BEIJING, April 18 (RIA Novosti) - The Chinese Foreign Ministry rebuked U.S. media Wednesday for prematurely identifying the Virginia mass murderer as Chinese, calling the reports "irresponsible."
The Blacksburg shooting was a tragedy, Liu Jianchao, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, said in a statement. However, he denounced media reports describing the gunman as Chinese without solid evidence as to his identity.
"Some U.S. media published irresponsible reports when the truth was not yet known. That is a violation of the journalistic code of conduct and a very erroneous practice," he said.
The gunman, who killed over 30 people in Monday's rampage, was eventually identified as Cho Seung-Hui, 23, a Virginia Tech student originally from South Korea.
The Chinese spokesman called upon "all parties concerned" to take appropriate measures to rectify the damage made by "this irresponsibility."