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China artist vows to sue over police beating

China police seize 50,000 guns in crackdown: state media
Chinese police have confiscated 50,000 guns and 900 tonnes of explosives in a crackdown on illegal weapons ahead of the 60th anniversary of communist rule, state media said Thursday. Nearly 10,000 suspects have been arrested in connection with the crackdown that began in March and will continue up to China's October 1 National Day celebration, the official Xinhua news agency said. About 60 percent of the illegal firearms were handed in voluntarily, the report said. Police also confiscated 3.7 million detonators and raided 562 illegal sites where guns and explosives were being made and modified, it said. The numbers of weapons confiscated marked a dramatic increase from July, when the police reported that 19,000 firearms and 500 tonnes of explosives had been seized in the first four and a half months of the campaign. Possession of firearms is illegal in China, although in rural and mountainous areas hunting guns are allowed.

Butter deployed in battle against burglars
Residential property managers in northern China have turned to butter in their battle against burglars as a cheap alternative to repairing their broken surveillance system. They smeared 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of butter on the gas pipelines that run outside the buildings on the Mingdemen estate in the city of Xi'an, making them too slippery to climb, Xinhua news agency said Thursday. "Natural gas pipelines are often used as 'ladders' by burglars and burglaries are rife here," one Mingdemen manager was quoted as saying. About 1,200 of the 2,000 units are rented out, so it can be difficult to determine who actually lives there and "some bad guys may sneak in", he said. All the surveillance cameras were broken and the estate was facing an outstanding 60,000-yuan (8,800-dollar) installation bill. "Using butter is the most economical way," the manager said. Photo courtesy AFP.
by Staff Writers
 Beijing (AFP) Aug 13, 2009
 A leading Chinese artist vowed Thursday to sue police in southwest China for detaining, beating and blocking him from testifying at a trial of a fellow activist charged with subversion.

Ai Weiwei was forcefully blocked from attending the Wednesday trial of Tan Zuoren who was arrested after investigating whether shoddy construction caused school collapses in last year's massive Sichuan earthquake, he said.

"Police violently broke into our hotel room, beat us and prevented us from attending the trial," said Ai, who was released with several others after 11 hours in police custody.

"They restricted our freedom of movement and they refused to give us a reason for their actions. We want to follow up on this. We will sue," he told AFP by telephone.

Ai said he was struck in the face by a policeman after he demanded that they show their identification papers and explain why they had broken down the door to their hotel room in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province.

Police in Chengdu declined immediate comment on the incident when contacted by AFP.

A co-designer of the Bird's Nest, the centrepiece stadium of the Beijing Olympic Games, Ai is a respected artist who has led a group of volunteers investigating the collapse of school houses in the earthquake that left over 87,000 people dead or missing.

Schools bore the brunt of the May 12 quake, with thousands collapsing on top of students, fuelling angry charges from parents that corruption had led to shoddy construction.

Tan Zuoren was tried on charges of "inciting subversion of state power" during a brief trial Wednesday that ended without verdict.

"The trial was terrible. Three witnesses were not allowed by the court to attend the trial. We believe it's against the law," Tan's lawyer Pu Zhiqianq, told AFP on Wednesday.

"Also, the video evidence we had was not allowed to be played in court and our speeches were often interrupted," he said.

"I'm not optimistic about (Tan's) fate although the verdict was not announced."

Ai is a prominent artist, architect and photographer who has become increasingly active on political issues.

Born in 1957, he is the son of late Chinese poet Ai Qing, who was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), but today is revered as a leading poet.

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