The state-run media reported that shootings occurred in the 17th corps in a building materials market near the Shiqiaopu area in Chongqing around 7 p.m on March 19. One sentry was injured, another was killed and one type 81-1 semi-automatic rifle was taken.
Afterwards, the local authorities listed the incident as a “terrorist attack” and the city’s Party Chief Bo Xilai claimed that an all out effort would be made to solve the case. The Minister of Public Security Department, Meng Jianzhu also flew to Chongqing to personally lead an investigation. An unprecedented large scale operation to hunt down the assailant has begun in Chongqing City with more than ten thousand policemen joining the effort.
Thus far, the police have not announced the arrest of a suspect. However, reports of this incident by the state-run and pro-Communist media did raise some questionable issues.
The Skin Color of the Assailant
According to Singtaonet.com, “Spokesperson of Chongqing Public Security Office stated that the assailant carried a gun and wore a mask.” However, according to a report by Xhxb.net on March 20, a witness claimed that the assailant had very dark skin.
The report stated, “The owner of a ceramic tile store Feng Yusheng (alias) said, ‘At around 7:30 p.m. a car pulled over before the 17th corps. One sentry walked over to check the passengers. However, a man came out of the car, pulled a gun and fired at the sentry at his temple, killing him on the spot. The assailant grabbed the semi-automatic rifle when another soldier rushed to him. They hit and injured the soldier and drove away immediately. There were two persons in the car. The assailant’s skin was very dark.’”
The weather of Chongqing is still quite cold in March and the assailant should not have worn a short-sleeve T-shirt and thus bared his arms. If the assailant indeed wore a mask, it would have been hard to tell his skin color. Therefore, the identity and motive of the person who claimed that “the assailant had very dark skin” is questionable.
Message Implied by a Knife
Chinese media also reported that the Chongqing Taxi Company sent a notice to all taxi drivers with a description of the assailant, describing that “the assailant was a male who carried a knife on his back.” Nevertheless, the assailant carried his own gun and shot a soldier. Would he have also carried a knife on his back to attract people’s attention? This is also something very questionable.
Tibetans have the custom of carrying a knife with them in their daily life. “Dark skin” and “carrying a knife” undoubtedly implied that a Tibetan is the prime suspect of the case.
Singapore Media Claims a Tibetan Makes the Attack
While most state-run media were implying that the assailant was a Tibetan or Uighur, Singapore’s Zaobao.com has already publicly reported that the assailant was a Tibetan saying, “Reporter Zhang Xiaozhong reported on location that residents indicated that the suspects are four Tibetans.”
The report also mentioned that mobile phone text messages circulated around a week before the incident saying, “Tibetan Independence organization’s human flesh bomb is secretly penetrating into Chongqing.”
It is very rare in China for soldiers to be attacked or for weapons or ammunition to be robbed. Currently, China is going through a sensitive period with the anniversary of the unrest in Tibet on March 14, 2008.
On March 20, The Tibetan Government in Exile in Dharamsala, India just made public a video entitled “Exposing Chinese Communist Regime’s Violence in Tibet.”
If the Chinese regime makes the claim that the assailant is a Tibetan, the case might be used by the regime to launch a large-scale crackdown on Tibetans.
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