Reports early Monday from China suggest that a mass disturbance or riots may have broken out at a Foxconn factory in the Chinese city of Taiyuan.

It is still unclear what exactly happened, but posts on China’s popular twitter-like service, Weibo, from users in the area show photographs and video of large numbers of police in and around the factory – many in riot gear – blocking off throngs of people.

Other photos show debris strewn around the Foxconn compound and in one case, an overturned guard tower.

According to popular tech blog engadget, the disturbance kicked off after Foxconn security guards allegedly hit a worker around 10 p.m. on Sunday.

Censors in China have reportedly already started deleting pictures from the scene.

This is not the first time that Foxconn has had problems with its Taiyuan facility, which is reportedly responsible for the fabrication of the back plate of the immensely popular new iPhone 5. In March, strikes broke out there after workers did not receive a pay raise they had reportedly been promised.

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Meanwhile, Foxconn’s Chengdu plant in Sichuan province also has dealt with riots. In June, scores of Foxconn workers there got into a fight with a local restaurant owner that had to be broken up by police.

Foxconn is the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer responsible for much of the current production and assembly of Apple’s popular line of products as well as a wide variety of popular tech toys ranging from laptops to gaming consoles.

But Foxconn has been under fire for years for its tough working conditions, including long hours, low wages and strict rules on representation. The company has also dealt with a string of suicides at its plants across China, which led to the company in 2010 installing anti-jump nets to prevent more suicide attempts.

The company has taken steps to improve working conditions in its factories by reducing work hours and raising wages for its front-line workers.

Still, perhaps wary of the continued negative publicity that has plagued one of its primary manufacturers over the years, Apple recently took steps to diversify its portfolio of producers, recently awarding much of the manufacturing of its new iteration of the iPad to another Taiwanese company, Pegatron. 

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An ax-wielding man burst into a day care center in China and attacked the children inside, killing three and wounding another 13 before police subdued him.

The incident took place Friday in China’s southern province of Guangxi.

Little else is known about the incident, which was first reported in China’s official state news agency, Xinhua. The children, aged between 6 and 12, were reportedly sitting down for lunch at a day care center in a local Pingan county residential compound when the man entered and began swinging at them with an ax.

Wounded children — some severely injured — were rushed to local area hospitals. Police who arrived at the scene were able to disarm the man and arrest him.

Police were still investigating the motivation behind the attack.

Violent incidents against children are not rare in mainland China. In the past two years, a string of attacks at schools and day care centers involving lone attackers rattled the country, culminating with a series of three consecutive school attacks that took place over a three-day period in 2010.

In one of the incidents, Xu Yuyuan, 47, entered a Jiangsu province school in April 2010 and stabbed 29 children and three teachers. Xu told a court the next month that he wanted to "vent his rage against society," and that he was angry after a series of public humiliations and unsuccessful business ventures.

Determined to show that authorities were getting tough on crime against children, the court sentenced Xu to death after a half-day trial.

At the time, officials and social commentators argued that the incidents were isolated and committed by mentally unstable persons or those with extreme grievances against the government.

Many around the country, however, argued the attacks underscored both increasing societal pressures on Chinese people and an urgent need for China to overhaul how it approaches mental health evaluation and treatment.

Earlier this year, Chinese legislatures had begun discussion on much needed mental health law reforms.

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Imaginechina

This photo of beggars being confined in a cage during a local fair in China provoked outrage when it was posted on Weibo, China's most popular version of Twitter.

BEIJING – With more than 100,000 pilgrims and visitors expected to attend the annual Xishan Wanshou Palace Temple Fair, authorities thought it would be a good idea to confine the local beggars in one spot.

So, more than 100 beggars from the town of Xishan, in China’s southern Jiangxi province, were placed in a 165-foot-long iron cage during the fair on Sept. 15.

But when pictures of the beggars in the cage were posted on Sina Weibo, China’s most-popular version of Twitter, there was an outpouring of criticism online. Most netizens were furious.

One micro blogger wrote, “It’s just like a zoo. This is trampling their dignity.”

