Thousands riot in China
Pastor Dale Morgan
Monday March 12, 4:49 PM Reuters
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Thousands riot in China*
BEIJING (Reuters) - Thousands of Chinese farmers and laid-off workers
rioted in central China, attacking police and smashing squad cars, a
local official said on Monday, the latest in a string of violent
demonstrations.
Nine police cars were burnt during the riot on Friday in the central
province of Hunan in which 20,000 people clashed with about 1,000 police
armed with guns and electric cattle prods, a local official told Reuters.
"They did it because they were not satisfied with some government
behaviour," the official, surnamed Tan, said by telephone from the
district of Lingling, which belongs to the Hunan city of Yongzhou.
"They were also unhappy about official corruption," Tan said without
elaborating.
The overseas human rights Web site Boxun (www.boxun.com) said the riot
was sparked by dissatisfaction with rising public transport costs. The
site, which is critical of China, is blocked on the mainland.
The Hunan official said the riot had been quelled and that scores of the
rioters were arrested. The government was tracking down the organisers,
she said.
Both police and rioters had been injured in the violence, and some of
the rioters were sent to hospital, but none was seriously hurt, the
official added.
A widening gap between rich and poor, corruption and official abuses of
power have fuelled a growing number of demonstrations and riots around
China, often sparked by seemingly minor issues.
The government has said the number of "mass incidents" in the country --
a term that includes protests, petitions and demonstrations -- was about
23,000 last year.
Efforts to reduce inequality and sources of discontent have been a theme
of government efforts to improve the livelihoods of its 750 million
farmers.