It was an isolated incident, the government insists. On June 24th a Chinese man attacked a Japanese woman and her child at a bus stop outside a Japanese school in the city of Suzhou. A Chinese school-bus attendant, Hu Youping, tried to shield the pair, only to be stabbed herself. She died days later. The local administration has called Ms Hu a “righteous and courageous” role model. The Economist
FOR SENIOR Chinese officials charged with wrongdoing, the road to justice is often long and winding. The first step is usually detention, interrogation and an internal investigation conducted quietly by the disciplinary arm of the Communist Party. This triggers frantic but uninformed chatter about the official’s disappearance. Weeks or months later, state-controlled media confirm that he or she has been removed from their post and is under investigation. Some time after that it is announced that the official has been stripped of party membership. The matter then gets turned over…