Another blogger sarcastically chimed in, “Our government always boasts that China has the best record on human rights. Before I did not believe that, but today I am convinced. These officials are just too smart, treating people as dogs.”

Others thought the pictures are too ridiculous to be true. 

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So NBC News called the civil affairs office of Xinjian prefecture government, which oversees the annual fair at the Taoist temple in the town of Xishan, to verify the photos were real. Mr. Wan, head of the civil affairs office, acknowledged that the photos were in fact real and told NBC News that it was the best solution the government could find for the problem so far.  

“We had to consider both sides: the pilgrims and the beggars. There are some fake beggars who just want to trick money from pilgrims. We did see the pilgrims were harassed by such beggars in the past. On the other hand, the temple fair is so crowded that beggars might be hit by cars or trampled by the crowd,” said Wan.

Cities and towns across China hold fairs in or near the local Taoist or Buddhist temple usually once a year, or in some instances monthly. In this case, the town of Wanshou was holding its annual fair, hence the preparation for big crowds.

Xinjian government also made a statement on its official Weibo account saying: “In order to avoid accidents, we provided this temporary rescue shelter whose two exits are open. All the beggars voluntarily entered it.”

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Many netizens were not satisfied by the answer and believe it was just an excuse by government officials to justify their behavior. 

One blogger posted, “Despite any reasons they may have, the moment the government locked the beggars in the cage, they had already stripped away these people’s dignity.”

To many Chinese, the photos also damaged their impression of temple fairs. For centuries, the temple fair, “Miao Hui” in Chinese, has played a unique role in ordinary Chinese daily life. It originated in ancient times when people offered sacrifices to gods, but later it gradually turned into a marketplace for people to exchange goods and a place to see cultural performances.

During the last 10 years, the Chinese government has encouraged the fairs in order to emphasize traditional values. But this incident has left a bad impression of local officials and how they organize the events.

One blogger wrote: “What should be caged is power.”

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BEIJING – Following a weekend of anti-Japanese protests that engulfed China, demonstrations hit a crescendo Tuesday with the 81st anniversary of the start of Japan’s occupation of China.

The Mukden Incident, also known as the Manchurian Incident, was a staged bombing by the Japanese military that served as the pretext for the Japanese invasion of China in 1931.

The painful anniversary served to enflame a dispute that has been growing for months over ownership of East China Sea islands called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

Emotional anniversary reignites anti-Japan protests in China

During recent protests in more than 80 cities across China, Chinese citizens have expressed themselves by taking to the streets and loudly demonstrating outside of Japanese consulates, businesses and online. However, unlike previous protests on the mainland in recent years, the collective anger has been well-documented and disseminated freely online, giving us a unique look at Chinese nationalism unleashed.

See images of some of the more unusual expressions of anti-Japanese anger below.

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BEIJING – Passengers on flights around China recently have not always been flying the friendly skies.

Late last month, on Aug. 29, Fang Daguo, a senior Guangzhou government official from the southern province of Guangdong made news in China when he had a drunken altercation with a flight attendant on a plane going between Guangzhou and Hefei.

The attack only came to light after the flight attendant posted photos of her bruises and rips in her uniform on China’s Twitter-like service, Weibo.

Just a few days later, on Sept. 2, a Swiss Air flight to Beijing was forced to return to Zurich after two Chinese men got into a scuffle. According to one account, a 57-year-old male passenger became infuriated when the 29-year-old man in the seat ahead of him reclined his chair and refused to put his seat upright for the meal. Infuriated and reportedly extremely intoxicated, the elder passenger slapped the younger man in the back of the head, sparking a brawl to ensue.

Security eventually stepped in and the older passenger was restrained with cable ties at the front of the plane, where he was said to have yelled for an hour.

The captain eventually turned the plane around and returned to Zurich.

Caught on tape
Then this week, news broke of another brawl that erupted on a Sept. 7 Sichuan Airlines flight from Saipan to Shanghai. The plane, carrying Chinese tourists back home from Saipan (the largest island of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated territory of the United States) was quiet, until a scuffle broke out between two passengers allegedly over an empty seat both wanted.

