Black and White Cat notes that the man who attacked blogger Xu Lai (ProState in Flames) was sentenced to four and a half years in prison:
This news is now three weeks old, but I only just noticed it and no one else seems to have mentioned it in English. The man who stabbed the blogger ProState in Flames (journalist and writer Xu Lai) at a book signing on Valentines Day was sentenced to four and a half years in prison early this month.
The attacker, Yang Chun, was arrested in Suzhou less than a week after the stabbing and a court in Beijing accepted the case in June. (See Danwei.) The prosecution alleged that Yang Chun had carried out the attack because he believed Xu Lai had damaged his friend’s reputation.
Yang had previously been in prison for embezzlement. He was also reportedly kidnapped last year.
A Southern Metropolis Daily report on August 7 confirmed internet speculation that Yang Chun’s “friend” was Peking University professor Kong Qingdong (Yang was Kong’s assistant) and that Yang was angry about one particular blog post.
