Fire breaks out at PLA headquarters in Beijing

Fire breaks out at PLA headquarters in Beijing

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On Feb. 6, a four-story building within the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army Navy in Beijing caught fire during a Lantern Festival celebration. The authorities say they are still investigating the cause of the blaze.

A local citizen suenamed Chen told the US-based Chinese-language Epoch Times that the fire was not caused by the fireworks display. It is impossible for ordinary members of the public to know what was going on at such a military nerve center, he said.

Within 20 minutes, some 20 fire trucks had arrived at the headquarters and put out the fire. When reporting this event, official media outlets such as thestate news agency Xinhua ommitted to mention that the building was actually on the site of one of China's most important military facilities. This angered Chinese internet users, who questioned the ability of the PLA to protect the nation.

Some netizens jokingly suggested the fire was probably caused by experimenting with new weapons, while others said irresponsible officials may have been playing around with fireworks. Regardless of the cause, many expressed sorrow about the damage done to a building which was formerly used by Beiyang Navy of the Qing Dynasty a century ago.

Christ, a fire breaks out, and suddenly the ability of the PLA is in question?

What a piece of propaganda crap. Shouldn't be surprised though, considering that they are sourcing from the Epoch Times, mouthpiece of the FLG.

Originally Posted by solarz

Christ, a fire breaks out, and suddenly the ability of the PLA is in question?

What a piece of propaganda crap. Shouldn't be surprised though, considering that they are sourcing from the Epoch Times, mouthpiece of the FLG.

What's the FLG?

A local citizen suenamed Chen told the US-based Chinese-language Epoch Times that the fire was not caused by the fireworks display. It is impossible for ordinary members of the public to know what was going on at such a military nerve center, he said.

and..

Some netizens jokingly suggested the fire was probably caused by experimenting with new weapons, while others said irresponsible officials may have been playing around with fireworks.

And how do you read all that you posted into the story? The link is from Taiwan. Just curious.

Originally Posted by bd popeye

What's the FLG?

FLG = Fa Lun Gong, a cult which was banned in China in 1999 and has been at odd with the Chinese government ever since. Epoch Times is one of their propaganda arms. Their ability in twisting good news into bad news and bad news into worse ones makes Western media's bias reportings on China appears like shining pillars of fair journalism in comparison.

Originally Posted by bd popeye

And how do you read all that you posted into the story? The link is from Taiwan. Just curious.

You can pretty much find every kind of opinion on the internet. One of the most used China-bashing tactics by certain news outlets is to quote anonymous comments by Chinese internet posters, and presenting only those comments which ascribe to the pre-established view.

---------- Post added at 12:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:51 PM ----------

Take this sentence for example:

This angered Chinese internet users, who questioned the ability of the PLA to protect the nation.

This statement reads as if the described sentiment ("questioning the ability of the PLA") was widespread. It provides no basis for the statement other than a few cherry-picked internet postings.

Thank you..but I don't get it. You are reading something into the article I sure don't see. Sorry.

I really feel some people may be too sensitive.

Its an old building built back during the Qing dynasty, probable cause of fire is likely electrical. Old buildings and modern admaneties can have a difficult relationship sometimes. Perhaps somebody forgot to turn off one of those indoor electrical heaters.

The building in question was also a personnel residence of some sort.

Originally Posted by Equation

Its an old building built back during the Qing dynasty, probable cause of fire is likely electrical. Old buildings and modern admaneties can have a difficult relationship sometimes. Perhaps somebody forgot to turn off one of those indoor electrical heaters.

meets criteria of adequacy. i support your notion.

Originally Posted by bd popeye

Thank you..but I don't get it. You are reading something into the article I sure don't see. Sorry.

I really feel some people may be too sensitive.