A passenger sitting several rows in front of the two angry passengers shot the video above. It shows the two male passengers just as their argument came to blows. Soon after, friends of both of the passengers joined in the melee, as others can be heard calling on the men to stop fighting.

Later into the minute long video, flight attendants and security are seen breaking up the fight and restoring order on the plane.

A spokesman for the airline told local reporters that the captain considered turning the plane around and returning to Saipan, but decided to continue on to Shanghai once the two men had been separated and were on opposite ends of the plane.

The video of the brawl was posted by the passenger on Sept. 9 and quickly gathered steam online – it’s had nearly 2 million views already.

‘How shameful!’
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen scuffles and tensions get out of control in China’s rapidly expanding airline industry. Wronged passengers in China often find sympathy among the public, who like in the U.S., often have a low opinion of airlines.

But this time there is widespread approval and empathy among China’s netizens for the airlines’ handling of this rash of bad behavior on flights.

“How shameful! What will people think of the Chinese?” wrote one Weibo user.

“Some people have terrible character,” chimed in another, “they should be punished.”

Playing to the current political tensions between China and Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands dispute, one user wrote: “Let’s send them to the Diaoyu Islands to expend some of their energy.”

Perhaps. Or maybe next time just sit in the seat you were assigned.

NBC News’ Johanna Armstrong and Yanzhou Liu contributed to this report.

BEIJING -- Weeks before a once-in-a-decade political transition in China, the presumed future leader of China has fallen off the radar -- sparking wild rumors on micro-blogging sites about his health and whereabouts.

Xi Jinping, the man many assume will become the future president of China and chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, has not been seen in public now for more than a week. The 59-year-old was last seen on Sept. 1 while giving a speech at the Central Party School in Beijing.

Since then, Xi has cancelled a series of meetings with senior foreign leaders including Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

After Xi’s meeting with Clinton was cancelled late on the night of Sept. 4, rumors began to swirl around the U.S. press corps travelling with the Secretary that Xi had injured his back.

The Chinese government has since declined to give any updates on Xi’s health and present whereabouts. At yesterday’s regularly scheduled Chinese Foreign Ministry press conference, ministry spokesman, Hong Lei, was asked a series of questions about Xi to which he simply responded, "We have told everyone everything."

China Daily via Reuters

Xi Jinping (right) pictured in Beijing with South Korea's ambassador to China, Lee Kyu-hyung on August 31 - the day before his most recent public appearance.

According to a Reuters reporter who went to the regular Chinese Foreign Ministry press conference Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei was asked if he could confirm that Xi was alive. His response: "I hope you can ask a serious question."

China's president-in-waiting Xi Jinping returns to Iowa

The reticence of Chinese government officials and state media to comment has merely served as grist to the rumor mill, which has had ample material following an unusually eventful year of political intrigue on the mainland.

The very high profile fall of former Chongqing Party boss, Bo Xilai, ripped aside the political curtains and gave the Chinese public a peek at the country’s usually opaque process of governance. Besides systemic corruption and serious political abuses, Bo's downfall also exposed divisive political rivalries at the highest levels of the ruling Communist Party at a time when it was in the thick of choosing its future leadership.

Now, with a new generation of Chinese leaders led by Xi poised to take over when the Communist Party’s 18th Congress meets later this year -- rumored sometime in mid-October -- Chinese regulators are especially cautious about news on their leaders-in-waiting.

News of Xi Jinping has been absent in recent days in Chinese state media and discussion on his whereabouts and condition have been silenced on microblogs like Weibo after Xi's name was blocked by censors. Some articles printed in online sections of foreign news websites were also apparently blocked.

In this news vacuum, rumors have begun to swirl around online about the fate of Xi. Most of the speculation focuses on the belief that Xi has some sort of back problem, with the reason for it ranging from a morning swimming session at Beijing leadership’s center, Zhongnanhai, to an ill-fated soccer game there too.    

With wife's conviction, what is next for China's Bo Xilai?

The rumors have also been more nefarious in nature. Boxun.com, a U.S.-based website dealing in Chinese news and political gossip, posted a wild, unconfirmed story that Xi had been injured in a car accident in which his vehicle had been struck by another car driven by military officers loyal to the disgraced Bo Xilai.

