Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

China says officials' relatives not behind girl's death
02 Jul 2008 02:48:37 GMT
 Source: Reuters
BEIJING, July 2 (Reuters) - Chinese police have denied that relatives of government officials had anything to do with the death of a girl in the country's southwest which led to riots last weekend over allegations of a cover-up.

About 30,000 people took to the streets -- some mobbing government offices and setting alight police vehicles -- in Weng'an county in Guizhou province, demanding justice.

The teenage girl, Li Shufen, killed herself by jumping into a river "because she was unhappy with life", the official China Daily reported on Wednesday, citing police, who have reopened the case.

"Zhou Guoxiang, deputy police chief of Weng'an public security bureau, denied rumours that policemen had harassed Li's relatives when they had come to seek justice from authorities," the report added.

"He, however, said that an unidentified man beat up Li's uncle on a street, and police are trying to find out who the attacker was," the newspaper said.

Guizhou's Communist Party boss, Shi Zongyuan, blamed local officials for the incident.

"It was the local officials' shortcoming that angered the people," it paraphrased him as saying.

"We must learn a lesson from these problems," he said, adding there were "deep-seated" reasons behind the girl's death and the following violence.

"Officials had not paid due attention to disputes over mines and relocation of people for construction projects for quite a long time," Shi said. "This may have bred discontent among the residents."

The protests came as China counts down the final days before the Beijing Olympics.

The government has started a nationwide stability push to prevent any domestic unrest upsetting the Games and to present China as a harmonious nation. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard)


AlertNet news is provided by
Email this article       Send comments

NGO latest

•  Aid worker diary: helping children walk out of darkness and into happiness
World Vision - Asia Pacific

•  ACT Appeal: Sichuan Earthquake, China
ACT - Switzerland

•  AmeriCares Establishes Field Hospital in China
AmeriCares

•  China blog
Red Cross - Norway

•  World Vision raises US $35 million for Sichuan quake
World Vision - Asia Pacific

MORE >>

Latest news

•  China says officials' relatives not behind girl's death

•  Eighteen killed in China coal mine collapse

•  China quake losses exceed 1 trln yuan-report

•  G8 alone can't set world climate goal -White House

•  UN agency urged back to N.Korea despite US doubt

MORE >>

AlertNet news is provided by

Related articles

Breaking stories
 China says officials' relatives not behind girl's death (1 minute ago)

Eighteen killed in China coal mine collapse (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
 Climate change fight needn't cost the earth - economist (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
 Aid worker diary: helping children walk out of darkness and into happiness (1 minute ago)

Blogs
 "China's recovery effort has been astounding" (1 minute ago)

Maps
 Typhoon Fengshen (1 minute ago)


Country information

Facts & figures
China

Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-07-01T105029Z_01_PEK14_RTRIDSP_2_OLYMPICS-ALGAE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PEK14.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-07-01T104840Z_01_PEK13_RTRIDSP_2_OLYMPICS-ALGAE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PEK13.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-07-01T104716Z_01_PEK12_RTRIDSP_2_OLYMPICS-ALGAE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PEK12.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-07-01T071134Z_01_PEK103_RTRIDSP_2_CHINA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PEK103.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-07-01T070613Z_01_PEK105_RTRIDSP_2_CHINA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PEK105.htm

A resident clears weed along the coastline of Qingdao, Shandong province July 1, 2008. China's Olympic co-host city Qingdao has appealed for help from nearby ports to contain an algae bloom ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Wed Jul 2 02:51:32 2008