BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping and the six other top officials reportedly were at Tiananmen Square on Monday when a vehicle crashed and exploded nearby, leaving five dead.
Although there is no indication that the physical safety of the leaders, who were attending meetings inside the Great Hall of the People, was jeopardized, the apparent suicide attack so close to the epicenter of power rattled the Chinese government and has raised doubts about the effectiveness of its often-stifling security apparatus.
The three occupants of the car, suspected of being members of the Uighur ethnic minority, were killed along with two tourists. Thirty-eight people were injured.
Rohan Gunaratna, a Singapore-based terrorism expert, attributed the attack to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a shadowy group based in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region.
