The bomb attack by a paralysed man in a wheelchair,with grievances against police,at the Beijing International airport has sparked off concerns over the lengths marginalised Chinese people go to highlight their plight in a closed political system. Ji Zhongxing,a motorcycle taxi driver from Heze city,Shandong province,was paralysed from waist below after receiving beating at the hands of police in 2005. He attempted to distribute fliers to highlight his grievance near the arrival lounge of the airport Saturday evening before setting off the homemade explosives injuring his arm. Some reports say his left arm has been amputated. A report by state-run Xinhua news agency said Ji,34,tried to distribute leaflets to draw attention to his complaints near the B exit before setting off the bomb. The Beijing News newspaper on Sunday quoted several witnesses as saying Ji yelled I have a bomb,stay away from me before the bomb was detonated. Internet users quickly uncovered Jis identity and his microblog account on Sina Weibo,in which he complained about being left paralysed by a beating at the hands of security officers hired by local police in 2005. The migrant worker said he was driving a motorcycle taxi in the Dongguan village of Xintang when they attacked him. Significantly,he chose the internationally famous airport as his target to highlight his plight to make a maximum impact both at home and abroad. Last month Chen Shuizong,59,a native of Xiamen city walked into crowded passenger bus dragging a can of gasoline and exploded causing massive fire in which 47 people including Chen were killed and 37 injured. Like Ji,Chen took the desperate measure to highlight his plight of not able to receive social security insurance because police made an error while recording his age and they didn't treat his problem seriously. I have been to the police station 56 times but they still haven't solved my problem,Chen said in his microblog account before resorting to suicidal attack. Chinese government Saturday night announced a $1.46 lakh compensation for the family of Deng Zhengjia,a 56 year old watermelon farmer from Chenzhou city who died due to heavy beating by Chengguan few days ago for selling his melons at a prohibited spot. His death sparked off riots in the city. Many say that disgruntled and marginalised people turning to suicide attacks to highlight their neglected political and economic rights in a closed political set up putting pressure on the ruling Communist Party of China to open up.
