The SCMP reporter who got Alibaba chairman Jack Ma on record comparing his leadership decisions with Deng Xiaoping's during the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown has resigned after being accused of editorial tampering.
In a statement released on its website, SCMP claims its reporter, Liu Yi, surreptitiously "accessed the system and replaced the editor-approved article with an altered version in which Mr Ma's reference made in relation to June 4th was removed."
Democracy advocates in Hong Kong clashed with a pro-Beijing group on Sunday at a public forum, renewing a personal curiosity of mine over whether that city has ever held a political public forum that hasn't devolved into a shouting match with histrionics only monkeys could enjoy.
But we digress. The above picture. That.
A man in a wheelchair detonated a homemade explosion this evening at Beijing Capital International Airport's Terminal 3. It happened in the international arrivals hall at 6:24 pm, according to Xinhua, with no one else getting injured.
CCTV identified the man as Ji Zhongxing from Shandong province. The explosive was reportedly made using gunpowder from fireworks, and probably should be hashtagged "fail."
Deng Zhengjia, a fruit vendor, died suspiciously on Wednesday after scuffling with chengguan, i.e. this country's much-maligned urban management officers. His family claims he was killed after a blow to the head by an officer -- a charge that chengguan denied yesterday. Reports Global Times:
Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, which has sources within Zhongnanhai, has apparently flown too close to the sun. It got scorched on Wednesday, with Sina, Tencent, NetEase, and Sohu all deleting the paper's microblog accounts. Reasons remain basically unknown.
Candice Lee is leaving China, and that doesn't seem fair for those of us who can't imagine a Beijing without her -- including the bowling league, the annual kickball tournament, those random nights at 4corners or Great Leap Brewing when she would be merrily blitzed from a boozy dinner and talk about things no one would remember the day after.