Seesaw Battle

As tension between Tu's relatives and authorities mounted, the hotel's managers and Shishou government officials started negotiations, offering 30,000 yuan to cover burial costs. The offer was rejected. Family members also refused to comply with the security bureau's order to transfer the body to the morgue.

By the wee hours of the next day, a crowd of supporters of the Tu family had gathered in front of the hotel. Hotel managers and police held more negotiations with the relatives around 9 a.m., but refused a demand for 300,000 yuan in compensation.

Police asked the relatives to remove the body before 5 p.m. But the deadline came and went. Instead, relatives rented an ice coffin from the morgue; the temperature that day had risen to 35 degrees. They knelt in the street and begged the crowd to help them guard the body.

On the evening of June 18, police and government officials tried to remove Tu's body. But they were stopped by the crowd massed outside the hotel. Soon video clips, photos and reports about the confrontation appeared on the Internet, sparking wider concern. 

The following morning, the Gaojimiao Township government and police bureau made a new proposal: Tu's relatives were asked to sign a document confirming suicide in exchange for preliminary compensation of 35,000 yuan. Again, relatives rejected the offer and demanded an explanation for the death.

A fleet of more than 20 vehicles carrying more than 200 members of the armed police force arrived from outside Shishou shortly after 2 p.m. Joined by some 300 local police and government officials, they advanced toward the hotel.

But the police and officials were confronted by a crowd of some 2,000 people armed with bricks, beer bottles and chairs. Police retreated after a vehicle was overturned. 

Mayor Zhang Shancai soon appeared on the fourth floor of a clinic opposite the Yonglong Hotel. Using a loudspeaker, he appealed for calm and restraint. The audience became even more incensed and started throwing beer bottles.

Someone proposed donations to support a Tu family court battle, and more than 10,000 yuan was collected. The crowd brought cases of beer along as they gathered in main roads and alleys leading to the hotel. Some set up roadblocks at key entry points to stop the police advance. 

As night fell, a power blackout suddenly hit the neighborhood.  But protesters did not seem to be caught unaware. They used donations to buy a generator to keep the ice coffin cold. Relatives also bought two barrels of gasoline and surrounded Tu's body with a dozen fuel canisters.

At 7 a.m. June 20, police with water cannon forced their way into the neighborhood and started dispersing the crowd. But the crowd fought back, throwing stones, bricks and beer bottles at the soldiers. They even slashed tires. Up to eight soldiers were injured and a truck trashed.
 
Three hours later, the soldiers backed off in the face of a larger crowd, which packed the 1.3 kilometer-long street leading to the hotel.

In the afternoon, a fire broke out on the hotel's ground floor and quickly spread to the upper floors.

Task Force

As the incident continued, leaders from the Ministry of Public Security, headquarters of the People's Armed Police Force, Hubei Province government and Jingzhou municipal government formed a task force to address the issue.

Hubei Gov. Li Hongzhou and Party Secretary Luo Qingquan arrived at the scene June 20 to direct operations. By nightfall, 5,770 reinforcements for the armed police force from Hubei and nearby provinces blocked all access to the neighborhood, only allowing people to leave.

Early the next morning, while an exhausted crowd continued guarding the hotel, soldiers approached and loudspeakers blasted the message: "Please leave immediately, or face the consequences, at your own peril."

Soldiers beat batons against their shields while marching in formation, pushing back the crowd step by step. But when a woman slipped, two soldiers ran to help. 

Tu's older brother Tu Yuanhua used a loudspeaker to read a statement, urging the protesters to leave. He said an agreement had been reached with the government: The body would be taken to the morgue for another examination and would not be cremated until the results were released.

The crowd finally backed off. A vehicle carrying helmeted anti-riot policemen arrived at the hotel and took the body to the morgue. By nightfall, the scene was clear and most of the soldiers had pulled out.

At Last, Cremation

Tu's final words to his parents and elder brother were written on a telephone bill. Relatives read it June 21 – the day after the dust settled.

Tu wrote that he had been disturbed. He apologized to his family, asked his parents to keep the small amount of money he had saved, and wished his older brother a successful career.

"I am deeply indebted to you?" he wrote. "I trust my elder brother will take good care of you." 

A three-hour forensic test was launched by experts from the Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and the Hubei Public Security Department. Tu's relatives were witnesses. Officials said that the result will be released in 20 days.

Negotiations for a cremation resumed June 22 and lasted nine hours. The government continued pressing for an immediate cremation, but the families insisted on a decision after the coroner's report.

On June 23, a second forensic inspection by experts from the Public Security Ministry and the Hubei Public Security Department took two hours. On June 24, negotiations continued at the morgue.

Before the final round of talks, Tu's cousin Tu Maohai told Caijing that the government has proposed paying 220,000 yuan to the relatives, of which 20,000 yuan would be paid after the family signed off on a cremation. The rest would be paid after cremation.

A forensics specialist said results show Tu jumped from the building, killing himself. Some 750cc of blood had accumulated in Tu's lungs after the fall. A number of liver fissures and bone fractures were found.

A deal was signed at 3 a.m. June 25. The government offered to pay 80,000 yuan, and the family agreed to a cremation, which was completed two hours later.

That same morning, the Shishou government announced on its official Web site that experts had concluded Tu committed suicide. Criminal investigation experts verified his last letter as authentic.

Cheif Coroner Chen Xinshan told Caijing he could confirm that Tu's fall from the building led to his death. But he said it is beyond a forensics doctor to determine whether he committed suicide.

The government Web site June 29 declared local police had no ties to ownership or management of the now burned-out Yonglong Hotel. It also claimed Tu had attempted suicide in August 2006 when he was a chef at a hotel in the nearby town of Nankou according to a "reliable source," which was not identified.

Tu's parents and other relatives told Caijing the young chef had never worked in Nankou, nor did they know about this alleged suicide attempt. Tu's father had nothing to add during his last interview with Caijing, except to say he hoped his son would rest in peace.