China has temporarily banned knife sales in Beijing after two stabbings, major retailers said yesterday in the latest sign of official security fears ahead of National Day on Oct. 1.
Staff at foreign and domestic retailers in the capital, including Wal-Mart and Carrefour, said the ban was issued over the weekend, as Beijing clamps down to prevent disruption to festivities marking China's 60th birthday.
Police have said a Chinese man stabbed two people to death and wounded 14 on Thursday in the Dashilan shopping area near Tiananmen Square, where a military parade and other events are planned for Oct. 1.
On Saturday another Chinese man slashed an elderly French woman with a knife in the same area just south of the large square, a French embassy spokesman said.
The motive in each incident was not clear and both assailants were apprehended. The French victim was not seriously hurt.
“We have not been able to sell vegetable or fruit knives for the past two days. It may have something to do with the Dashilan incidents,” said a female staffer at a branch of the Jingkelong supermarket chain who would not give her name.
A female worker at a Carrefour branch said: “The order came down to us but it did not say why.”
The state-run China Daily said the ban would last until after National Day.
China is planning a huge celebration at Tiananmen Square to mark the founding of the communist state in 1949.
Preparations have included a huge security clampdown, with thousands of extra police stepping up security checks on highways and the underground rail system.
State media reported yesterday that flights out of Beijing would be delayed on the morning of Oct. 1 as part of ramped-up security. Authorities implemented a similar airport shutdown last year for the opening of the Beijing Olympics.
Chinese authorities are grappling with a wave of reported syringe attacks in the restive western region of Xinjiang and have announced jail terms of up to 15 years for seven people.
State press said yesterday that police in the northern city of Xian had arrested a pair of suspects over two stabbings there — one using a sharp bamboo stick and the other a nail — and had stepped up patrols.
City authorities have mobilized nearly 30,000 police and other security personnel to step up patrols in public places, the <
ANTI-SHIP CONFIGURATION: The Tuo Chiang-class vessels are to be built for NT$9.7 billion by Lung Teh, a shipyard that previously built four similar corvettes for the navy The Ministry of National Defense on Wednesday awarded Lung Teh Shipbuilding (龍德造船) a NT$9.7 billion Co (US$317.57 million) contract to build five Tuo Chiang-class corvettes with anti-ship capabilities, a defense official familiar with the matter said yesterday. The corvettes would carry vertical launchers for four Hsiung Feng II (HF-2) missiles, as well as eight Hsiung Feng III (HF-3) anti-ship missiles, in contrast to ships configured for anti-air warfare, which carry eight HF-2 and four HF-3 missiles, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The anti-ship corvettes would be armed for improved standoff range against surface combatants and carry the latest
‘COINCIDENCE’: The former president should keep in mind local and global response to his actions and abide by the law to safeguard national interests, the MAC said The Presidential Office yesterday confirmed that it has received an application from former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to visit China next week and would be discussing his security detail. “As the travel restrictions on former president Ma have expired, we respect his plan to pay respect to his ancestors in China,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) said. “We will review his travel plan and consult concerned agencies to assist him in arranging his security detail.” “We also hope that Ma, as a former commander in chief of Taiwan, acts in a manner that aligns with national interests and does not hurt
‘NOTHING NEW’: China should not use Tsai Ing-wen’s transits through the US as a pretext to step up aggressive activity in the Taiwan Strait, a Washington official said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to stop over in the US on her way to and from Central America next week, but her administration would not confirm a meeting with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Tsai’s delegation is to leave Taipei on Wednesday next week and stop over in New York City, Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) told a news conference yesterday. Tsai is then to head to Guatemala on Saturday next week for talks with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei and to meet with Taiwanese expatriates, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. On April 3, Tsai is scheduled to travel
‘DIRE’: Taiwan would not engage in ‘dollar diplomacy,’ the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, after China reportedly offered Honduras up to US$3 billion to establish relations The government yesterday recalled its ambassador to Honduras after the Central American nation sent its foreign minister to China, signaling that it would sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Suspicions concerning ties with Honduras are rife after Honduran President Xiomara Castro on Tuesday last week wrote on Twitter that her country would pursue diplomatic ties with China. Honduran Minister of Foreign Affairs Eduardo Enrique Reina traveled to China on Wednesday “to promote efforts for the establishment of diplomatic relations” on instructions from Castro, Reuters yesterday quoted Honduran presidential spokesman Ivis Alvarado as saying. The government “has decided to immediately recall the ambassador to Honduras
RSS