March 13, 2009
After stabbing two managers with a knife, a laid-off worker jumped off the eighth floor of a factory building in Guangzhou’s Panyu District. He and the two women he stabbed all died.
Today’s New Express reported the incident on the front page with a large photo showing police personnel at the scene. A page-three article revealed that the man had repeated requested compensation in accordance with the law only to be rejected by the factory, and even received a slap on the face by a staff member of foreign nationality during negotiations.
Underneath main image, a headline reads “Fat Xing ridiculously justifies smuggling on his blog.” Internet forums have been buzzing with talk about a blogger who uses the alias “Fat Xing” (阿肥星) on the thatsmetro.com online community, and the New Express picks up the rumors today. Fat Xing claims in his posts that he was originally from Fujian and has been away from home for 10 years, consistent with the bio of notorious fugitive Lai Changxing, who fled to Canada after being convicted of smuggling and corruption in China.
In his “ridiculous justifications” for smuggling, the blogger claims that it was a necessary consequence of international trade barriers, and he also accused Liu Chuanzhi, chairman of Lenovo, as founding the company on smuggling. See Global Voices for translations of excerpts.
So far there is nothing to prove the real identity of the author, or to rule out the possibility that the blogs are part of some kind of practical joke or even a ploy by the website to attract attention.
March 13, 2009
The top headline of The Beijing News announced a list of 198 infrastructure construction projects in Beijing to be started this year. The projects includes a 10-billion-yuan Universal Studios theme park in Beijing’s suburban Tongzhou District, a revolution-themed tourist destination to be built on the current site of the Babaoshan Crematorium, and a second airport.
The main photo shows elementary school students in the city attending Peking Opera class. In an effort to revitalize traditional Chinese culture, the Ministry of Education issued an order to introduce the traditional art to elementary school and middle school curriculum last year.
In response to fears that Peking Opera will put more stress on already overburdened students, the Ministry of Eduction announced that students will not be tested on the new subject.
In the right box underneath the main photo, a headline announced that a new study has put the origins of the Peking Man, an early relative of modern humans, to about 770,000 years ago, 200,000 years older than previously believed.
- New Express (Chinese): Laid-off worker stabbed two managerial employees before committing suicide; Fat Xing blogs in defense of smuggling
- The Beijing News (Chinese): Peking Man turns out 200,000 years older than was previously thought, Beijing Opera enters campus
- Previously on Danwei: Lai Changxing granted work permit in Canada, Peking Opera not compulsory after all