\nThe Los Angeles Times reports on the vandalism of Mao’s portrait in Tiananmen Square and subsequent arrest of an alleged perpetrator:\n<\/p>\n
\nThe suspect was identified as Gu Haiou, 35, an unemployed man from the far western Chinese city of Urumqi, capital of the restive Xinjiang autonomous region, home to ethnic Uighurs…<\/p>\n
China, with its booming capitalist-style economy and rising level of personal freedom, has turned much of the austere communism of the Mao era on its head. But the image of Mao remains sacrosanct, and its defamation is a serious crime.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nRead also interesting comments on the incident and reporting thereof on ESWN<\/a>, Beijing Newspeak<\/a>, and Xinjiang Watch<\/a> blogs. From Xinjiang Watch:\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nThis is interesting to me because a story like this can be read in so many different ways. On one extreme, it’s actually a very simple narrative: A crazy man wanted to damage a symbol of authority. It’s like when, every few years, someone tries to climb over the fence around the White House. Man gets arrested, damage is cleaned up. Case closed. That’s the story Xinhua will tell you, if it ever gets around to it.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Los Angeles Times reports on the vandalism of Mao’s portrait in Tiananmen Square and subsequent arrest of an alleged perpetrator: The suspect was identified as Gu Haiou, 35, an unemployed man from the far western Chinese city of Urumqi, capital of the restive Xinjiang autonomous region, home to ethnic Uighurs… China, with its booming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3199,7966,15460],"class_list":["post-12716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-society","tag-mao-portrait","tag-social-unrest","tag-uyghurs","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n
Man Held in Attempt to Set Fire to Mao Portrait in Beijing - Ching-Ching Ni<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/05\/man-held-in-attempt-to-set-fire-to-mao-portrait-in-beijing-ching-ching-ni\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Man Held in Attempt to Set Fire to Mao Portrait in Beijing - Ching-Ching Ni\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Los Angeles Times reports on the vandalism of Mao’s portrait in Tiananmen Square and subsequent arrest of an alleged perpetrator: The suspect was identified as Gu Haiou, 35, an unemployed man from the far western Chinese city of Urumqi, capital of the restive Xinjiang autonomous region, home to ethnic Uighurs… China, with its booming […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/05\/man-held-in-attempt-to-set-fire-to-mao-portrait-in-beijing-ching-ching-ni\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"China Digital Times (CDT)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ChinaDigitalTimes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-05-14T04:19:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"186\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"177\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sophie Beach\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cdt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cdt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sophie Beach\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/05\/man-held-in-attempt-to-set-fire-to-mao-portrait-in-beijing-ching-ching-ni\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/05\/man-held-in-attempt-to-set-fire-to-mao-portrait-in-beijing-ching-ching-ni\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sophie Beach\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/person\/7f19e31b674d57a7dc20aab8e908c663\"},\"headline\":\"Man Held in Attempt to Set Fire to Mao Portrait in Beijing – Ching-Ching Ni\",\"datePublished\":\"2007-05-14T04:19:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2007-05-14T04:19:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/05\/man-held-in-attempt-to-set-fire-to-mao-portrait-in-beijing-ching-ching-ni\/\"},\"wordCount\":203,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Mao portrait\",\"social unrest\",\"Uyghurs\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Society\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/05\/man-held-in-attempt-to-set-fire-to-mao-portrait-in-beijing-ching-ching-ni\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/05\/man-held-in-attempt-to-set-fire-to-mao-portrait-in-beijing-ching-ching-ni\/\",\"name\":\"Man Held in Attempt to Set Fire to Mao Portrait in Beijing - Ching-Ching Ni\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-05-14T04:19:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2007-05-14T04:19:56+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/05\/man-held-in-attempt-to-set-fire-to-mao-portrait-in-beijing-ching-ching-ni\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/05\/man-held-in-attempt-to-set-fire-to-mao-portrait-in-beijing-ching-ching-ni\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/05\/man-held-in-attempt-to-set-fire-to-mao-portrait-in-beijing-ching-ching-ni\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Man