Boxun later retracted the story, but it has it not stopped similar unsubstantiated rumors from spreading online, forcing government censors to ceaselessly monitor China’s websphere for content that they characterize as harmful to national stability.

It is not unusual that Chinese leaders would not show up in public for a few days or a week at a time and, of course, Xi could simply appear in public and quickly quash speculation about his health. After all, late last year former Chinese President Jiang Zemin made a rare appearance in public after Hong Kong media speculated that he had died.

More China coverage from NBCNews.com's Behind The Wall

However, Jiang, while still extremely influential in the Party leadership, is not a part of the formal government. As the long-established heir-apparent to Hu Jintao for the Chinese Presidency, Xi is the future.

Whatever the true nature of Xi’s public absence, China’s leadership faces an enormous challenge in reconciling its proclivity for opaqueness with the demands of an increasingly plugged-in society at home and a global audience abroad.

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PORTLAND, Ore. -- A vivid mural in an Oregon town that depicts a Tibetan monk's immolation and promotes independence for Taiwan has created a dust-up with China, whose consular officials have asked the city to take "effective measures" to stop such advocacy.

The mayor of the town of Corvallis, where a Taiwanese-American businessman installed the downtown mural to express his political views, responded by telling consular officials free speech laws barred the town from taking any action.

The status of Taiwan and the human rights situation in Tibet is a contentious political issue for China, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province to be eventually unified with the mainland.

See a picture of the mural in this article from the Corvallis Gazette-Times

Tensions over Tibet are at their highest in years after a spate of protests over Chinese rule and self-immolations by Tibetan activists, which have prompted a Chinese security crackdown.

"There is only one China in the world, and both Tibet and Taiwan are parts of China. It is a fact recognized by the U.S. and most other countries in the world," read an August 8 letter to Corvallis city leaders from China's Consulate in San Francisco.

"To avoid our precious friendship from being tainted by so-called 'Tibet Independence' and 'Taiwan Independence,' we sincerely hope you can understand our concerns and adopt effective measures to stop the activities advocating 'Tibet Independence' and 'Taiwan Independence' in Corvallis," it added.

Group: Teens set selves on fire, taking Tibet burnings over 50

'Freedom of artistic expression'
The brightly colored mural, painted last month, runs 100 feet long and about 10 feet high along the top of a building at a busy intersection owned by businessman David Lin, who came to America from Taiwan in the 1970s.

The mural shows the immolation of a Tibetan monk against a bright yellow background and depicts a Tibetan monk being beaten by Chinese police, in addition to what the Corvallis Gazette-Times described as "images of Taiwan as a bulwark of freedom."

Lin, 65, told Reuters he had long been concerned about China's role in Taiwan and Tibet, and commissioned the mural because: "I feel that somebody has to stand up and do something."

Lin told the Corvallis Gazette-Times that he was "under a lot of pressure to take down the mural," saying his family and friends were concerned about possibly being arrested if they go to China.

Still, he did not plan to remove it. "I'll just keep it the same. ... I've got to live my life, that's all."

PhotoBlog: Tibetan man sets himself on fire in protest

Municipal leaders said they had informed the consular officials that there was no room for the city government to get involved in such a matter.

"I responded to them that I was sorry to learn the art work caused concern," Corvallis Mayor Julie Manning said, adding that she told Chinese officials in a written response that the U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, "and this includes freedom of artistic expression."

The Chinese consulate then sent representatives to Corvallis to express concern in person on September 4. Vice Consul Zhang Hao and Deputy Consul General Song Ruan met with Manning and City Manager Jim Patterson. That meeting did not include any demands.

Corvallis, about 80 miles south of Portland, has a population of about 54,500 people. It is home to Oregon State University, which Patterson said has an estimated 1,600 Chinese students.

The Chinese consulate in San Francisco did not respond to an email request for comment and could not be reached by phone.

Reuters contributed to this report. 

