I like to cruise through the news websites for updates on the world.  Occasionally, I run across something that I want to share.  For instance, like the Puppy Printing Press or Vampires Terrorizing South America. Here’s a news item that my wife pointed out to me from Yahoo! News.  I have to say that I didn’t believe it until I read the article.

It’s about a Chinese man named Chen Fuchao and his attempt to kill himself.

The Global Financial Crisis has hit everyone hard, but perhaps none as hard as the second world countries where the line between security and utter poverty is the slimmest.  China sits on the brink of becoming a true first world superpower.  They have massive metropolises and a quickly growing number of millionaires in the Cash Money Club.  But the truth is that the vast majority of their country is living in severe poverty, either rural or urban.  It’s a black eye that China does its best to cover up – case in point the Beijing Olympic games were about as real as the lunar landing.

Our friend Chen was horribly in debt, 2 million yuan (~$200,000) due to failed business endeavors that were no doubt crushed with when the world wide economy took a huge dump in a non-flushable toilet.  With only harder times still yet to come, Chen was desperate and grasping at straws.

So he decided that suicide was his only way out.

Chen climbed to the middle of a massive bridge in Beijing and contemplated throwing himself off to his death.  Quickly, the Chinese media and local police responded to the emergency situation.  Traffic on the bridge was halted and counsellors sent to the scene to help talk the man out of his dire decision.

After five hours of stalemate with Chen refusing to come down from his perch, a man with a purpose got out of his car.  Lian Jiansheng, a 66-year old retired soldier, pushed through the police barricade and approached Chen, still on the ledge, with his hand held out as if to greet him.  Chen, perhaps touched by this display, turned to accept the handshake of another human being.

Then Lian pushed Chen off the bridge.

Yep.  That was not a typo.

Lian PUSHED Chen off the fucking bridge.  Apparently, five hours of waiting in his car with no progress had pushed this elderly motorist to the brink and he decided to take matters into his own hands.  This bastard wanted to kill himself, well this senior citizen was going to see that he did it … and expeditiously at that.  That’s hard freaking core, dudes.  Chen fell 8 meters and damaged his back and wrist, but survived.

Here’s a video of the incident.  BTW, it’s totally awesome.

When Lian was taken into custody, he told the police, “I pushed him off because jumpers like Chen are very selfish. Their action violates a lot of public interests.  They do not really dare to kill themselves. Instead, they just want to raise the relevant government authorities’ attention to their appeals.”

Apparently that same bridge in Beijing was very popular for other would-be jumpers/attention seekers.  Several other pseudo-suicidal Chinese had also taken to the bridge to display their life disappointments, but none had jumped.

To be honest, I’m not sure if I should be shocked, appalled, or cheering.  Part of me thinks that Lian is the Chinese version of Falling Down or Archie Bunker.  The other part of me is glad that this old codger called Chen on his bluff and pushed him and his bucket of self-pity off the damn bridge.  I wander how Chen took being pushed.  Did he clutch and grab at the side in panic as he realized that he was indeed plummeting over the side?  Or did he go out like a man and immediately break into a swan dive?

I guess the Chinese bloc still has all but the porno sites and WoW servers still turned off in their country, because there is no way that this incident does not end up on Youtube any other way.  I’d love to see this on Cops: Beijing.

One thing you have to say about the Asians – when they do something, they make it their own and they pursue it with endless determination.  Kevorkian can suck em.