China doesn’t exactly have the best human-rights record. In fact, it is down right awful. Amid the child labour and human trafficing, the capital punishment and organ retrieval you can add Rodney King style beatings to the list.
Wei Wenhua was the general manager of construction company, Shuli Architectural Engineering; additionally, he was a blogger. He was beaten to death in Wanba, Tianmen, Hubei, after attempting to film Chinese authorities clashing with villagers.
According to Chinese media reports, Wei Wenhua was beaten to death by a mob of more than 30 “urban management officers”, or cheng guan, in Hubei’s Wanba Village on January 7 as he attempted to take photos with his mobile phone of a dispute involving villagers and local authorities.
The Wei Wenhua Affair, vaguely reminiscent of the Sun Zhigang story back in 2003, could become one of the most important China stories of 2008. Some media and Web users are already calling for the disbanding of the urban management system.
No one has been charged with Wei’s murder.