BEIJING (Reuters) – A bomb exploded outside the U.S. embassy in Beijing on Thursday, wounding the lone assailant, the embassy said in a statement, but police described the weapon merely as a “firework device”.
The explosion happened on the street outside southeast corner of the embassy compound, the embassy said. Beijing police said the suspect, a 26-year-old man from China’s Inner Mongolia region, had injured his hand and been taken to hospital.
Police did not provide a motive.
China and the United States have been involved in an escalating trade dispute initiated by Washington after the two sides imposed tariffs on $34 billion worth of each other’s goods, with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening ultimately to impose punitive tariffs on all Chinese imports.
While Chinese officials and state media have been outspoken in their criticism of Washington’s trade moves, there has not been a groundswell of outrage on China’s heavily censored social media, and no reported boycotts of U.S. goods.
Witnesses told Reuters that they heard an explosion near the embassy and felt tremors.
“I’d just arrived and started to queue and then heard a loud explosion about 100 metres away,” a 19-year-old high school student who gave his name as Li told reporters.
Li said the blast happened shortly after 1 p.m. as he queued to apply for a U.S. visa to take an exam in Los Angeles.
A police SUV appeared to have been damaged, with its back windshield missing, and was cordoned off by police before being removed, a Reuters witness said.
The embassy resumed normal operations at about 1.45 p.m., it said.
Crowds were still queuing outside the embassy after the explosion and traffic was moving as normal in an area of northeastern Beijing that is home to numerous embassies including those of France, India and Israel.
