Details still sketchy, but it looks like a knife wielding Chinese man attacked a U.S. couple, who were in-laws to the coach of the U.S. Men’s Volleyball team. A U.S. man was killed and his wife was injured. The attacker committed suicide. AP article here. AP video here.
U.S. Tourist Killed in Beijing
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{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
See the Chinese gov’n was worried about the foreigners going in to their so-called “perfect country” and causing a mess they didn’t even think of their own people doing the same thing.
I bet they will say violence like that doesn’t happen often, and that it’s do to the large presence of foreigners.
I hope nothing else like that happens again.
No hat tip, Wangkon?
http://www.rjkoehler.com/2008/.....ent-179899
I wonder if they’ll sweep this under the rug this like they downplayed the terrorist attack that killed 16 the other day.
j, the Chinese were very worried about “their own people” doing something, especially the Uighurs.
“See the Chinese gov’n was worried about the foreigners going in to their so-called “perfect country” and causing a mess they didn’t even think of their own people doing the same thing.”
Exactly. A Korean who studies in Beijing complained on the news last night that the restrictions against foreigners are so harsh that it was ruining the games. She threw in at the end that if people were treated like that in Korea, they’d riot in the streets.
#3 – She’s damn right. If the Korean Government treated foreigners with suspicion and threw a load of restrictions on them, Korean nationals would take the streets en masse and there’d be protests like never before.
It is appearing more and more evident that a Chinese city can’t hold the games. Is today’s Olympic Beijing really the city of Beijing? Factories closed, driving restricted, and people deported from the city boundaries, business restricted in operations, a gloss of goodwill for foreigners added in too. Could the real Beijing hold the games? The Chinese government has given us the answer, and it is a NO. Only the modified city, that doesn’t hold to reality as a living, breathing place is holding the Games.
Craig, Seoul knocked down unsightly homes along major highways and it sent the homeless outside the city. Los Angeles restricted driving to clean up the air and do something about the traffic. A lot of the stuff Beijing’s doing is stuff that’s already been done in Olympic cities.
Too bad I’ve got to get ready for heading back to Korea real soon, or else I could join the 10,000 furious Americans going to San Francisco to block all the traffic through Chinatown.
Does anyone else find this rather suspicious ?
This has “government/police” cover-up written all over it. I mean, what better way to quickly end the matter than forced “suicide” ?
The last thing the Chinese gov’t wants is a diplomatic row over a murder suspect, so better to have no suspect at all. Case closed.
I just pissed off a Chinese national friend on Messenger.
Glowing about the opening ceremony, she said, “it’s like tell you the whole history of chinese culture, 5000years,traditional culture and modern culture”
I asked her if they including China’s participation in the Korean War.
Went over like a lead balloon. I’ll be sure not to ask about Tibetans or North Korean refugees.
“I asked her if they including China’s participation in the Korean War.
Went over like a lead balloon. I’ll be sure not to ask about Tibetans or North Korean refugees.”
Didn’t notice any obvious references to the Great Leap Forward either.
wow, GongAn threw him over a building, that’s what happenned. Great exhitbition of human right, y’all.
They skipped the Cultural Revolution with the teenaged Red Guards destroying a whole mess of that cultural heritage!
Someone else noticed how they skipped the last 150 years in the presentation.
That being said, it was probably the coolest Olympic ceremony I’ve seen.
The real interesting question is, how will Americans react when China wins?
We all know that the country that gets the most gold medals in these games gets to rule the world.
Oh wait…I’m thinking of wargames not swimming.
/yawn woohoo for more “sports.”
Gee… I wonder why the Americans didn’t do a skit on slavery in Atlanta or LA, or the Australians throwing ‘abos’ in boarding schools in their opening ceremonies? I’m sure London will do a great skit on the Britannia forcing Chinese to buy opium to settle trade imbalances.
Give the Beijing Olympics bitch fest a rest. You guys are becoming worse than whining beef protesters looking for the Chinese bogeyman (as opposed to the typical American bogeyman) in every thing you see.
Kilgore, the difference is that nearly all other countries are content to merely entertain, rather than beat their chests about their cultural history in front of the rest of the world.
While these opening ceremonies were impressive, they were also incredibly nationalistic.
The real interesting question is, how will Americans react when China wins?
With relief at the airfare our athletes will save by hopping aboard all those flying pigs headed across the Pacific?
Anyway, bravo to the ROK kicking some ass. Just watched Park Tae-hwan: awesome!
