BAILONGSI,
KUNMING
In a move sure to have international repercussions, the Chinese today
exploded what appears to have been a small nuclear device in the White
Dragon Temple section of Kunming, also known by the Chinese name "Bailongsi."
"This came as a big shock to us," a local business leader was reported
as saying. "We may get some publicity out of being the first community
to be bombed by its own government, but on the whole this will be a setback."
The neighborhood had been on the upswing since 1999, when the International
Horticultural Exposition was built nearby. Large apartment blocks lined
the newly widened streets and stores and restaurants catering to the wealthy
incoming residents had begun to appear. All of these have now been reduced
to rubble.
"It won't be easy building this all back up again," an injured, but
optimistic resident suggested, "but having lived through the Great Leap
Forward and the Cultural Revolution, let me tell you, a thermonuclear explosion
is nothing."
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