BEIJING – The detained relatives of an outspoken Chinese dissident living abroad committed arson, according to police, after being held in what is widely seen as a crackdown following the publication of a letter condemning President Xi Jinping.

Authorities in Sichuan province said on a verified social media account that German-based journalist Chang Ping’s father and two younger brothers were being investigated for causing a forest fire after lighting incense as part of an ancestor worship ceremony.

“The Xichong Public Security Bureau has opened an investigation in accordance with the law into Zhang and his two sons,” said the statement posted on Sina Weibo, a Chinese version of Twitter. Zhang, who was only referred to by his surname, was identified as Chang’s father.

They are accused of burning down about 40 mu (2.6 hectares, 6.4 acres) of forest in a fire that took roughly an hour to extinguish, the police said.

Writer Chang – whose given name is Zhang Ping – had previously said authorities detained his two younger brothers and a younger sister in connection with suspicions that he had been involved in writing an anonymous letter calling on Xi to step down for the good of the country.

Chinese authorities have detained several people in what appears to be a reaction the letter, which was attributed to “Loyal Communist Party Members” and appeared on Wujie News, a state-backed website, before it was deleted.

Those held include a number of staff members at Wujie, who went missing around two weeks ago. Last week, New York-based writer Wen Yunchao said officials in the southern province of Guangdong had taken away three of his family members.

Chang and Wen have both denied any connection to the letter.

Chang, a prominent commentator on contemporary affairs, was formerly a senior journalist at the outspoken Southern Weekend newspaper but moved to Germany after coming under sustained pressure for advocating more government openness and accountability.

The police statement did not mention his sister.

Sichuan police also accused foreign media of “hyping” the detentions, a common government refrain when officials are displeased with media attention.

Media criticism of top leaders is almost unheard of in China, where the press is strictly controlled by the ruling Communist Party.

JAKARTA – Ten Indonesian sailors have been kidnapped in Philippine waters by Islamic militants who have demanded a ransom for their release, an official said Tuesday.

The crew were travelling on two boats that were transporting coal from Borneo island to the Philippines when they were hijacked, said Indonesia’s foreign ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir.

It is not clear when the vessels – a tugboat and a barge – were hijacked but the boats’ owners received a ransom call from someone claiming to be from the Abu Sayyaf militant group on Saturday, Nasir said.

Abu Sayyaf is a Philippines-based Islamist group notorious for bombings and kidnappings, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.

“The hijackers demanded a ransom from the owners of the boat. Since March 26, the hijackers have contacted the owners twice,” Nasir told reporters, without elaborating on how much had been demanded for the crew’s release.

It is unclear where the barge Anand 12 and the crew are being held by the kidnappers but the tugboat Brahma 12 had been released to the Philippine authorities, he added.

The Indonesian foreign ministry is working with the Philippines foreign ministry on the case, Nasir said.

“Our current priority is the safety of the 10 citizens who were taken hostage,” he said, adding their families had been informed.

There was no immediate confirmation from authorities in the Philippines.

But the Philippine military chief, General Hernando Iriberri, flew to the main army base in the south of the country to check on the situation and discuss what steps should be taken, his spokesman Brigadier General Restituto Padilla told AFP.

The Philippine government has repeatedly said it has a “no-ransom policy”. But parties linked to foreigners held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf often pay to win their release.

“Kill him, kill him.”

An enraged crowd called for justice and the death penalty after Taiwanese suspect Wang Jingyu was arrested for beheading a four-year-old girl in Taipei on Monday morning.

The blood-drenched 33-year-old was seen on Taiwanese media footage pleading for mercy repeatedly before an angry mob that formed around him as he was being led out of a police station in handcuffs yesterday afternoon.

Emotionally charged and furious over the grisly crime, the crowd could be heard shouting expletives and some even attempted to hit him. He faced an angry crowd again at 7.30pm when he was escorted out of the station to be transferred to a police prosecution building, reported Apply Daily.

Wang had chopped off the girl’s head with 12 cuts using a hefty cleaver right before her mother in Neihu, eastern Taipei.

According to reports, eye-witnesses had tackled the suspect to the ground before police arrived, but it was too late to save the little girl, who is affectionally nicknamed “Little Lightbulb” by her family.

At Wang’s home, police officers found scribbling on his notepad which read “Killing four Sichuan girls can extend bloodline”. According to his father, Wang, had a drug conviction, was also mentally unsound.

“Shocked and saddened” by the incident, President Ma Ying-jeou asked his Cabinet to launch a full investigation “to ensure justice be served”, China Post reported.

A Kuomintang (KMT) legislator called for the law to punish those who murder children 12 years old or younger with either the death penalty or life imprisonment.

The attack took place in Taipei’s Neihu District’s Huashan Road Section 1 where the toddler and her mother were taking a stroll.

According to the police, Wang bought the cleaver at a wholesale market earlier in the morning. before taking a train to Xihu station. Wang was loitering near Neihu Road Section 1 at about 10am when he spotted the toddler and her mother.

He then followed them, with the knife in his hand.

Wang approached the girl when her toy bicycle appeared to have broken down. He then attacked her in front of her mother who screamed for help, according to a China Post report.

She tried to stop him by grabbing at him, but could not pull him away as he continued to hack the child.

Three car mechanics, who heard the mother’s screams, rushed to the scene and managed to subdue Wang. But it was already too late – the toddler was already decapitated.

When in police custody, Wang kept repeating: “I’m out to find a girl from Sichuan” (a Chinese province).

In a TV interview, the little girl’s mother, Mrs Liu, said she does not think that any kind of law will be able to solve the problem of keeping “dangerous people away from the street”.

Instead, she said: “I hope our children and grandchildren will never see this happen ever again.”

This morning, the victim’s family including her parents and grandparents, turned up at the scene to offer prayers and called for her soul to “return home”, reported Apple Daily

chenj@sph.com.sg

Taiwanese man beheads toddler in front of her mum

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