Posted on 06/21/2002 9:23:04 AM PDT by Tai_Chung
BEIJING - Two young teenage boys who set fire to a Beijing cyber cafe with the intention of settling a minor grudge prompted shock and soul-searching in China yesterday, after 24 people were burned to death.
As news of their arrests broke, China's Web chat rooms erupted with shock, anger and concern about social stability.
'This is not an issue of Internet bars. It's a problem related to the education of our youth,' said one writer.
'These two boys were going to school. How can the school allow them to have haircuts like that? Did the teachers and principal bother to pay attention to them?' one participant asked.
One of the boys, who had dyed blond hair with a black 'Z' cut into the back, had been shown on Beijing television saying: 'I burned the Lanjisu with petrol because they would not let us play there.'
The Beijing government statement said both youths, aged 13 and 14 and identified only by their surnames Zhang and Song, were absent regularly from school following the divorces of their parents.
Investigators had found traces of fuel at the scene of the blaze, and the boys had been seen buying petrol at a nearby service station around three hours before the fire, it said.
People debating the issue online yesterday suggested the government was partly at fault and should do more to ensure public safety.
'The government should prohibit teenagers from buying hazardous material... They should also simplify the process for Internet bars to register so they can better monitor the bars... and prohibit people under the age of 18 from entering,' one person wrote.
The city government's statement did not specify how the boys would be dealt with, but the official China Daily said yesterday that the 13-year-old would avoid punishment because China's legal system exempts those under 14 from criminal responsibility.
The older boy could be tried for arson, but would likely be given a relatively lenient sentence if convicted, it said.
The authorities have announced that all 2,400 Internet cafes in Beijing - only 10 per cent of which are licensed - will be shut pending an investigation.
How convienient.
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