. Our hearts are filled with anger,” said 40-year-old Zhong Nanxiang, who has been a miner for 20 years.

“But who can we turn to for an answer?” he said. “The leaders won’t talk to us. We are from the lowest level of society. We are the weak ones. You call this the People’s Republic of China?”

The preliminary findings of the safety body confirmed what some miners and state media have said in the days following the flood. The official China Daily reported Wednesday that managers of the company in charge of construction have gone missing. It said they were the ones who ignored alarms about water leaks.

It could prove to be the deadliest mine accident in China since a coal mine flood in eastern Shandong province in August 2007 killed 172 miners. The latest disaster is a setback to recent, significant improvements in Chinese mines, which have a dire safety record. They are the world’s deadliest, claiming thousands of lives each year.

Rescue efforts continued with large cranes lifting heavy metal pipes off trucks and onto the ground where workers measured and cut them. Officials in green military-style coats and red safety helmets huddled together in discussions around the entrance to a shaft, pointing to sheets of papers in their hands. Workers bent over to check levels of large oxygen tanks meant for ensuring sufficient air supply to rescuers underground.

The work safety agency said 261 workers were inside the Wangjialing mine when it flooded Sunday, and 108 escaped or were rescued. The 153 workers who remained underground were believed to be trapped in nine different places in the mine, which was flooded with up to 5 million cubic feet of water, state television said.

In an indication of the slow progress, the official Xinhua News Agency reported that as of Tuesday night, pumping had dropped the water level in the flooded shaft by about six inches.

The mine, which was not yet in operation when the accident happened, covers about 70 square miles. Xinhua said it was expected to produce 6 million tons of coal annually once it opened later this year.

Accidents killed 2,631 coal miners in China last year, down from 6,995 deaths in 2002, the most dangerous year on record, according to the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety. That is an average of more than seven miners a day in 2009, down from 19 in 2002.

Source (article): MSNBC

Source (picture): CHINADAILY

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China won their elusive prize in the pairs competition at the Vancouver Olympics Monday, coming out of retirement to add a gold medal to their two previous bronzes.

It wasn’t the best skate of their career, but it was good enough for gold — and that was all that mattered.

Their score of 216.57 points was more than three points ahead of teammates Pang Qing and Tong Jian. When Shen and Zhao finished their routine, Zhao knelt to the ice, burying his face in his hands while his wife patted his back. He pumped his fist several times while she beamed, her grin so bright it could light up the entire arena.

“It’s been so many years,” Zhao said, “to finally get this gold today is so exciting.”

Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany — in second place after the short program — dropped to the bronze medal after a flawed free skate.
“I think everyone knows we’re a little disappointed,” Szolkowy said. “Our performance tonight was not the one we wanted to show.”

It is the first time since 1960 that a Russian or Soviet couple is not atop the Olympic podium, ending one of the longest winning streaks in sports. Even more surprisingly, the Russians are leaving empty-handed, with no medals of any color in the event.

Shen and Zhao, bronze medalists at the last two Olympic Games, retired in 2007. They got married, and lived the easy life of retirees, doing shows and appearances. But something was lacking — that gold medal.

They returned this season and despite being 31 and 36, ancient in pairs skating, dominated everywhere they skated. And the Olympic competition was no different.

“So many years have been devoted to this dream,” Zhao said.
Skating last, and knowing the couples who could steal their gold had made errors, they performed with the passion that has become their new trademark. The interpretation to “Adagio in G Minor” was mesmerizing, with their choreography perfectly in tune to their music.

“To get the figure skating gold and silver has been a hope for so long,” Shen said. “Now it’s been realized.”

Shen and Zhao did have one mistake, and it was shocking — she slipped down his back during one of their lifts, a move that is normally automatic for them. The crowd gasped, and a look of exasperation crossed her face.
But they recovered immediately, and finished the program with a beautiful carry lift that circled half of the ice.

Shen and Zhao have long been pushed by their Chinese teammates, and Monday was no different. While Savchenko and Szolkowy and Russia’s Yuko Kavaguti and Aleksandr Smirnov stumbled, Pang and Tong soared.

Pang and Tong won the world title in 2006, but have since struggled to recapture that brilliance. The pair picked the right place to do it, winning the free skate in Vancouver to jump from fourth after the short program to the silver medal.

They have stunning athleticism and tricks that defy gravity and comprehension. Their throw jumps were, by far, the best of the night, her skate blades carving the ice on the landings with the precision of a surgeon’s knife.

But like Shen and Zhao, what’s most impressive is how the quality of Pang and Tong’s performance has grown. Their interpretation of “Impossible Dream” could play on any Broadway stage, and the flamenco portion of their program was sizzling.

“Every moment is perfection,” Tong said.

They beamed for the last 30 seconds of their program, even through a difficult lift. When they finished, he bowed down and kissed the ice as she skated around him, disbelief and joy crossing her face.

Savchenko and Szolkowy, winners of the last two world titles, were just .70 points behind Shen and Zhao after the short program, a margin so small the Germans could have changed the standings with just one element.

