Two people were killed yesterday in explosions aboard two public buses in a major Chinese city that were deliberately set off, police said, in an incident likely to heighten Olympic security concerns.
The blasts occurred about an hour apart during morning rush hour traffic in downtown Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, the city’s police department said in a statement.
“According to preliminary investigations, the explosions were cases of man-made, deliberate sabotage,” a spokesman with the Yunnan Public Security Bureau said by telephone, without giving further details.
The incidents add to tensions ahead of next month’s Beijing Olympics, stoked by repeated warnings from the Chinese government about a dire terrorism threat facing the Games.
The government also has expressed deep concern about social unrest marring its efforts to portray the country as “harmonious and stable” ahead of the Olympics, amid recent violent protests in Yunnan and elsewhere.
The first blast occurred at about 7am when the vehicle was at a bus stop, killing one woman and injuring 10 other people, the statement from Kunming police said.
“The glass on both sides of the vehicle was all shattered and some of the seats were warped,” it said.
The second blast came about an hour later on the same road and killed one man, injuring four others, the statement said.
Footage broadcast on state-run television showed a large hole blown in the side of one of the buses and extensive damage to its interior.
Photos posted on the Yunnan Daily Web site showed one of the vehicle’s windows blown out by the blast and shattered glass on the road.
Following the blasts, police cordoned off some streets in the area and carried out identity checks in a search for any “suspicious” persons, the Yunnan Public Security Bureau said in a statement.
Kunming has a population of just over 6 million people and is about 2,100km southwest of Beijing.
China has dramatically tightened security in Beijing and throughout the country ahead of the Olympics — which begin on Aug. 8 — amid concerns over terrorism and social unrest.
Also See: Beijing moves traffic controls into gear
Also See: FEATURE: Chinese dissidents watched, arrested as Games near
Also See: Shanghai tightens security at stations ahead of Olympics
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government