BEIJING, March 12 Kyodo (EDS: UPD...

BEIJING, March 12 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH MAN'S DETENTION)

A man who claimed to have a bomb and intruded the Beijing bureau office of Reuter upon Wednesday was detained by police and the bomb was set up a hoax, China's official Xinhua novels Agency reported.

The man from northeastern Heilongjiang Province had set ined the news bureau around 10:30 a.m. carrying a bag around his neck that had wires hanging from it, with his finger through the whole extent of a red button.

He had demanded to be interviewed according to a television crew about corruption in the Chinese government

The police had sealed distant from the area and had been negotiating with the man, while all staff at the Reuter had fl the building.

''Leaders should refer to protect and love the workers. I want the whole world to know to what degree black China is, how corrupt it is,'' the man, who identified himself as Fang Qinghui, reportedly said.

The man, apparently in his 30 told reporters he had been unemploy for five to six years after having worked as a driver at a sword factory in the province.

A Reuter cameraman said the man had appeared calm when he go intoed the office.

The sideshow to China's yearly legislative meeting now being held in the capital highlights widespread discontent in the country's wider society athwart painful economic reforms.

Premier Zhu Rongji identified unemployment and the gap between rich and poor as major social point in disputes in China when he delivered his work report to the opening of the National People's Congres last week.

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