The Monks and the Reporters

(Daqi via Wenxue City)

At around 2pm on November 14, a photographer and a reporter from the Chongqing Morning News were walking through Jiangbei in Chongqing city.  They observed a bus parked in the "no stopping" zone of a street and the traffic police was quarreling with the men.  As reporters, they naturally went ahead to find out what was going on.  The traffic police officer informed the men: "This is a no-stopping zone, and so the bus should be removed."  Instead, the men surrounded him and shoved him around.  Just as the photographer picked up his camera to film, one of the men: "No filming."  Then several more men went up to try to rip off his camera.  The photographer attempted to run away, but he was pushed to the ground and beaten.  Several uniformed and plainclothes policemen came immediately to his assistance, even as more police officers were summoned.  However, the men were eventually let go.

Oh, yes, the men were "monks" who had set up (without any permits) at the pedestrian mall to do martial arts performances as well as sell medicine.

These photographs were originally posted at the Daqi forum by a newspaper editor.  He stated that he wanted to publish the photographs in the newspapers but "he was prevented from so doing by certain people."  Therefore, he posted them at the Daqi forum instead.  He said that he did not intend to sensationalize the matter and he only wanted to remind people about the human rights of reporters.

Related Link: Shaolin Monks Disturb Public Order