Front Page of the Day

An old gang war makes the front page

华商报.jpg
Chinese Business View
April 24 2008

Today's Chinese Business View ran a very short article reporting a gunshot incident in Lufeng.
Here is a translation of the entire thing:

Armed gang members blocked a Hong Kong-invested Hotel in Lufeng, Guangdong Province.

On April 21, a post about a group of people armed with various weapons in front of a hotel in Lufeng city appeared on major Internet forums. The post contained 13 photos. The incident was confirmed by local people. At 3:30 of April 22, there was a gunshot at the same hotel.

This short snippet made the front page, at bottom-center.

The photos in the online post were originally taken on January 12, 2008, and were only recently put up on the Internet. Given the shocking nature of the photos, (which, according to a comment, can "be easily mistaken as for 'Lhasa riot' images), they spread fast and furious before supervisors took notice and deleted them. Currently, they can still be found here.

South Metropolis Daily's 23 April issue had a more detailed article on the same event. But the article seems suspiciously vague and lopsided, not unusual for Chinese journalism.

  • According the article, the gang's weapons included AK-47 assault rifles, but none of the pictures available on the Internet show this.
  • All three of the interviews are with the side of the victims: the hotel boss, a hotel employee, and the individual who posted the images. No third party views are cited, not even the police who investigated the case.
  • The article says that a few hundred gang members blocked off the road and bulldozed a under-construction government building. Police investigated but made no arrests.
  • The article made no mention whatsoever of possible ringleaders. It seems the gang came from out of nowhere, made a scene for a few minutes, and then disappeared to wherever they came from.

Online sources provide additional information missing from the above newspaper articles, but like most internet information, it is hard to determine which story is true.

陆丰.jpg
South Metropolis Daily
April 23

According to an online source, a Hong Kong businessman named Liu Shu invested in the hotel involved in the incident. He had been at odds with a local businessman, Xu Yuchang, who was the owner of the biggest privately-owned bookstore in Guangdong Province, and was a member of the Guangdong People's Political Consultative Committee.

Xue sent the gang to the hotel, but Liu didn't give in. So on 21 April, Xue's men dug up the graves of Liu's ancestors.

But another online report said there was no gang at all, and the crowd in the photo were local people who had taken up arms to defend themselves against Liu, who was the real thug. Liu had intimidated local people into giving up their land at low prices and had occupied public land illegally. The online post also said that Liu was not a Hong Kong businessman at all, but just a Lufeng local who made his fortune through running an illegal casino.

Who is the bad guy? Liu? Xue? Neither Or both? Decide for yourself: the mainstream media doesn't seem like it has the answer.

Links and Sources
There are currently 4 Comments for An old gang war makes the front page.

Comments on An old gang war makes the front page

is a group of three men with guns a greater public concern than 20-30 with pitchforks and hoes (as shown in the linked-to photos)?

probably just more sensational.

There is nothing to be alarmed about. During the 1920's to 1940's, a lot of these things happened in Guangdong. It is just returning to the good old Chinese culture and tradition.

I think Jung is insane

I can totally understand Jung though. I had the theme song from Shanghai Bund going in my head as I read the article and look at the photos.
For those of you don't about it, it's a popular TV series in 80's about gang warfare in Shanghai (and other things) in the 1930's.
Classic 80's version with Chow Yun-Fat: link
New 2006 version: link

Post a comment

All comments are moderated and subject to review by Danwei contributors and editors, but well-grounded and articulate comments will be published regardless of which way they lean. Because comments published on any website ultimately contribute to the character of that website, we may decline to publish comments that are irrelevant, redundant, or that do not adhere to generally accepted standards of courtesy; if you are looking for a fight, there are plenty of other venues available online.


Some useful html: <b>bold</b>, <i>italic</i>,
<a href="http://www.danwei.org">link</a>

Media Partners
Visit these sites for the latest China news
090609guardian2.png 090609CNN3.png
China Media Timeline
Major media events over the last three decades
Danwei Model Workers
laomo2008fpA.jpg
Recommended blogs and new media
Books on China
Diamond Hill by Feng Chi-shun: Feng's memoir Diamond Hill describes an era of gambling and gangsters, Suzie Wong and squatter villages, fires and food stalls, and the Kowloon Walled City and its white powder. "A time when people were poor, but life was rich," he says. The world that he grew up in no longer exists, but his book - the first ever on the Diamond Hill refugee settlement, in either Chinese or English - offers a candid picture of what life was like for most Hong Kong residents in the 1950s.
William A. Callahan's China: The Pessoptimist Nation: China: The Pessoptimist Nation shows how the heart of Chinese foreign policy is not a security dilemma, but an identity dilemma. Through a careful analysis of how Chinese people understand their new place in the world, the book charts how Chinese identity emerges through the interplay of positive and negative feelings in a dynamic that intertwines China's domestic and international politics.
The WTO ruling: a half victory at best: In August 2009, a World Trade Organization panel ruled against China's system of monopoly control over entertainment products. Was this the victory supporters hailed as the dawn of a new day for American and global entertainment companies in the China market?
Front Page of the Day
A different newspaper every weekday
From the Vault
Classic Danwei posts
+ Street hawker cries of Beijing (2006.12): Yang Changhe demonstrates hawker's cries in a video shot by Muzimei.
+ New Weekly: Do Chinese kids know anything about traditonal Chinese culture? (2004.06): Q: Do you know what China's four great inventions are? Paper, printing, the compass and gunpowder 49.3% know all four, 37.3% get one or more wrong, 13.3% don't know at all (2004.06.12)
+ Some questions about SARFT's full-stop for Red Question Mark (2007.09): SARFT axes Red Question Mark (红问号). He Dong (何东) responds.
Danwei Archives
Danwei Feeds
Via Feedsky rsschiclet2.png (on the mainland)
or Feedburner rsschiclet.gif (blocked in China)
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Main feed: Main posts (FB has top links)
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Top Links: Links from the top bar
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Jobs: Want ads
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Digest: Updated daily, 19:30