July 13, 2009
A student at Beijing’s University of Science and Technology took two hostages at knife-point at an on-campus bank yesterday. He demanded 100,000 yuan, and waved around a bottle of unidentified liquid to prevent anyone from approaching him.
The student fled the scene after the money was handed over. He was found and taken into custody by police about five hours later.
The robber, whom the newspaper identified by the surname Li, was admitted to the university in 2004 but had not graduated, likely because he was caught cheating on an exam in January 2008.
An eyewitness said that a security guard had been present at the scene but did nothing to stop the crime. Students who had close contact with Li suggested that he might have psychiatric problems, and an unverified rumor reported by The Beijing News says that Li left a suicide note before committing his offense.
Today’s papers have good news about three miners who were rescued after being trapped in a flooded coal mine for 25 days. According to the report, they “remained conscious and could talk.”
On June 17, the coal mine in Qinlong, Guizhou Province flooded. One miner was confirmed to have died, and 15 were reported missing. Rescue work to find the remaining 12 is still going on.
In a move likely related to the recent riots in Urumqi, the central government recently released a new set of measures designed to hold government officials accountable for their handling of mass incidents. According to the new rules, government officials whose mismanage of developing mass unrest causes serious consequences or negative effects can expect a range of punishments, including mandatory public apologies, suspension of duties, forced resignation, and firing, depending on the seriousness of the mistakes.
Officials who are removed from office, or who accept responsibility and resign, will be prevented from assuming comparable positions for one year.