Fri Oct 2, 2015 | 7:37 AM EDT
By Ben Blanchard
BEIJING (Reuters) -
A series of deadly bomb blasts in China this week has shown how easy it is to acquire explosives in the country, revealing a major gap in its huge security apparatus as the economy slows and anger grows over issues like graft and poor public services.
In a country where firearms are banned for
most people, the bombings in the southwestern
city of Liuzhou on Wednesday, and others in
recent years around the country, demonstrate
lax enforcement of rules to control access to
bomb-making material.
Private gun ownership is almost unheard of in
China as controls are so strict, meaning gun
crime is rare. Explosives, on the other hand, are widely available from the sprawling mining and fireworks industries.
The 17 coordinated blasts across Liuzhou, a
relatively obscure part of China, destroyed one
whole side of a low-rise residential building,
overturned vehicles and sent bricks showering
into the street, images carried by state media
showed.
At least 10 people died and more than 50 were injured. The suspect was himself killed at the scene, but such "sudden incidents", as China refers to them, highlight broader government worries about stability in the world's second-largest economy, with a widening gap between rich and poor and growing anger at corruption and environmental issues.
"Modern Chinese society has lots of
contradictions, and if people want to send a
message about their anger or make a point,
they can get explosives from any mine," said
Pan Zhiping, a domestic security expert at the
Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences. "It simply isn't possible for the police to keep an eye on everybody," he added.
The ease at which explosives can be obtained
in the world's second-largest economy was
underscored in a court case posted online
earlier this year as part of a government
transparency drive.
In September last year, a court in southwestern China's Yunnan province jailed a man for three years after finding more than 20 kg of explosives, almost 100 detonators and 1.5 km of fuses at his house.
The man, whose surname was given as Ren,
told the court he had been easy to buy the
material by saying it was for work needs,
according to the judgment.
In fact, Ren said he had been buying the
explosives and storing them at home for the
last decade without any problems, though he
seemed to have no violent intent.
NO MOTIVE
Police on Friday said the suspect in the attacks in Liuzhou, in the southwestern region of Guangxi, was Wei Yinyong, 33, who was
believed to have been involved in a dispute with neighbours, the official Xinhua news agency said.
He died on the scene, it added. "It indicates a serious problem in China in terms of public security. It reflects a lack of effective control by the government to restrict access to these dangerous goods," said Jian Zhang, a lecturer in international and political studies at UNSW Australia in Canberra.
On Thursday morning, another blast was
reported in Liuzhou, although it only caused
minor damage and no casualties.
It was not clear if it was linked to the previous day's blasts.
Guangxi is home to many mines, which use
explosives, and like the rest of China it will have lots of firework manufacturers.
Last year, police in Liuzhou arrested a father
and son who were "unhappy with society and
wanted revenge" and blew up trash cans in a
public square using home-made firecrackers,
injuring a female bystander, according to state
media.
However, explosives are not often seen in
violence in the far western region of Xinjiang,
where China says it is battling an Islamist
insurgency, with tight security limiting access to
bomb-making materials or guns.
Knives are generally involved in the violence there.
State media microblogs have already begun
speculating on the motive for the latest attack in Liuzhou, with some suggesting it was the result of a dispute over medical treatment, a cause of several violent incidents in recent years.
While the Chinese government has ramped up
health spending, hospitals are frequently
overwhelmed with patients. Doctors are also
badly paid, leading to corruption and suspicions that staff are more interested in making money by prescribing unnecessary drugs and treatment than tending to the sick.
Property disputes in a country where the
government legally owns all land have also led
to unruly protests, fights with police,
imprisonment and even suicide, and created a
major headache for the stability-obsessed ruling Communist Party.
In 2011, a man apparently angry about the
illegal demolition of his home set off
coordinated explosions at three sites near
government buildings in eastern China, killing
two.
In the same month, a petrol bomb set off by a
disgruntled former employee at a rural bank in a heavily Tibetan region of northwestern China's Gansu province wounded 49 people.
The worst incident of its kind happened in 2001, when a string of explosions at workers'
dormitories in the northern city of Shijiazhuang
killed 108 people, blamed on a man seeking
vengeance for family problems, although many
doubt that explanation.
