media - After the attack on Lu Banglie

ESWN notes the first rather critical reactions at the Chinese internet after Lu Banglie got attacked, and is possibly killed, while helping the Shanghai-correspondent of The Guardian on assignment in Taishi.
Michael Anti asks the more serious questions about how Lu Banglie was being used. In a translation by ESWN:

As for The Guardian's Benjamin Joffe-Walt, how the fuck did he still have to nerve to write this kind of report? Perhaps he is young and does not yet know that reporting in certain areas of China is just like in a war zone. He should not have gone there against the advice of others, and he should not have brought Lu Banglie to the village. Since he was being taken out by the police, why didn't he insist on rescuing Lu Banglie as well? It is alright to beg for mercy when it happened. But the more important thing is that you have a duty and you must assume responsibility for your companion. Or is that Chinese person just a guide dog?

While there can never be any justification for the attack, asking yourself whether you have done enough - including deciding not to go - to prevent harm to the people who help you is a very important one. Anti suggests others have advised him not to go; I guess I would not have gone unless I was very sure through earlier research, that it would be save for all involved.
Still wondering why Benjamin decided to leave the country"for security reasons" at the mailing list of the Shanghai Foreign Correspondents Club said this morning. Despite all its severity, it does seem like a pretty local conflict that should have no impact on his safety in Shanghai. Guess this is not over yet.