Illegal firearms to be confiscated across mainland
Gun campaign appears linked to killing of soldier in Chongqing
Al Guo in Beijing 25 March 2009
The Ministry of Public Security launched a campaign across the mainland to confiscate illegal guns on Friday, just one day after a soldier on guard duty in Chongqing was shot dead.
The campaign, first reported on the ministry’s website yesterday, appears to be a response to the possibility that the Chongqing shooting was terrorist-related.
The soldier’s weapon was stolen after he was gunned down.
This year has several sensitive anniversaries, including the 50th anniversary of the failed Tibetan uprising earlier this month, the 20th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on Tiananmen Square student protests in June and the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China in October.
Though the anniversary of the failed Tibetan uprising passed without major unrest, media reports have linked the Chongqing shooting with Tibetan pro-independence forces that may seek retaliation against central government rule on the plateau.
There has also been speculation that dissident groups, dissatisfied with the government’s handling of the 1989 democratic movement, are trying to create chaos in major mainland cities.
Local sources, however, believe the attack may be linked to retaliation by triad syndicates against Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai and his deputy police chief, Wang Lijun, a close ally of Mr. Bo.
Mr. Bo have launched a massive crackdown on triads in Chongqing municipality, located in the southwest, since his posting there from Liaoning province a year ago. A large number of weapons have been seized and many people arrested. Earlier mainland reports said Chongqing prisons were full after Mr. Bo had Mr. Wang transferred from Liaoning last year. Mr. Wang is a former police chief of Tieling and Jinzhou cities in Liaoning, where Mr. Bo used to be party boss.
Chongqing newspapers said in October that police had netted 9,512 suspects in an 80-day operation. Mr. Wang is expected to be named Chongqing police chief soon.
Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu arrived in the municipality to co-ordinate an investigation shortly after the soldier’s death. The ministry said the incident could be linked to terrorists but had not named any group.
According to a profile issued to taxi drivers in Chongqing on Saturday, the suspect was described as an adult male, about 175cm in height, wearing a black jacket and hat. It said the man wore a long knife on his back when he approached the military camp in central Chongqing.
Three sentries were on guard outside the garrison when the gunman shot one at close range, a Chongqing official said.
He said the gunman ran away, after which 800 police officers were despatched in a hunt for him and his collaborators that night.
Police conducted door-to-door searches in Chongqing, but no progress has been reported.
The statement from the Public Security Bureau ordered police departments across the mainland to step up efforts to confiscate illegally owned firearms.
A long-term gun-confiscation mechanism should be developed to deal systematically with illegal gun ownership, it said.
There has been a longstanding general ban on gun ownership, but the ban has not stopped the proliferation of firearms. Homemade weapons smuggled from abroad are reportedly available in many cities.
A similar crackdown on illegal guns in Beijing before the Olympic Games last year saw 260 firearms confiscated.
An earlier campaign in Guangdong in 2007 netted 4,231 illegal guns in just a few months.
Several underground gun production factories and smuggling groups were rounded up during the operation.
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Illegal firearms to be confiscated across mainland
Gun campaign appears linked to killing of soldier in Chongqing
Al Guo in Beijing
25 March 2009
The Ministry of Public Security launched a campaign across the mainland to confiscate illegal guns on Friday, just one day after a soldier on guard duty in Chongqing was shot dead.
The campaign, first reported on the ministry’s website yesterday, appears to be a response to the possibility that the Chongqing shooting was terrorist-related.
The soldier’s weapon was stolen after he was gunned down.
This year has several sensitive anniversaries, including the 50th anniversary of the failed Tibetan uprising earlier this month, the 20th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on Tiananmen Square student protests in June and the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China in October.
Though the anniversary of the failed Tibetan uprising passed without major unrest, media reports have linked the Chongqing shooting with Tibetan pro-independence forces that may seek retaliation against central government rule on the plateau.
There has also been speculation that dissident groups, dissatisfied with the government’s handling of the 1989 democratic movement, are trying to create chaos in major mainland cities.
Local sources, however, believe the attack may be linked to retaliation by triad syndicates against Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai and his deputy police chief, Wang Lijun, a close ally of Mr. Bo.
Mr. Bo have launched a massive crackdown on triads in Chongqing municipality, located in the southwest, since his posting there from Liaoning province a year ago. A large number of weapons have been seized and many people arrested. Earlier mainland reports said Chongqing prisons were full after Mr. Bo had Mr. Wang transferred from Liaoning last year. Mr. Wang is a former police chief of Tieling and Jinzhou cities in Liaoning, where Mr. Bo used to be party boss.
Chongqing newspapers said in October that police had netted 9,512 suspects in an 80-day operation. Mr. Wang is expected to be named Chongqing police chief soon.
Public Security Minister Meng Jianzhu arrived in the municipality to co-ordinate an investigation shortly after the soldier’s death. The ministry said the incident could be linked to terrorists but had not named any group.
According to a profile issued to taxi drivers in Chongqing on Saturday, the suspect was described as an adult male, about 175cm in height, wearing a black jacket and hat. It said the man wore a long knife on his back when he approached the military camp in central Chongqing.
Three sentries were on guard outside the garrison when the gunman shot one at close range, a Chongqing official said.
He said the gunman ran away, after which 800 police officers were despatched in a hunt for him and his collaborators that night.
Police conducted door-to-door searches in Chongqing, but no progress has been reported.
The statement from the Public Security Bureau ordered police departments across the mainland to step up efforts to confiscate illegally owned firearms.
A long-term gun-confiscation mechanism should be developed to deal systematically with illegal gun ownership, it said.
There has been a longstanding general ban on gun ownership, but the ban has not stopped the proliferation of firearms. Homemade weapons smuggled from abroad are reportedly available in many cities.
A similar crackdown on illegal guns in Beijing before the Olympic Games last year saw 260 firearms confiscated.
An earlier campaign in Guangdong in 2007 netted 4,231 illegal guns in just a few months.
Several underground gun production factories and smuggling groups were rounded up during the operation.
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