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Tuesday, 11 November 2008
Protests break out in several provinces
Protests triggered by issues such as wage disputes, taxi drivers’ grievances and alleged relations between local cadres and gangsters broke out in several provinces yesterday.
Protests triggered by issues such as wage disputes, taxi drivers’ grievances and alleged relations between local cadres and gangsters broke out in several provinces yesterday.
According to the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, more than 2,000 workers for a diesel engine maker in Jiangyan , Jiangsu province , blocked main roads and stopped traffic in the city for the third straight day.
The workers were reportedly protesting against their former boss, Ge Weiqing , who they said had disappeared with 100 million yuan (HK$114 million). Part of the money was said to have been their pension fund.
In an apparent attempt to stop factory owners from absconding with money, the Supreme People’s Court has authorised local courts to impose travel restrictions on debtors who have not cleared their liabilities.
Also, hundreds of taxi drivers in Sanya , Hainan province , and Yongdeng county in Gansu province launched strikes over monopolistic taxi companies, rents for cabs and illegal taxis. The drivers demanded that the local administrations solve the problems.
Meanwhile, online postings reported that the Malanzhuang town government in Tangshan , Hebei province , had been besieged by protesters.
Rumours on the internet suggested that Zhang San, the alleged head of a local group of gangsters, had intimidated local residents into selling their land for low compensation.
Lu Gui, a local peasant, was said to have been beaten to death by the gang while the local government did nothing. The death prompted scores of angry people to go to the town government’s headquarters to demand justice.
Local sources confirmed that a man had rammed a vehicle into the building in the morning and that the vehicle had caught fire.
Netizens said Mr. Zhang had connections with the local government.
A town official confirmed there had been an incident at the government building.
“The town government is simply innocent, for being passively embroiled in the incident,” he said.
The central government has repeatedly urged regional officials to use all means at their disposal to prevent the outbreak of “mass incidents”, particularly in the aftermath of numerous large riots that have taken in place in recent months.
The mysterious death of a Wengan county schoolgirl in Guizhou province sent thousands of protesters into the streets in late June. They torched the public security bureau office and the county government’s headquarters.
Officials later said police had been deployed to crush the unrest in a way that only prolonged the anger.
And in July, hundreds of workers at a rubber plantation in Menglian , Yunnan province , rioted over a disagreement between local farmers and their buyers.
Two villagers were shot dead by police, which shocked the nation, coming at a tense time when the country was preparing to host the Olympic Games. A senior official in Yunnan was sacked and several others disciplined after the affair.
Zhou Yongkang , the mainland’s top official in charge of maintaining public security and social order, last month urged officials on all levels to prevent the rise of conflicts and to resolve disputes.
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Protests break out in several provinces
Choi Chi-yuk
11 November 2008
Protests triggered by issues such as wage disputes, taxi drivers’ grievances and alleged relations between local cadres and gangsters broke out in several provinces yesterday.
According to the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, more than 2,000 workers for a diesel engine maker in Jiangyan , Jiangsu province , blocked main roads and stopped traffic in the city for the third straight day.
The workers were reportedly protesting against their former boss, Ge Weiqing , who they said had disappeared with 100 million yuan (HK$114 million). Part of the money was said to have been their pension fund.
In an apparent attempt to stop factory owners from absconding with money, the Supreme People’s Court has authorised local courts to impose travel restrictions on debtors who have not cleared their liabilities.
Also, hundreds of taxi drivers in Sanya , Hainan province , and Yongdeng county in Gansu province launched strikes over monopolistic taxi companies, rents for cabs and illegal taxis. The drivers demanded that the local administrations solve the problems.
Meanwhile, online postings reported that the Malanzhuang town government in Tangshan , Hebei province , had been besieged by protesters.
Rumours on the internet suggested that Zhang San, the alleged head of a local group of gangsters, had intimidated local residents into selling their land for low compensation.
Lu Gui, a local peasant, was said to have been beaten to death by the gang while the local government did nothing. The death prompted scores of angry people to go to the town government’s headquarters to demand justice.
Local sources confirmed that a man had rammed a vehicle into the building in the morning and that the vehicle had caught fire.
Netizens said Mr. Zhang had connections with the local government.
A town official confirmed there had been an incident at the government building.
“The town government is simply innocent, for being passively embroiled in the incident,” he said.
The central government has repeatedly urged regional officials to use all means at their disposal to prevent the outbreak of “mass incidents”, particularly in the aftermath of numerous large riots that have taken in place in recent months.
The mysterious death of a Wengan county schoolgirl in Guizhou province sent thousands of protesters into the streets in late June. They torched the public security bureau office and the county government’s headquarters.
Officials later said police had been deployed to crush the unrest in a way that only prolonged the anger.
And in July, hundreds of workers at a rubber plantation in Menglian , Yunnan province , rioted over a disagreement between local farmers and their buyers.
Two villagers were shot dead by police, which shocked the nation, coming at a tense time when the country was preparing to host the Olympic Games. A senior official in Yunnan was sacked and several others disciplined after the affair.
Zhou Yongkang , the mainland’s top official in charge of maintaining public security and social order, last month urged officials on all levels to prevent the rise of conflicts and to resolve disputes.
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