Held in Attempt to Set Fire to Mao Portrait in Beijing – Ching-Ching Ni\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/\",\"name\":\"China Digital Times (CDT)\",\"description\":\"Covering China from Cyberspace\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization\",\"name\":\"China Digital Times\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.jpg\",\"width\":186,\"height\":177,\"caption\":\"China Digital Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ChinaDigitalTimes\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/cdt\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/person\/7f19e31b674d57a7dc20aab8e908c663\",\"name\":\"Sophie Beach\",\"description\":\"Sophie Beach is CDT's Operations and Communications Manager. From 2003-2021, she served as Executive Editor of CDT English. She lives in Berkeley, California.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/author\/sophie-beach\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Man Held in Attempt to Set Fire to Mao Portrait in Beijing - Ching-Ching Ni","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/05\/man-held-in-attempt-to-set-fire-to-mao-portrait-in-beijing-ching-ching-ni\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Man Held in Attempt to Set Fire to Mao Portrait in Beijing - Ching-Ching Ni","og_description":"The Los Angeles Times reports on the vandalism of Mao’s portrait in Tiananmen Square and subsequent arrest of an alleged perpetrator: The suspect was identified as Gu Haiou, 35, an unemployed man from the far western Chinese city of Urumqi, capital of the restive Xinjiang autonomous region, home to ethnic Uighurs… China, with its booming […]","og_url":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/05\/man-held-in-attempt-to-set-fire-to-mao-portrait-in-beijing-ching-ching-ni\/","og_site_name":"China Digital Times (CDT)","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ChinaDigitalTimes","article_published_time":"2007-05-14T04:19:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":186,"height":177,"url":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Sophie Beach","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@cdt","twitter_site":"@cdt","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sophie Beach","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/05\/man-held-in-attempt-to-set-fire-to-mao-portrait-in-beijing-ching-ching-ni\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/05\/man-held-in-attempt-to-set-fire-to-mao-portrait-in-beijing-ching-ching-ni\/"},"author":{"name":"Sophie Beach","@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/person\/7f19e31b674d57a7dc20aab8e908c663"},"headline":"Man Held in Attempt to Set Fire to Mao Portrait in Beijing – Ching-Ching Ni","datePublished":"2007-05-14T04:19:56+00:00","dateModified":"2007-05-14T04:19:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/05\/man-held-in-attempt-to-set-fire-to-mao-portrait-in-beijing-ching-ching-ni\/"},"wordCount":203,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization"},"keywords":["Mao portrait","social unrest","Uyghurs"],"articleSection":["Society"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/05\/man-held-in-attempt-to-set-fire-to-mao-portrait-in-beijing-ching-ching-ni\/","url":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/05\/man-held-in-attempt-to-set-fire-to-mao-portrait-in-beijing-ching-ching-ni\/","name":"Man Held in Attempt to Set Fire to Mao Portrait in Beijing - Ching-Ching Ni","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#website"},"datePublished":"2007-05-14T04:19:56+00:00","dateModified":"2007-05-14T04:19:56+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/05\/man-held-in-attempt-to-set-fire-to-mao-portrait-in-beijing-ching-ching-ni\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/05\/man-held-in-attempt-to-set-fire-to-mao-portrait-in-beijing-ching-ching-ni\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/05\/man-held-in-attempt-to-set-fire-to-mao-portrait-in-beijing-ching-ching-ni\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Man Held in Attempt to Set Fire to Mao Portrait in Beijing – Ching-Ching Ni"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/","name":"China Digital Times (CDT)","description":"Covering China from Cyberspace","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#organization","name":"China Digital Times","url":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/CDT-logo.jpg","width":186,"height":177,"caption":"China Digital Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ChinaDigitalTimes","https:\/\/x.com\/cdt"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/#\/schema\/person\/7f19e31b674d57a7dc20aab8e908c663","name":"Sophie Beach","description":"Sophie Beach is CDT's Operations and Communications Manager. From 2003-2021, she served as Executive Editor of CDT English. She lives in Berkeley, California.","sameAs":["http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net"],"url":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/author\/sophie-beach\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12716\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}