Man Kills Himself in Tiananmen Square

A man set off explosives in Tiananmen Square, killing himself and injuring a South Korean tourist in what Chinese police quickly labeled a suicide. Police said the bomber was a mentally ill man from Hubei province. A police official said the man, Li Xiangshan, was known to police, having come to the capital four times previously to appeal to Chinese leaders. The government-run New China News Agency described Li as a farmer and said the South Korean tourist was slightly injured. Neither police nor the news agency described the type of explosives used or elaborated on the motives. In less than three weeks, the national legislature will open its annual session in the Great Hall of the People, an event that typically attracts disaffected Chinese to protest at adjacent Tiananmen.