BEIJING — Shanghai police are refusing to give any details of the death of Diana Gabrielle O'Brien, except to say that they are investigating.
With its showcase Olympics beginning in less than a month, the last thing China wants is a high-profile killing of a foreigner in China's biggest city. But that's what happened this week in Shanghai, and it might explain why the authorities are reluctant to discuss the case.
Officials at the Shanghai branch of the Public Security Ministry, the agency in charge of the police, declined to make any comment Tuesday on the death.
At a local police station in the city's Changning district, not far from the last published address of the modelling agency that recruited Ms. O'Brien, a police officer issued a brief statement to CTV News Tuesday after making many calls to her superior officers. “The police will do everything possible to investigate and resolve this case,” the statement said. “When the investigation reaches a more certain level, we will contact the media.”
A source at one of Shanghai's newspapers said the police had “reported the case to their senior officers” and had decided that “now is not a convenient time to release information to the media.”
China has been particularly sensitive about its image as it prepares for the Beijing Olympics, which begin on Aug. 8. It has cleaned up the streets, launched a massive security campaign and cracked down on dissidents, petitioners, beggars, street vendors, and anyone else perceived as a potential trouble-maker. The Chinese authorities are certain to be unhappy with a high-profile homicide involving a foreign victim at a time when China is preparing to welcome an estimated 500,000 foreign visitors for the Olympics.
Even in normal times, however, China is often slow to respond to media inquiries about crimes involving foreign suspects or foreign victims.