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BEIJING -- China's health authorities will investigate allegations that genetically modified rice was tested on Chinese children as part of a Sino-U.S. research project, state media said Tuesday.

One Chinese researcher has been suspended by authorities while investigations are carried out.

China is already the world's largest grower of genetically modified (GMO) cotton and the top importer of GMO soybeans but, while Beijing has already approved home-grown strains of GMO rice, it remains cautious about introducing the technology on a commercial basis amid widespread public concern about food safety.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention investigation came after a report last month by environmental group Greenpeace claimed that a U.S. Department of Agriculture-backed study used 24 Chinese children aged between six and eight to test genetically modified "golden rice."

Golden rice, a new type of rice that contains beta carotene, is intended to alleviate vitamin A deficiency.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said no domestic institutions had been approved to participate in the research and that it had also asked Tufts University outside Boston to help investigate the issue.

The International Rice Research Institute is working with leading nutrition and agricultural research organizations to develop and evaluate golden rice as a potential method to reduce vitamin A deficiency in the Philippines and Bangladesh.

The research by Tufts University and other Chinese scientists was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in August. It aimed to demonstrate that the rice could provide a good source of vitamin A for children in countries where deficiency in the vitamin is common.

Complete China coverage on NBCNews.com's Behind The Wall

Tufts reviews protocols
Andrea Grossman, assistant director of public relations at Tufts University, told state news agency Xinhua in a recent interview the university was deeply concerned about the allegations and is reviewing protocols used in the 2008 research "to ensure the strictest standards were adhered to."

"We have always placed the highest importance on human health, and we take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of human research subjects," Grossman said.

More coverage about food safety on NBCNews.com

"We have always been and remain committed to the highest ethical standards in research," she said.

The Greenpeace report sparked a wave of criticism on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, with the researchers accused of a breach of ethics for testing poor, rural children whose families may not have been informed properly.

Complete World coverage on NBCNews.com

Scientist suspended
One of the Chinese authors, Shi-an Yin, has been suspended from work pending further investigation after his responses proved to be inconsistent, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Yin was cited by the official People's Daily newspaper as saying he helped collect data for the study but was unaware that it involved GM rice.

The second of the two Chinese researchers, Hu Yuming, denied his involvement in the research, the People's Daily said.

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China, the world's top rice producer and consumer, approved the safety of one locally developed strain of genetically modified rice, known as the Bt rice, in 2009, but commercial production has been delayed.

Apart from genetically modified products, China's vast and unruly food sector is still struggling to come to grips with food safety four years after a major scandal where tainted milk powder was blamed for the deaths of at least six children.

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Wang Zheng/Changjiang Times

Wang Ziqi's grandmother carries his desk to school and his older sister carries a chair.

BEIJING – While millions of students all over the world return to school this month, youngsters in one part of China were expected to bring not just pencils and notebooks, but their own desks and chairs when school opened.  

As students all over China headed back to class on Monday, the grandmother of 3-year-old Wang Ziqi was spotted carrying a desk in Shunhe, Hubei Province, for the boy’s first day, while his older sister carried a chair for him.

Wang’s case is hardly unique. In Shunhe, there are more than 5,000 students in the town’s primary and middle schools, but the government only supplied 2,000 desks for them, leaving 3,000 children to bring their own from home.

In the town of modest means, for some that required grabbing whatever they could so that they have something to write on, even a coffee table.

Another man in Shunhe, whose son also just started preschool, was reached by telephone for comment. He spoke on the condition of anonymity since he blamed local government corruption for the problems. 

Wang Zheng/ Courtesy Changjiang Times

A school boy listens attentively at a coffee table that his family brought from home to his school.

“The central government has money for the school’s facilities,” he said. “But when it comes to us, the money is already gone.”

When a local newspaper, the Changjiang Times, reported on the shortfall in desks, it caused a firestorm of criticism. In response, the local government in Macheng, which oversees the area including Shunhe, said it had already sent 100 desks to help out, and committed over $600,000 to close the budget shortfall.

But people are still asking why it took a media report to get officials to pay attention to this basic government function and questioned whether they would really see more money in local budgets.

