Cyber-cafe crackdown extended
A crackdown on Beijing's Internet cafes is being extended to all public entertainment venues in the city following Sunday's cyber-cafe blaze which killed 24 people, official media reported.
The order for safety inspection checks on all public entertainment venues was made by Beijing Communist Party secretary Jia Qinglin on Monday, the Beijing Morning Post reported yesterday. Other major cities have followed suit.
Most of the 24 killed and 13 injured in the fire at the Lanjisu Internet Cafe early on Sunday were students from a nearby university. Firemen discovered the cafe's only door was locked and all windows were barred.
In a meeting with city officials, Mr Jia said central Government leaders were 'very concerned' about the fire and demanded immediate action to find out what caused the tragedy and assist victims and their families.
'We must take resolute measures to eliminate all hidden safety hazards . . . and quickly rectify [our management] of cultural and entertainment facilities as well as public venues,' Mr Jia said.
'All illegal Internet cafes, dance halls, bath houses, saunas and beauty salons must be closed. At the same time, safety inspections will be carried out in all lines of trade and industry.
'Leading cadres must take personal responsibility for safety . . . to ensure stability and protect life and property of the public.'
The meeting followed the surrender of Lanjisu Internet Cafe owner Zheng Wenjing to police on Sunday. Zheng, 36, has yet to be formally charged, but official media have repeatedly said his cafe was illegal.
State media yesterday said the crackdown on cyber-cafes was carried out simultaneously in main cities such as Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
In Shenzhen, more than 100 Internet cafes were temporarily closed on Monday night after safety checks.
Luo Shouming, an official of the Fire Prevention Department of the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau, said no more than 30 per cent of Shenzhen's 700 Internet cafes met the Government's safety standards.
He said inspectors would check whether the Internet cafes had necessary permits to operate. Shops which did not have a fire safety permit issued by the police would lose their business licences and inspectors would close all cafes which did not have sufficient safety facilities.
Some Internet cafe owners complained about the clampdown.
'We were never told that we need to obtain such a fire prevention permit,' the owner of the Xinghuoxinyu Internet Cafe in Shenzhen's Liantang district told Southern Metropolis News. 'We have all the proper licences and are legal.'
In Guangzhou, inspectors have also checked public entertainment venues such as games rooms, karaoke clubs and nightclubs.