When I still lived with my parents I read the two newspapers they subscribed to as well as the one they got from a neighbor in exchange from one of theirs. Also I listened at 8 am to the Dutch radio news and an hour later to the Belgian radio news in Dutch and the revue of the Belgian papers. It was remarkable how different the presentation of the same news item was by the several sources. It even seemed that The Netherlands and Belgium lived on different worlds as the news broadcasts often presented totally different international news items.
So for every news item of real interest I ask, who presents it, why is it presented in that way, is it true, would it imply something else happened and can I find out that it did?
Of course for some items this is unnecessary. When I read in the International Herald Tribune in the late '90's that in 1950 a US army division had massacred nearly a thousand South Korean civilians because is was afraid there were North Korean spies among them I saw no reason to doubt it.
Sometimes a guess that a government is lying is early confirmed. For example the Dutch government told the parliament in early 2003 that it had convincing evidence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Only a few months later my, center right, newspaper I have been reading for the last half century wrote that the Dutch military intelligence service had told the Dutch government that it had no such evidence.
Sometimes you must say I have this evidence from these papers, radio stations, internet sources, but it cannot be confirmed.
I have a subscription on the internet edition of my Dutch newspaper, I daily look at The Daily Telegraph, The New York Times and The Washington Post and I listen to a few radio news stations. Comparing all that I think I have a reasonable view of what is happening in the world, but there must be a lot I will not be aware of.
So if a news item comes from a less than reliable source it is reasonable to wonder: what did really happen. In this case - was the building burned down or was there a small fire in a waste paper basket or something in between. Also if a story was retold a few times it can be changed a little. Remember the Royal Marines unit thirty years ago in the Falklands war. The leader said: we'll stop in five minutes, tell it on. The last man of the twenty was told that the Argentinian general/president Galtieri had died.

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by bd popeye

What's the FLG?

The practice of Fulung Gong utilises buddhist and taoist principles and combines them with exercises and to many, it is seen as a way of life. The government, alarmed at its popularity saw it as a serious threat to their rule since the days of the student uprising(at one time it had a membership greater than the "CCP"), set about discrediting and banning the movement with many suffering persecution and imprisonment.
There have been many allegations by the Fulun Gong and their world wide supporters, that many of them have been executed for organ harvesting. The claim has been investigated by many third part ies(western politicians amnesty international etc) and although the findings are inconclusive, there remains a very strong suspicion that organ harvesting was used on the FG and other condemned criminals.

---------- Post added at 05:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:46 PM ----------

Originally Posted by bd popeye

What's the FLG?

The practice of Fulung Gong utilises buddhist and taoist principles and combines them with exercises and to many, it is seen as a way of life. The government, alarmed at its popularity saw it as a serious threat to their rule since the days of the student uprising(at one time it had a membership greater than the "CCP"), set about discrediting and banning the movement with many suffering persecution and imprisonment.
There have been many allegations by the Fulun Gong and theire world wide supporters, that many of them have been executed for organ harvesting. The claim has been investigated by many third part ies(western politicians amnesty international etc) and although the findings are inconclusive, there remains a strong suspicion that organ harvesting was utilised on the FLG and other condemned prisoners

And the Falun Gong also believe aliens brought science to Earth as a evil plot. Classic megalomaniac cult type personality to try to take away the things in life that create independence and in order to establish dependency on them.

Originally Posted by AssassinsMace

And the Falun Gong also believe aliens brought science to Earth as a evil plot. Classic megalomaniac cult type personality to try to take away the things in life that create independence and in order to establish dependency on them.

They also believe that people of mixed ethnicity are "rejected by the gods" and are "a plot by aliens to undermine human civilization". The FLG is a ripoff of Scientology.

Originally Posted by bladerunner

The practice of Fulung Gong utilises buddhist and taoist principles and combines them with exercises and to many, it is seen as a way of life. The government, alarmed at its popularity saw it as a serious threat to their rule since the days of the student uprising(at one time it had a membership greater than the "CCP"), set about discrediting and banning the movement with many suffering persecution and imprisonment.
There have been many allegations by the Fulun Gong and their world wide supporters, that many of them have been executed for organ harvesting. The claim has been investigated by many third part ies(western politicians amnesty international etc) and although the findings are inconclusive, there remains a very strong suspicion that organ harvesting was used on the FG and other condemned criminals.

Seriously, even the people I know who despise the CCP would call all this a crock of BS, that's how deep this level of deep-seated bias goes...

Originally Posted by montyp165

Seriously, even the people I know who despise the CCP would call all this a crock of BS, that's how deep this level of deep-seated bias goes...

True, never the less Bladerunner was just giving a basic definition to one of the members who asked.