The New York Times looks at the life of the man who is blamed for killing an American tourist in Beijing for the Olympics:
The killing has provoked hand-wringing and heated debate on the Internet. Some people fretted that it could tarnish China’s moment of Olympic glory, while others used Mr. Tang’s murderous outburst to rail against a variety of unattended social ills: mental illness, chronic unemployment among laid-off state workers and the rise of xenophobic nationalism.
One widely circulated posting, written anonymously on a popular website, seemed to capture the prevailing worry: that Mr. Tang’s crime would tarnish China’s image. “Your actions have hurt not just two Americans, but they have hurt the way Americans will view China during the Games, the way all the people of the world will view China. The bright dream of these momentous Olympics has been darkened by you. Tang Yongming, even if you had ten thousand excuses, the Chinese people will never forgive your actions.”
All that is known about Mr. Tang is that he was unemployed and that he arrived in Beijing on Aug. 1 for reasons that remain unclear. The only thing he left behind, investigators said, was the government-issued identification card in his pocket.
The China Daily report on the murder is here. Read also “Violence taints the Beijing Games” from the Christian Science Monitor.
The following video is from AP:
