China has temporarily banned knife sales after two stabbing incidents in Beijing, major retailers said here Monday, in the latest sign of official security fears ahead of National Day on October 1.
Staff at foreign and domestic retailers including Wal-Mart and Carrefour said the ban was issued over the weekend. It comes as Beijing clamps down to prevent disruption to festivities marking communist China's 60th birthday.
Police have said a Chinese man stabbed two people to death and wounded 14 others on Thursday in the Dashilan shopping area near Tiananmen Square, where a military parade and other events are planned for October 1.
Then on Saturday another Chinese man slashed an elderly French woman with a knife in the same area just south of the giant square, a French embassy spokesman told AFP.
