Whoever owns rights to that photo of the Casascius coin stash must be loaded. It's practically the Bitcoin logo in journalism... probably pretty confusing to the uninitiated when they go on to invariably say Bitcoins only exist online.
This could've been done by anyone, nobody claimed responsibility, and a soft ban on bitcoins is hardly the Chinese government's most extreme act of oppression. MSM outlets would do well to stop pushing speculation and instead try rebuilding credibility with actual news.