Szolkowy, who has a long history of botching their jumps, had to fight to save their opening triple toe loop-double toe sequence. But he had no chance on their side-by-side double axels, drawing a gasp from the crowd as he fell to the ice, taking their gold medal chances along with him.

They were also noticeably out-of-sync on their combination spin; he came to an upright position while she was still turning, crouched low to the ice.

“It’s the Winter Olympic Games, one long program in four years — of course you want to skate clean. And you have to skate clean if you want the gold medal,” Szolkowy said. “This one chance we had, and maybe it’s too much.”

Any chance Kavaguti and Smirnov had of keeping that Russian winning streak going ended when she bailed out on their throw quadruple salchow and turned it into a triple. Not a good one, either, since she skidded and twisted across the ice on the landing.

Despite their low finishes — the best U.S. couple has always finished seventh or better — the inexperienced Americans showed promise. If they can improve their singles elements, they have a real shot at climbing the international ranks, maybe even as high as the medals podium in 2014.

Evora and Ladwig’s signature carry lift alone is worth the price of admission. With her hands outstretched, he supports her one-handed for most of the lift. When he does finally use his second hand, it’s only because he’s picked up one foot and is skating backward. Try doing that on flat ground, let alone on a sheet of unforgiving ice.

But they need to clean up those side-by-side jumps and spins. Evora two-footed the first jump in their triple toe-double toe combo and he doubled it. She also turned out of the landing on their double axels. Denney and Barrett’s side-by-side triple toes were downgraded to doubles, and each erred on their double axel sequence.

“It’s an inspiration for me to see these Olympic champions, and what it takes is a lifetime of work and sacrifices,” Evora said. “So we know there is still hope for us in the future.”

Source (article): MSNBC

Source (picture): CHINESELOOP, SPORTS.STV.TV

The embattled Chinese Communists break through Nationalist enemy lines and begin an epic flight from their encircled headquarters in southwest China. Known as Ch’ang Cheng–the “Long March”–the retreat lasted 368 days and covered 6,000 miles, nearly twice the distance from New York to San Francisco.

Civil war in China between the Nationalists and the Communists broke out in 1927. In 1931, Communist leader Mao Zedong was elected chairman of the newly established Soviet Republic of China, based in Kiangsi province in the southwest. Between 1930 and 1934, the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek launched a series of five encirclement campaigns against the Soviet Republic. Under the leadership of Mao, the Communists employed guerrilla tactics to resist successfully the first four campaigns, but in the fifth, Chiang raised 700,000 troops and built fortifications around the Communist positions. Hundreds of thousands of peasants were killed or died of starvation in the siege, and Mao was removed as chairman by the Communist Central Committee. The new Communist leadership employed more conventional warfare tactics, and its Red Army was decimated.

With defeat imminent, the Communists decided to break out of the encirclement at its weakest points. The Long March began at 5:00 p.m. on October 16, 1934. Secrecy and rear-guard actions confused the Nationalists, and it was several weeks before they realized that the main body of the Red Army had fled. The retreating force initially consisted of 86,000 troops, 15,000 personnel, and 35 women. Weapons and supplies were borne on men’s backs or in horse-drawn carts, and the line of marchers stretched for 50 miles. The Communists generally marched at night, and when the enemy was not near, a long column of torches could be seen snaking over valleys and hills into the distance.

The first disaster came in November, when Nationalist forces blocked the Communists’ route across the Hsiang River. It took a week for the Communists to break through the fortifications and cost them 50,000 men–more than half their number. After that debacle, Mao steadily regained his influence, and in January he was again made chairman during a meeting of the party leaders in the captured city of Tsuni. Mao changed strategy, breaking his force into several columns that would take varying paths to confuse the enemy. There would be no more direct assaults on enemy positions. And the destination would now be Shensi Province, in the far northwest, where the Communists hoped to fight the Japanese invaders and earn the respect of China’s masses.

After enduring starvation, aerial bombardment, and almost daily skirmishes with Nationalist forces, Mao halted his columns at the foot of the Great Wall of China on October 20, 1935. Waiting for them were five machine-gun- and red-flag-bearing horsemen. “Welcome, Chairman Mao,” one said. “We represent the Provincial Soviet of Northern Shensi. We have been waiting for you anxiously. All that we have is at your disposal!” The Long March was over.

The Communist marchers crossed 24 rivers and 18 mountain ranges, mostly snow-capped. Only 4,000 troops completed the journey. The majority of those who did not perished. It was the longest continuous march in the history of warfare and marked the emergence of Mao Zedong as the undisputed leader of the Chinese Communists. Learning of the Communists’ heroism and determination in the Long March, thousands of young Chinese traveled to Shensi to enlist in Mao’s Red Army. After fighting the Japanese for a decade, the Chinese Civil War resumed in 1945. Four years later, the Nationalists were defeated, and Mao proclaimed the People’s Republic of China. He served as chairman until his death in 1976.

HISTORY.COM
Date: 2008-10-16