China Quashes News of School Cleaver Attack

Chinese authorities, apparently fearing yet more copycat rampages and hoping to dodge public fury, moved quickly to hush up news of yesterday's gruesome kindergarten attack. News of the attack, in which a man hacked to death 7 students, a teacher, and the teacher's mother with a cleaver before killing himself, was censored from news broadcasts and discussion was shut down on many Internet sites, the Telegraph reports.

A series of school attacks in China over recent weeks has left at least 21 children dead and scores more injured, sparking unusually frank discussion of China's social ills. Analysts say the government fears public anger over its apparent inability to stop the attacks. "These cases pose a challenge to the government because it's being criticized for its weak social administration," a sociologist at the China University of Politics, Science and Law tells the Wall Street Journal. "The government may be blamed if it can't protect its citizens—especially vulnerable children." (More kindergarten attack stories.)