What Does a Suicide Bombing Say About Unrest in China?
Last Thursday, a Chinese suicide bomber killed three bystanders in a protest over the forced seizure of the bomber’s home by a local government in Qiaojia County, in southwestern Yunnan Province. According to local newspaper reports, the bomber was a woman from Pingzi, a village in the mountainous Baihetan township, who wrapped explosives in the clothes of her 15-month-old baby and detonated them while inside a government office that had demanded she sign over her land. Two of the dead were officials. Sixteen others were injured.
The authorities in Qiaojia initially refused to admit the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber and promised to find and punish the perpetrator. The government also set up a taskforce to investigate.
The official Xinhua News Agency has been more forthcoming. It now acknowledges that the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber but claims the perpetrator was a 26-year-old male, Zhao Dengyong. Authorities say they found Zhao’s DNA at the office and have footage of him arriving at the scene.
This version of the truth, however, is questionable. For one thing, Zhao was not known to have any grievance against the local government. Moreover, no witness has placed him at the scene. For instance, Li Weiyou, whose wife was among those killed, does not recall seeing anyone matching Zhao’s description.