Asia Blog: China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam

Thank god Shanghaiist can bring some context to the following photo which has been circulating the internet the last week. They point to the Xinhua’s photospread which has appropriate captions:

Members of China’s armed police demonstrate a rapid deployment during an anti-terrorist drill held in Jinan, capital of east China’s Shandong Province July 2, 2008, roughly one month ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

Yes, it’s a publicity stunt done by the police for a PR drill in light of the upcoming olympics. Note that the Segway devices are capable of 13 mph out of the gate, and ones used for anti-terrorist deployment are probably modified for a higher speed. 20mph is something that humans can’t sustain with all their gear for very long, so using Segways might not be such a bad idea!

Tomohiro Kato from Shizuoka, a man the media first incorrectly reported as a Yakuza gang member, drove a mid-sized truck into pedestrians in Akihabara, the main electronics shopping district of Tokyo on Sunday. The New York Times reports that seven people died from the stabbing rampage, while another 11 were injured.

The truck used by Tomohiro Kato

The man who committed the “stabbing rampage” was Tomohiro Kato. He lived by himself in a small apartment, and had grown tired of life. Kato told police that he had grown “tired” of life, “hated the world” and had gone to Akihabara to kill random people. “Anyone was O.K., I came to Akihabara to kill people. It didn’t matter whom I’d kill,” he said. Kato wore a beige suit and black-and-white sneakers, and was armed with a 12″ survival knife.

Tomohiro Kato being captured by police

There is more coverage at Japan Probe, who’ve compiled a good list of links and news stories about this incident. It goes to show that even in countries that ban guns–like England and Japan–crimes, killing sprees, and murders can still be committed. And if knives are banned, only criminals will carry knives…

Update: Mashable reveals that the killer “twittered” his attack plan on a Japanese forum:

“I’m going to Akihabara to kill people. If my car is destroyed I’ll use a knife. Goodbye everyone.”
“I’m tired.”
“It’s time, I’m leaving.”
“I’ve entered Kanagawa [prefecture, en-route to Tokyo], I’m taking a rest.”
“I’ve reached Akihabara. Today it’s a pedestrian area, I think.”
“It’s time.”

… 26 bombs exploded killing six in a coordinated attack by gunman in Southern Thailand. The attacks appeared to target Chinese citizens celebrating the new year in all the Muslim provinces of Thailand.  I didn’t know there was a civil war going on there:

Akara said that besides disrupting the New Year festivities, the rebels wanted to show the international community that the Thai government could not control the situation in southern Thailand, thus underlining the rebels’ legitimacy as separatists.

I’m not sure civil war really ever solves problems.  Generally it’s the bloodiest, most horrible, kind of war because you are fighting your own people.  If your mother one day says, “I like things the way they are, I don’t want to split” she’s suddenly your enemy and your revolutionary friends are obliged to tear her apart.

Chotiros Suriyawong, know as Amy in Western circles, appeared wearing a stunning evening gown for Thailand’s version of the Oscars.  Unfortunately, her dress did not meet local moral standards and she has been sentenced to community service, and dropped from the casting of her next movie.  She has also been ordered to make a public apology.

Here are a couple photos of her dress that evening–you’ve seen the same worn by plenty of American and British actresses going up for their awards:

In this next one you can tell the camera man is totally enthralled by her dress:

Yes, the dress is very sexy, but it’s also fairly modest and sophisticated, with a long skirt.  If it weren’t for that slit running top to bottom there would be no problem… and nothing to distinguish it from every other black evening gown.  It’s only by taking risks with fashion that you can shock and impress the people around you.  If you wear what society expects, you’re not making progress.

Dare to go against the norm!  Be unique and special!

Did you know that for running a relatively unprofitable pornography site in China, you could receive a life sentence? Eight of his associates also received prison terms of up to 10 years. The site, Qingseliuyuetian (Pornographic Summer) was China’s largest, featuring nearly 10 million media items and 600,000 users.

Xinhua reported that police said it was difficult to know the exact amount of profits the Web site earned. Police found about 200,000 yuan ($25,000) in the bank accounts of the nine.

The government encourages Internet use for education and business, but strictly controls content and tries to block access to material deemed pornographic or subversive.

Interestingly, the internet is only about 3% porn, according to some unknown study I read recently.  Why is this such a big focus for China, then?