Report: 3 men set themselves on fire in Beijing

[Joanne98]

Source: AP


BEIJING (AP) — Three men set themselves on fire in downtown Beijing on Wednesday close to the politically sensitive Tiananmen Square, state media reported.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the men's motive was not known or whether any had survived.

Self-immolations have happened occasionally in recent years in Beijing, usually as a last-ditch protest by people upset that the government has not addressed their complaints or as political protests. This June marks 20 years since Chinese authorities' 1989 crackdown on student protests in the square.

The report said the three started the fire as they sat in a vehicle at an intersection just east of Tiananmen Square in the center of the Chinese capital.

Xinhua quoted a witness as saying two of the men were taken away by police while the third left in an ambulance. It gave no other details.



Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gACjfIhwAjSHiq7GS54alZMzmixAD96IHJT80

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Since they picked a high-end shopping mall as the location, I think we can guess what they were mad about.

[conscious evolution]

1. I wonder if they will blame Falun Gong

The CCP has a nasty habit of torching Falun practioners and then saying they did it to themselves.

[OKDem08]

2. I read recently that there are factories

aka sweat shops in China that pay people .03 per hr. That's not a wage, that's SLAVERY!

[pampango]

4. $.03 an hour would be horrible, but I'm not sure how common that is.

http://www.allcountries.org/china_statistics/5_21_average_wage_of_staff_and.html

The information I came across was that wages in China have increased from an average of 615 yuan in 1978 to 16,024 yuan in 2004. I would be interested to see any statistics you have.

That 16,024 yuan is, I am sure, a pittance by American standards, but quite an improvement over 615 yuan (about 25 times higher). China is still a Third World country. My impression is that people, not matter the country they live in, are generally content and optimistic if their living standards are rising and generally unhappy and pessimistic if their living standards are declining. It is understandable that an American or a European might be unhappy if their income has stagnated or declined for years, even if it is still many times more than most people in the world make. Similarly, it is understandable that a Chinese worker might be content (at least until the economic downturn) at years of rising pay, even though he or she makes much less than a worker in America or Europe.

[madrchsod]

3. chna cracks down on human rights lawyers

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0225/p01s01-woap.html

china is starting to unravel. they need the usa to keep buying their goods otherwise there will be open rebellion in china