French Tourist Attacked Near Tiananmen

A French  tourist was attacked and injured by a knife-wielding man near Beijing's Tiananmen Square today, raising tensions as the Chinese capital prepares to mark 60 years of Communist rule, the AP reports. Two security guards were killed and at least a dozen other people were injured in another attack Thursday night, when a knife-wielding man went on the rampage in the same area.

The attacks happened despite security in the capital having been increased to the highest level possible outside wartime ahead of the October 1 anniversary, which will see a huge military parade through the Tiananmen Square area. Chinese authorities quickly moved to hush up the attacks and censored blog postings referring to them as soon as they went up, the Christian Science Monitor reports.
(More China stories.)