Singer Wu Hongfei performs at a bar in Beijing on March 9, 2012. Photo: CFP

When young singer Wu Hongfei wrote on her Weibo account on July 21 that she wanted to blow up two government buildings, she wasn't expecting to be hauled away by the police the next day.

Her lawyer has stated that it was just an inappropriate joke, but evidently the authorities aren't laughing.

"Wu admits that there was something improper about her comment," her lawyer Li Jinxing said in a public statement on Weibo, stating that she has been depressed after working on an album for nearly a year.

Li made the comments after visiting Wu at a detention center in Chaoyang district, Beijing. Wu is accused of disturbing public order by threatening to blow up offices associated with the Beijing talent exchange center and the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

The charges could get more serious, as the Chaoyang district public security bureau said it has applied to the Chaoyang district procuratorate to arrest her on charges of fabricating terrorist information.

Li said Wu has requested bail and that Wu is innocent.

The case comes at a sensitive time, as the authorities grapple with a wave of blasts by members of the public with grievances over issues relating to social justice. Already, Web users are wondering whether or not comments made in frustration could be mistaken for crimes.

Words versus actions

Li couldn't be reached by the Global Times as of press time, and when the Global Times contacted Zi Xiangdong, the head of the news department at the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, to ask how the police distinguished between real terror threats and people venting their outrage online, he said the case was "sensitive" and would not take questions.

It's still not known why Wu was targeting the two government departments, but it's not the first time she has vented anger online. Some of her blog posts dating back to 2010 express frustration with her landlord after he told her to move out.

At the time, she said that she hated the country and wanted to kill her landlord.

In the July 21 Weibo post, she said that she wanted to blow up those two institutions and the person she really wanted to blow up was a "so-called good man."

"I don't know what the commission is, but I'm sure its members are silly … you will know the man's name after he is killed by the explosion and his name hits the headlines," Wu said.

The post was deleted and Wu was detained the next day, just two days after 34-year-old Ji Zhongxing detonated a homemade explosive device in his wheelchair at the Beijing Capital International Airport. Media reports have indicated Ji had unsuccessfully petitioned the authorities for years after an alleged beating by urban management officers, or chengguan, left him partially paralyzed.

An official from a procuratorate said Wu's post was revealed about 10 hours after Ji's incident, and said this could bring "panic" to society.

If people spread false information that doesn't bring much harm to society, they may be warned or fined, or sometimes face a detention of up to 15 days, according to Han Yusheng, a law professor with the Renmin University of China. He said that if their words have serious consequences, they will face a penalty up to five years in prison. Han did, however, point out that there are no specific rules on how to judge whether a comment is a real threat or just someone expressing frustration, and this should ultimately come down to common sense.

Divided reaction

While some Web users have been quick to condemn Wu's actions, others have pointed out that Wu is far from alone in making violent threats online. The list includes famous scholars who said that they would kill their critics. Not to mention the celebrity qigong "master" Wang Lin, who threatened to kill enemies by pointing in the air.

"Compared to Wu, these people's words were more cruel and aggressive, but they haven't received any punishment," one Web user said.

However, experts have rejected these comparisons. "They are totally different," Han said. "Wu said the specific object she wants to blow up and the way she wants to do it, but what these people expressed were curses and complaints. Wu's behavior can more easily cause a public panic."

This is not the first time these kinds of threats have resulted in arrests.

In one example, a 20-year-old man in Luonan county, Shaanxi Province, was detained for seven days in July after claiming online that he would go to Beijing to blow up a company. He also uploaded a picture of his train ticket online.

"Freedom of speech doesn't mean people can say whatever they like. We must all pay the price for our words," Lin Zhe, an anti-corruption expert with the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC, told the Global Times on Monday. "This is controlled by law in any society. A key premise of free speech is that one can't hurt the public interest or other's rights."

Some Web users, however, have speculated that politics was involved in her arrest. They cited a list of names created by extreme leftists who claimed they would bury all the people on the list alive. Although Wu is not on the list, the fact that she was detained, but none of the leftists were, enraged these Web users.

Widespread panic?

"If Wu had made the comment at a different time, it wouldn't have been noticed, but she wrote it at a time when many tragedies have happened," said Zhang Qianfan, a law professor with Peking University.

According to The Beijing News, between July 17 and July 24, six "incidents threatening social safety" occurred in Beijing. Similar incidents have occurred nationwide.

On Thursday, three days after Wu was detained, the Ministry of Public Security released a report on its website, saying it will crack down on terrorist activities as well as extreme crimes by individuals, to ensure social stability. People who claim they will conduct extreme activities such as lighting fires or setting off explosions, or who fabricate and spread fake terror information to disrupt social order will be punished according to the law, said the ministry.

"In this context, Wu's case received excessive attention from the public and the authorities," Zhang said. "Her punishment is too heavy. It's better to give her a warning."

Zhang said that there has been no sign indicating the case caused a public panic, disrupted social order or threatened social security, nor any evidence that she had made specific plans to blow up the agencies.