Chinese Arrest 6 in Student’s Slaying After Protest by 1,000

BEIJING — nese authorities on Friday arrested six suspects in the slaying of a university student and agreed to most demands of fellow students who marched in protest.

Chai Qingfeng, 22, a geophysics graduate student at Beijing University, died Thursday of injuries suffered the day before when he and several classmates were beaten by a gang of youths off campus.

The death touched off a protest by more than 1,000 students from Beijing University and other colleges, who marched to Tian An Men Square in Beijing early Friday. There, they met with officials of the Public Security Ministry.

Beijing University students said the death of Chai tapped widespread student discontent over poor living conditions and status for students and intellectuals.

The students asserted that police should have prevented the killing. After the march, posters appeared at the university that linked the slaying to crumbling law and order.

One of the posters demanded that authorities “make the killers pay their blood debt.” The students demanded swift arrests, a public trial on campus, full media coverage of their protest, better campus security, a university memorial service for Chai and compensation for his family.

Beijing University’s General Affairs Advisory Office put a notice on the campus bulletin board late Friday indicating that officials agreed to all demands except trial on campus.

According to the advisory office notice, Yu Lei, vice minister of public security, acknowledged: “We didn’t do our job well, and we will definitely learn a lesson from this case.”

The official New China News Agency reported Friday that police had arrested six suspects. It did not identify them.