China said today it was regrettable that some U.S. media were quick to blame a Chinese student for the Virginia Tech shooting rampage. Police identified the gunman in the attack that left 33 dead as 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui, a South Korean native. Cho was a U.S. resident and had been in the United States since 1992, federal officials said. But in the hours immediately after the attacks when the killer was identified only as an Asian man, there were media reports in the United States that said he was a Chinese student who had received a visa from the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai. «Some U.S. media made irresponsible reports on the Virginia Tech shooting before finding out the truth, which violated their professional morals,» Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said, according to Xinhua News Agency. Monday's shootings drew intense media coverage in China, in part because the school has a relatively large Chinese student body and because of the reports saying the gunman was Asian. Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing also sent a note of condolence to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. -- SPA
