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Bomb Blasts Wound 9 at 2 Beijing Universities
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
EIJING, Feb. 25 — Explosions apparently caused by homemade bombs ripped through cafeterias at two of China's most prominent universities around lunchtime today, Chinese officials and students said. At least nine people were wounded.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the blasts at Qinghua and Beijing Universities and the motive was unclear, although the police were not calling it terrorism.
The first blast, at about 11:40 a.m., took place in a new upscale restaurant favored by faculty members at Qinghua University. The second, less than two hours later, was strong enough to blow out panels of glass at the Nongyuan cafeteria at Beijing University.
The police said the blasts appeared to have been caused by bombs made with dynamite. Students said the smell of gunpowder hung in the air. Within hours, the buildings housing the two cafeterias were cordoned off, and the immediate areas were patrolled by the police and members of China's State Security forces.
But elsewhere on the two bustling campuses, it was business as usual on a foggy late winter's day, with students heading to classes, dinners and films; and although some students expressed alarm that such violence could intrude on this usually quiet setting, most took the news in stride.
"I heard the explosion, and it was a bit scary at first, but that passed very quickly since at first everyone thought it was just an accident," said a Beijing University undergraduate in jeans and a black down jacket who identified himself only by his surname, Tao.
"If this was America, by now I bet they would have evacuated the campus," he said. "But that's not happening here."
Most of the wounded were university workers and none were students. Tonight, the electronic bulletin board for Beijing University, normally a hotbed of student gossip, contained only official notices about the incident as well as a request for witnesses to come forward — suggesting that student comments were being censored.
Most students on the campus said they felt that the blasts were probably related to personal grudges or revenge. "Why would a terrorist set off little explosions at two university cafeterias?" asked Jian Qi, a graduate student at Beijing University.
In a country where lawsuits and the court system are unreliable venues for those seeking justice, disgruntled citizens often solve disputes themselves. Guns are illegal, but small homemade bombs have been used as weapons because explosives are inexpensive and easy to buy.
The police in Beijing were already on heightened alert because China's yearly Parliament, the National People's Congress, meets next week. The meeting this year is particularly important because it will be the backdrop for a leadership change, a rare event in China, with the current president, Jiang Zemin, retiring.
Still, security on the two campuses was surprisingly light tonight. For many years after the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, all visitors to Beijing University were screened by police guards at the gates, because many of the student organizers were affiliated with the university.
But that practice has recently waned, and tonight there was no attempt to check identification papers or parcels carried onto the campus.
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
EIJING, Feb. 25 — Explosions apparently caused by homemade bombs ripped through cafeterias at two of China's most prominent universities around lunchtime today, Chinese officials and students said. At least nine people were wounded.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the blasts at Qinghua and Beijing Universities and the motive was unclear, although the police were not calling it terrorism.
The first blast, at about 11:40 a.m., took place in a new upscale restaurant favored by faculty members at Qinghua University. The second, less than two hours later, was strong enough to blow out panels of glass at the Nongyuan cafeteria at Beijing University.
The police said the blasts appeared to have been caused by bombs made with dynamite. Students said the smell of gunpowder hung in the air. Within hours, the buildings housing the two cafeterias were cordoned off, and the immediate areas were patrolled by the police and members of China's State Security forces.
But elsewhere on the two bustling campuses, it was business as usual on a foggy late winter's day, with students heading to classes, dinners and films; and although some students expressed alarm that such violence could intrude on this usually quiet setting, most took the news in stride.
"I heard the explosion, and it was a bit scary at first, but that passed very quickly since at first everyone thought it was just an accident," said a Beijing University undergraduate in jeans and a black down jacket who identified himself only by his surname, Tao.
"If this was America, by now I bet they would have evacuated the campus," he said. "But that's not happening here."
Most of the wounded were university workers and none were students. Tonight, the electronic bulletin board for Beijing University, normally a hotbed of student gossip, contained only official notices about the incident as well as a request for witnesses to come forward — suggesting that student comments were being censored.
Most students on the campus said they felt that the blasts were probably related to personal grudges or revenge. "Why would a terrorist set off little explosions at two university cafeterias?" asked Jian Qi, a graduate student at Beijing University.
In a country where lawsuits and the court system are unreliable venues for those seeking justice, disgruntled citizens often solve disputes themselves. Guns are illegal, but small homemade bombs have been used as weapons because explosives are inexpensive and easy to buy.
The police in Beijing were already on heightened alert because China's yearly Parliament, the National People's Congress, meets next week. The meeting this year is particularly important because it will be the backdrop for a leadership change, a rare event in China, with the current president, Jiang Zemin, retiring.
Still, security on the two campuses was surprisingly light tonight. For many years after the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, all visitors to Beijing University were screened by police guards at the gates, because many of the student organizers were affiliated with the university.
But that practice has recently waned, and tonight there was no attempt to check identification papers or parcels carried onto the campus.
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