Authorities have arrested a man for setting off a remotely-controlled bomb in a supermarket in the Shanghai suburb of Jiading at about 2pm yesterday. The man, who has now confessed, supposedly planted the bomb in a locker of an RT-Mart on Xinyu Rd (near Cao'an Road) and then called the supermarket around 1:10pm threatening to set it off. more ›

This weekend we got the disturbing news that a new gay bar on the Bund was raided and dozens of its patrons were detained harshly and now more bad news, we're afraid. It has hit the web that China's most outspoken artist and activist Ai Weiwei has also been detained by police, now for over 24 hrs. more ›

Police said yesterday they had cracked down on a Shanghai terrorist cell planning violence at Olympic soccer matches in the city. Shanghai’s Olympic security office head Cheng Jiulong said police, who were put on “crisis” level several days ago, had learned of several international terrorist organizations and staged raids successful in arresting potential attackers. Information not mentioned in Jiulong's report included how many people were arrested, when they were taken into custody and where they are being held. more ›

We're not sure if this has anything to do with this earlier story, but Beijing police do seem intent to really CLEAN UP the city in time for the Olympics. In a massive raid on Sanlitun recently, the city's popular nightlife area, Beijing police have arrested 20 people (including eight foreigners) and many young people are said to be shaken. Blogger Beijing Boyce happened to be in the vicinity, and observed:

1) this raid was much more coordinated that the one last October; 2) given the numerous photographers, it was meant to send a very public message; 3) now is not the time to be acting recklessly in Beijing; and 4) it’s a good idea to have your identification papers with you... [read more]