“I would rather believe there is a ghost in the world than governments' promises,” one commenter wrote in to the Changjiang Times update that the local government would add more money to the school budget.

Another chimed in, “The project funding has to be transparent, otherwise it is not even enough money to spend on officials' drinks…” 

When NBC called Xiang Mingxiu, the only teacher at Changchong Village primary school in Shunhe, she confirmed that some progress had been made –10 desks had been sent to her school. (The other 90 desks the local government said had been sent were apparently distributed to other local schools).  

“The desk issue has been solved,” Xiang said. But, she was quick to point out that other problems remained. “We need a way to repair our classrooms. All of the windows are broken and the ceilings and walls are covered in holes.”

The government may not pay for the windows, but at least a few of the students in her school won’t be expected to bring their own desk from home. 

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Mark Ralston / AFP - Getty Images, file

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Qishan attend the joint statment reading for the closing of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing on May 4.

BEIJING – It may be Hillary Clinton’s final trip to China in her current role as Secretary of State, but China’s state media has not held back in saying what they really feel about the former first lady and, by extension, the United States.

In an editorial entitled, “Secretary Clinton: the person who deeply reinforces US-China mutual suspicion,” in Tuesday's edition of noted nationalist newspaper, Global Times, the paper took Clinton to task for her “meddling” in the South China Seas and Diaoyu/Senakku disputes.

“Many Chinese people do not like Hillary Clinton,” the editorial stated. "She makes the Chinese public dislike and be wary of the United States, which does not necessarily serve U.S. foreign policy interests.”

Other Chinese state media avoided blaming Clinton for the current heightened tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, but nevertheless took issue with America’s recent “pivot” in the region.

Clinton has pledged to take a strong message to Beijing on the need to calm regional tensions over maritime disputes that have raised broader fears of military friction between the two major Pacific powers.

The last time Clinton visited Beijing, plans to highlight improving U.S.-China ties were derailed by a blind Chinese dissident whose dramatic flight to the U.S. embassy exposed the deeply uneasy relationship between Beijing and Washington.

This time, the irritants are disputes over tiny islets and craggy outcrops in oil- and gas-rich areas of the South and East China Seas that have set China against U.S. regional allies.

As Clinton preps for Asia-Pacific tour, is North Korea capable of reform?

As Clinton prepares to travel back to Beijing on Tuesday, U.S. officials say the message is once again one of cooperation and partnership -- and an important chance to compare notes during a tricky year of political transition.

But the unease remains, sharpened by disputes in the South and East China Seas that have rattled nerves across the region and led to testy exchanges with Washington just as the Obama administration "pivots" to the Asia-Pacific region following years of military engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pacific micro-nations cash in on US-China aid rivalry

Both governments, too, are preoccupied with politics at home, with the Obama administration fighting for re-election in November and China's ruling Communist Party preparing for a once-in-a-decade leadership change. 

Mistrust
The general sense of mistrust over American involvement in these issues which China adamantly claims are regional territorial disputes was apparent in many users, perhaps most succinctly put by one user who wrote, “The Diaoyu Islands belong to Asian people, we don’t need American help on this issue.”

Much at stake for US as tensions rise in troubled China Seas

That position has dominated state media coverage of Clinton's visit to the region this week, manifesting itself in a consensus that the United States was behind much of the recent emboldened confrontations between other Asian powers – most notably the Philippines and Japan -- and China.

In yesterday’s edition of China Business News, an article noted that “The U.S. is the origin of all issues,” in the region and that Clinton’s visit to the region “delivers a message that Japan and the Philippines are just two sidekicks on the stage while the U.S. is the “boss” at the backstage.”

Whether state media's depiction of the U.S. Secretary of State accurately reflected the opinions of China's population was unclear, however.

Activist: I want to leave China 'on Clinton’s plane'

On China’s popular twitter-like service, Weibo, reaction to the editorial was mixed.

“The Global Times shouldn’t use their attitude towards Hilary to represent our collective opinion,” wrote one irate user. “I think she’s good, please don’t make fools of us.”

“History will prove that she [Clinton] is the real peacemaker," another user wrote. 

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