(Additional reporting by Lincoln Feast in Sydney; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
By Ben Blanchard
BEIJING (Reuters) -
A series of deadly bomb blasts in China this week has shown how easy it is to acquire explosives in the country, revealing a major gap in its huge security apparatus as the economy slows and anger grows over issues like graft and poor public services.
In a country where firearms are banned for
most people, the bombings in the southwestern
city of Liuzhou on Wednesday, and others in
recent years around the country, demonstrate
lax enforcement of rules to control access to
bomb-making material.
Private gun ownership is almost unheard of in
China as controls are so strict, meaning gun
crime is rare. Explosives, on the other hand, are widely available from the sprawling mining and fireworks industries.
The 17 coordinated blasts across Liuzhou, a
relatively obscure part of China, destroyed one
whole side of a low-rise residential building,
overturned vehicles and sent bricks showering
into the street, images carried by state media
showed.
At least 10 people died and more than 50 were injured. The suspect was himself killed at the scene, but such "sudden incidents", as China refers to them, highlight broader government worries about stability in the world's second-largest economy, with a widening gap between rich and poor and growing anger at corruption and environmental issues.
"Modern Chinese society has lots of
contradictions, and if people want to send a
message about their anger or make a point,
they can get explosives from any mine," said
Pan Zhiping, a domestic security expert at the
Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences. "It simply isn't possible for the police to keep an eye on everybody," he added.
The ease at which explosives can be obtained
in the world's second-largest economy was
underscored in a court case posted online
earlier this year as part of a government
transparency drive.
In September last year, a court in southwestern China's Yunnan province jailed a man for three years after finding more than 20 kg of explosives, almost 100 detonators and 1.5 km of fuses at his house.
The man, whose surname was given as Ren,
told the court he had been easy to buy the
material by saying it was for work needs,
according to the judgment.
In fact, Ren said he had been buying the
explosives and storing them at home for the
last decade without any problems, though he
seemed to have no violent intent.
NO MOTIVE
Police on Friday said the suspect in the attacks in Liuzhou, in the southwestern region of Guangxi, was Wei Yinyong, 33, who was
believed to have been involved in a dispute with neighbours, the official Xinhua news agency said.
He died on the scene, it added. "It indicates a serious problem in China in terms of public security. It reflects a lack of effective control by the government to restrict access to these dangerous goods," said Jian Zhang, a lecturer in international and political studies at UNSW Australia in Canberra.
On Thursday morning, another blast was
reported in Liuzhou, although it only caused
minor damage and no casualties.
It was not clear if it was linked to the previous day's blasts.
Guangxi is home to many mines, which use
explosives, and like the rest of China it will have lots of firework manufacturers.
Last year, police in Liuzhou arrested a father
and son who were "unhappy with society and
wanted revenge" and blew up trash cans in a
public square using home-made firecrackers,
injuring a female bystander, according to state
media.
However, explosives are not often seen in
violence in the far western region of Xinjiang,
where China says it is battling an Islamist
insurgency, with tight security limiting access to
bomb-making materials or guns.
Knives are generally involved in the violence there.
State media microblogs have already begun
speculating on the motive for the latest attack in Liuzhou, with some suggesting it was the result of a dispute over medical treatment, a cause of several violent incidents in recent years.
While the Chinese government has ramped up
health spending, hospitals are frequently
overwhelmed with patients. Doctors are also
badly paid, leading to corruption and suspicions that staff are more interested in making money by prescribing unnecessary drugs and treatment than tending to the sick.
Property disputes in a country where the
government legally owns all land have also led
to unruly protests, fights with police,
imprisonment and even suicide, and created a
major headache for the stability-obsessed ruling Communist Party.
In 2011, a man apparently angry about the
illegal demolition of his home set off
coordinated explosions at three sites near
government buildings in eastern China, killing
two.
In the same month, a petrol bomb set off by a
disgruntled former employee at a rural bank in a heavily Tibetan region of northwestern China's Gansu province wounded 49 people.
The worst incident of its kind happened in 2001, when a string of explosions at workers'
dormitories in the northern city of Shijiazhuang
killed 108 people, blamed on a man seeking
vengeance for family problems, although many
doubt that explanation.
(Additional reporting by Lincoln Feast in Sydney; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Semper Fidelis
![[Image: SyAa0qj.png]](https://i.imgur.com/SyAa0qj.png)
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