Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

by **kaneg** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:03 pm

TEN Australian tourists taken hostage on a bus in China have been released after police shot dead the hostage taker who had explosives strapped to his chest.
Xia Tao, a resident of Xian in north-west China, took the 10 Australians, their local driver and a translator hostage at around 10am local time yesterday.
With a bomb strapped to his waist, Mr Xia - a local resident of the "eternal city" - demanded to speak with Chinese President Hu Jintao.
After a tense stand-off with local police, Mr Xia agreed to release nine of the ten Australians.
But a 48-year-old woman from New South Wales was held captive for several hours as the would-be terrorist made a series of demands.
Xian police accepted Mr Xia's demands to travel to the airport, in an attempt to avoid violence in the busy downtown Zhonggulou Square area.
The deranged local was eventually shot dead by police as the bus approached the airport toll station, just after midday local time.
The NSW woman was safely reunited with the other nine Australian tourists.
They were being flown to the Chinese financial capital of Shanghai last night, where they were to be met by Australian diplomatic officials.
The terrifying ordeal for the 10 Australians comes just weeks before Kevin Rudd is scheduled to visit Beijing, as part of a wide-ranging overseas visit which will also take in Europe and the United States.
The Prime Minister will meet the Chinese President for the first time since Mr Rudd impressed guests at the APEC summit in Sydney with his command of Mandarin.
Last night, Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith said he was "pleased that the situation was resolved quickly and the hostages are now safe".
Mr Smith said the Australian Embassy in Beijing, and the Consulate-General in Shanghai, were providing assistance to the tourists.

What did you think of the handling of the terrorist ??

by **dave#3** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:48 pm

I wasn't surprised at all ... in fact I think my words to Cath last night were "they're ruthless fuckers" referring to the Chinese authorities. I don't know what the hostage-taker was hoping to achieve, but I'm sure he realised the risk he took when he decided to take hostages.

Such is life.