Tourist with British passport found dead near Great Wall
( 2002-10-11 11:49 ) (7 )

The government has confirmed that a tourist carrying a British passport was found dead near a popular section of the Great Wall.

British media on Thursday identified the victim as Tom Dawson, 24, a graphic designer from London who was touring Asia. In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue confirmed only that the body was that of a foreigner and had a British passport.

The body was found last week. The tourist had been attacked near the Great Wall's well-traveled Badaling section, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of Beijing, according to an officer in the Yanqing Public Security Bureau who declined to give his name.

Violence against foreigners _ especially near a high-profile attraction like the Great Wall _ is rare in China, which places great value on its reputation as a safe place for tourists and its own citizens.

``There are police everywhere. Nothing like this has ever happened here,'' said Wu Cuixian, who has run a gaudy souvenir shop outside Badaling's main entrance for 10 years.

Added Ma Xiuxin, another shop owner, "No robbery, no violence, nothing."

The body was found Oct. 2, a day after China's National Day, the start of a weeklong holiday when millions of Chinese visit relatives and tourist attractions. That could make it far more difficult to track down the assailant.

Dawson told his family he intended to celebrate his birthday Sept. 29 on the Great Wall, the Times said. The newspaper said he set off alone.

Police using tracking dogs found Dawson's body in a ravine, the Times said. It said he was dressed in only a T-shirt and most of his belongings were gone. British consular staff identified his body from a photograph, according to the newspaper.

``If tourists were killed, it's really bad _ no matter if they're foreigners or Chinese,'' said Liu Aifu, a scholar at the Beijing Tourist Institute. ``It's natural for people to worry about their safety if they know tourists were killed.''

Don Macmillan of Toronto, who first visited Badaling 15 years ago, said China's increasing openness brings with it a ``natural evolution'' _ including hazards.

``In the day I was here, no one would think of touching a tourist because of political repercussions,'' Macmillan said. ``Once you open up doors to the commercial aspects, unfortunately, all facets of crime are also opened up.''

The wall's modern sections around the Chinese capital date from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Some parts have been restored since 1949, and several _ including the most popular, Badaling _ draw hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.