#16: Point well taken, but doesn’t it seem like we should appreciate what they didn’t brag about even more than what they did? Check out what Moscow did in ‘80.
“Gee… I wonder why the Americans didn’t do a skit on slavery in Atlanta or LA, or the Australians throwing ‘abos’ in boarding schools in their opening ceremonies? I’m sure London will do a great skit on the Britannia forcing Chinese to buy opium to settle trade imbalances.”
I can’t speak for the Olympics, but at Disneyland Resort you can watch a film about California history depicting how Chinese and Japanese immigrants were badly mistreated. And I’d say the average American is much more knowledgeable about slavery than the average Chinese is about the Cultural Revolution.
But you might be right that we’re making this too much of a bitch fest. The CCP has put together a magnificent display and I’m sure we’ll look back at these Olympics with all the fondness of, I don’t know, maybe the 1936 games.
#16 MigukNamja,
nailed it!
#9, don’t mention Taiwan either. There is no Taiwan. (I’ve had Chinese students refuse to utter the word, never mind acknowledge them as a separate entity).
I’m not really sure what all these anti-Chinese rants have to do with the a tragic stabbing incident. This no more reflects on the present state of Chinese society than gangs in LA reflect on American society. I’m actually sorely disappointed by all the anti-Chinese vitriol that’s so common on this site. Whatever happened to “keep it on topic.” I mean, I know some of the brain-dead folks on this site just want a place to regurgitate their own prejudices, biases, and the crap that’s fed to them via the news media regarding modern China, but please don’t use this horrible tragedy as a way to thump your own chests and get your own nationalistic jollies off.
How about showing some respect for the family involved?
Don’t impugn the collidge ejikkkated.They’s bettern us regler folk.Speshyully the kkkunservutive ones.
#21 Dave Robertson,
okay, so let’s get back on topic if that’s what you want:
The guy got killed- I’m sorry that happened, I feel bad for his family, sounds like nothing could have prevented it.
That’s about all that can be said on that topic.
As for what you are labelling unwarranted hate for China here, well, let’s look into that:
-The Chinese made major announcements of pre-Olympics policies of keeping out undesirable “foreigners” and have made major moves to restrict freedom of movement and for visitors simply to enjoy themselves. Now, we know it’s because they are afraid of pro-Tibet activism, but they have made announcements that they have put these huge restrictions in place because they fear that degenerate foreigners will commit crimes. Yes, they said this!
The Olympics are supposed to be unifying and inclusive. The Chinese are making it clear that they don’t believe in these ideals as they state that non-Chinese are beneath them and are more prone to criminal/degenerate behavior.
This is totally racist, arrogant, and counter to the spirit of the games. One would probably have to look back to 1936 Berlin for similar host sentiments.
-While the Chinese authorities were so concerned about foreigners doing bad things during the games, it was one of their own that has drawn first blood.
-The opening ceremony was very impressive, but it was a show of “look how glorious our history has been”. Well, we all know they skipped a lot of less than flattering periods. If you’re going to glorify your history, don’t get all upset when people point out that you skip the bad parts.
Well, there you have it- the Chinese authorities have been behaving very arrogantly and racistly in their views of non-Chinese visiting for the games- not to mention the enormous price gouging on tourists-, so f*ck China in the a$$!
They are not honoring the spirit of the games and they should be called out for it!
* I just realized that I don’t think “racistly” is a word!
#21: “How about showing some respect for the family involved?”
I feel very bad for the family.
But I wonder if nationalistic chest-beating in China contributed to the attack. This is the same country where a mob was allowed to nearly destroy the U.S. embassy, Japanese stores, and recently French stores. But because the guy supposedly killed himself, we won’t really know what was behind it.
#23: “The Olympics are supposed to be unifying and inclusive. The Chinese are making it clear that they don’t believe in these ideals as they state that non-Chinese are beneath them and are more prone to criminal/degenerate behavior.
This is totally racist, arrogant, and counter to the spirit of the games.”
No, the Olympics are about the best of the best meeting and competing to see who is the best in all the world. If China really was trying to keep out “degenerate foreigners” then they were keeping with the Olympic spirit: only allowing the best foreigners to come to the Olympics.
@ 2,
Sorry u-81. I got the news from my sister Saturday morning, not from your comment.
Twice the insult, Wangkon: You didn’t give me credit for bringing the story to the Marmot’s Hole attention and you ignore what I write.
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