Police tightened security yesterday and resumed investigating the fatal stabbing of the father of a former Olympian, an attack that stunned the athletic community and embarrassed Chinese authorities determined to hold the most successful Summer Games ever.
Todd and Barbara Bachman of Lakeville, Minneapolis — parents of 2004 volleyball Olympian Elisabeth “Wiz” Bachman and in-laws of US men’s volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon — were attacked by a Chinese man while visiting the 13th-century Drum Tower on Saturday.
The assault came only hours after the spectacular opening ceremony for the Games.
The US Olympic Committee confirmed Bachman died from knife wounds and that Barbara Bachman suffered life-threatening injuries.
She and their Chinese tour guide, who was also injured in the attack, were being treated in a Beijing hospital.
The committee said yesterday that Bachman suffered multiple lacerations and stab wounds. She underwent eight hours of surgery and was in critical but stable condition. The statement said family members were at the hospital and that McCutcheon would “not be on the bench today” for the US men’s volleyball team’s opening game against Venezuela.
Rob Browning, team leader of the men’s volleyball team, said the team was united in supporting the Bachmans.
“We are absolutely devastated by what has occurred, for their loss and for everything they are going through,” Browning said. “We are a family and we’ll get through this together as a family.”
US President George W. Bush thanked Beijing yesterday for its handling of the attack.
“Your government has been very attentive, very sympathetic and I appreciate that a lot,” Bush told Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) before they met for private talks at the presidential compound.
Hu said his government took the incident “very seriously” and pledged to keep Washington apprised of the investigation.
MORE ARRESTS
Five people staged a protest near Tiananmen Square yesterday against Chinese rule of Tibet, an activist group said, in the latest pro-Tibet demonstration to hit Beijing around the Olympics.
Two of the protesters, including a Tibetan woman from Germany, Padma-Dolma Fielitz, held the Tibetan flag just outside the southern entrance of the square in central Beijing, Students for a Free Tibet said in a statement.
As Chinese security guards tried to take the flag away, Fielitz, 21, was seen being dragged across the ground, the organization said.
Three other activists then tried to unveil a banner that read “Tibetans are dying for freedom,” before they were taken away, the group said.
All five protesters — Fielitz, two Americans and two Canadians — were detained and their whereabouts were unknown.
Students for a Free Tibet also said five Canadian activists were being detained at their hotel in Beijing and questioned in the basement.
DETAINED
Also yesterday, a Christian activist and his brother were detained while on their way to a church service attended by Bush, the activist’s brother said.
Hua Huilin said he and his brother, Hua Huiqi, a housing activist and member of an underground Christian church, were stopped by two black cars while bicycling to the church around dawn.
Hua Huilin said they were taken away in separate cars by security agents, whom his brother recognized from previous encounters. He was released in the afternoon, but Hua Huiqi was still at an undisclosed location, he said.
“I told him not to go because it’s during the Olympic Games and this period is sensitive,” Hua Huilin said in a telephone interview. “But he was determined to go because he said that church was where he was baptized. So I went with him hoping to protect him.”
The line was disconnected three times during Hua’s conversation, a sign that authorities were monitoring the call.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a man plowed his car into pedestrians exercising around a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday night. Footage showing bodies lying on the pavement appeared on social media in the hours after the crash, but had vanished by early Tuesday morning, and local police reported only “injuries.” It took officials nearly 24 hours to reveal that dozens had died — in one of the country’s deadliest incidents in years. China heavily monitors social media platforms, where it is common for words and topics deemed
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
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