10. Rash of Prominent Suicides
Over ten suicides happened in China, particularly in May 2010, at Foxconn, one of the world’s top five hundred enterprises and a key supplier to Apple. These incidents upset many people and attracted attention from both China and internationally. Beijing lawyer Xie Yiyan said the incidents may be far more complex than imagined. He called for a credible third party to form an independent group to investigate the causes of the incidents.
9. Shanxi Vaccine
Problems with vaccines led to hundreds of children in Shanxi Province becoming handicapped. A reporter at China Economic Times, Wang Keqin, had the courage to investigate this, and the incident was widely reported by many media and caused great public outcry. China’s Ministry of Public Health held a news conference on April 6, 2010 and denied the entire story.
8. The Li Gang Incident
In the evening of Oct. 16, Li Qiming (Li Yifan), a student at the Hebei Media Institute was driving over the speed limit on the campus of Hebei University, and hit two freshman girls. One, Chen Xiaofeng died the next night. Li fled the scene of the accident. When he was apprehended, he taunted the officers by saying: “If you are able to sue me, go ahead. My father is Li Gang.” Li Qiming’s father, Li Gang, is the Deputy Director of Baoding City Beishi District Public Security Bureau.
7. Children Stabbed
In 2010, a series of campus killings at middle schools, elementary schools and kindergartens occurred in various parts of China. The brutality of these events shocked society. In April 2010 alone, four on-campus killing cases occurred.
6. The Li Zhuang Case in Chongqing
The case of defense attorney Li Zhuang became a scandal during local CCP boss Bo Xilai’s campaign against organized crime in Chongqing City. The government arrested and sentenced Li in a closed trial in which he recanted his previous confession, saying it was coerced and part of Bo’s political agenda.
5. The Google Affair
On March 23, 2010 Google announced its withdrawal from the Chinese market after more than four years in and redirected Google users in the mainland to servers in Hong Kong for unfiltered search services. Google also said it is unwilling to continue to filter search results at Google.com.cn. However, the CCP’s firewall settings do not permit users in mainland China to search sensitive contents through Hong Kong. The conflict between Google and Beijing lasted until July when Google’s license renewal in China was approved.
4. Zhouqu Landslides
On the night of Aug. 7, 2010, large landslides happened in Zhouqu County, Gansu Province, causing severe casualties. The landslides blocked the Bailong River and formed dammed lakes. Part of the county was flooded, and electricity, transportation and communications were disrupted. A large number of victims’ bodies had still not been dug out days after the disaster. The official number of deaths and missing varied significantly according to what rumors people believed.
3. Yushu Earthquake
On April 14, 2010, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake hit Yushu County, Qinghai Province, with hundreds of aftershocks. Ten days after the earthquake, relief supplies had still not been delivered to the victims. Victims suffered from cold, hunger, and lack of medicines and tents with many subsequently freezing to death. According to the official data, 2,220 people had died by April 25.
2. Nanjing Explosion
A huge explosion happened in Nanjing on July 28, 2010. Its shock wave shattered windows in houses two to three miles away. Many hospitals were full of severely burned people. The truth about this incident was covered up by officials. There were at least two explosions, but officials said there was only one. Chinese authorities also falsely reported the true casualty figure. The official report indicates 13 deaths and 14 serious injuries. When an online commentator said the death toll was 259, he or she was soon arrested by the police for “circulating false news.”
1. Shanghai Fire
China’s largest residential fire happened in Shanghai on the afternoon of Nov. 15, 2010. The fire at the Teachers Apartment Building on Jiaozhou Road caused severe casualties. The official number was 53 deaths and more than 70 injures, but people think that at least over a hundred people died. Shanghai officials called the rescue effective since it kept losses minimal and deemed it a successful model for the future. This assessment was criticized and 100,000 people in Shanghai took to the streets to mourn the dead.
Read the original Chinese article.
