The young man suspected of the dining hall bombings at two prestigious Chinese universities last month has told police that he carried out the attacks to achieve fame.

Huang Minxiang is suspected of having placed the bombs which injured nine people in cafeterias at Peking and Tsinghua universities on February 25.

"The reason for choosing these two universities was that they are renowned institutions. I'd be famous if I could make explosions there," Huang told Beijing police on Saturday.

According to an officer with Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, Huang was arrested in the early hours of Saturday morning at an Internet cafe in Fuzhou, before being flown to Beijing later that day.

The police investigation shows that Huang arrived in Beijing on February 19 with black powder he removed from firecrackers and manufactured simple detonators in a hostel room.

He left Beijing by train on the afternoon of the explosions and reached his parents' home in Fuzhou on February 28.

Under the co-ordination of the Ministry of Public Security, a special investigation team assembled by Beijing police combed the crime scene, eventually narrowing the search for a suspect to Fuzhou, the suspect's home town.

Huang made a complete confession to the explosions. He worked in Qiongshan City of Haikou in South China's Hainan Province before his arrest.

Xu Zhihong, president of Peking University, said that the university will enhance the safety supervision of public places. The campus has not been affected by the blasts and will continue to be open to the public.

Most of the students from both universities learned of the arrest through associated web sites. They said they were interested in learning more details and would closely monitor further reports.

Public order at both campuses of the nationally renowned universities has remained normal with university activities proceeding as planned.

The dinning hall of Tsinghua University reopened for service the following day and both of the two cafeterias are now back to normal. Investigations are continuing, said a police spokesman.

(China Daily and Xinhua 10-03-2003)