Violence in a Beijing Bookstore

China’s always been out to get blogs, but now it’s out for bloggers, too. Xu Lai, a popular and irreverent Chinese blogger, author and newspaper reporter was stabbed and wounded at a book reading in Beijing on Saturday. Lai’s blog, “ProState in Flames,” features humorous stories and news from obscure local offices, and most recently included items on censorship and the melamine milk scandal. A government crackdown in January closed the blog for its “vulgar” content, but it reappeared shortly thereafter. After Xu was stabbed in the lavatory of the bookshop, comments popped up on his blog expressing outrage at the government. “Comrades, netizens, such a despicable trick cannot stop the progress of Chinese people towards freedom and democracy, because this is the tide of history,” one post read.