Hundreds of migrant workers clashed with more than 100 regular and armed police in the Zhejiang city of Tongxiang on Saturday, leaving six police vehicles smashed or burned, 100 protesters wounded and 20 others in detention, witnesses and a rights group said.
According to the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, the riot broke out after a Henan migrant worker was hit by a resident on a motorbike.
A statement circulating on mainland websites, purportedly issued by the Tongxiang municipal public security bureau, said a motorcycle rider surnamed Shen had crashed into a Henan native surnamed Li at the intersection of Zhonghua and Minfeng roads at about 5:30pm on Saturday.
It said that when police arrived at the scene, Mr. Li refused to be sent to hospital and demanded compensation for his injuries.
As Mr. Li lay on the street and argued, scores of bystanders who were apparently not aware of the cause of the dispute started attacking police, the statement said.
The statement promised substantial rewards for those providing information about the attacks and damage to public property.
Ms. Shi, the owner of a shop near the site of the clashes, said yesterday it was possible that the crowd laying siege to more than 100 police officers and armed police numbered in the thousands by the time she arrived on the scene at about 7pm.
“I have no idea why the protesters, most of whom seemed to be migrant labourers, were so discontented and indignant that they hurled almost everything within their reach, including bricks, stones and water bottles, even when the police seemed prepared to retreat,” she said.
Ms. Shi said many of the armed police were in full riot gear, including helmets, shields and camouflage clothing.
“Surrounded and with no way to retreat, the police apparently had no choice but to hit back against the protesters, resulting in a series of injuries.”
She said locals were not comfortable with the surging number of migrant workers, blaming them for a decline in public order.
However, she also said the migrant workers would not have been so aggressive if the police had dealt with the situation properly.
She said she had heard that the man on the motorbike was an off-duty auxiliary police officer whose arrogance had ignited the outpouring of anger.
A blogger who claimed to have witnessed the incident posted similar comments online.
He wrote that he had seen a motorcycle-riding auxiliary police officer knock down a man in his 50s. The officer then punched the man when he refused to let him go.
A squad of more than 100 armed police was sent in after the bystanders smashed the motorcycle.
The blogger wrote that the armed police had beaten many of the people involved, which only inflamed the situation.
The mainland’s migrant labourers are one of the most vulnerable sections of society and have been on the receiving end of much of the fallout from the global economic downturn in recent months.
This month, the Ministry of Agriculture said up to 20 million migrant workers, or 15.3 per cent of the 130 million strong migrant workforce, had lost their jobs.
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Hundreds of migrants battle with riot police
Motorcycle accident leads to violent clash
Choi Chi-yuk
16 February 2009
Hundreds of migrant workers clashed with more than 100 regular and armed police in the Zhejiang city of Tongxiang on Saturday, leaving six police vehicles smashed or burned, 100 protesters wounded and 20 others in detention, witnesses and a rights group said.
According to the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, the riot broke out after a Henan migrant worker was hit by a resident on a motorbike.
A statement circulating on mainland websites, purportedly issued by the Tongxiang municipal public security bureau, said a motorcycle rider surnamed Shen had crashed into a Henan native surnamed Li at the intersection of Zhonghua and Minfeng roads at about 5:30pm on Saturday.
It said that when police arrived at the scene, Mr. Li refused to be sent to hospital and demanded compensation for his injuries.
As Mr. Li lay on the street and argued, scores of bystanders who were apparently not aware of the cause of the dispute started attacking police, the statement said.
The statement promised substantial rewards for those providing information about the attacks and damage to public property.
Ms. Shi, the owner of a shop near the site of the clashes, said yesterday it was possible that the crowd laying siege to more than 100 police officers and armed police numbered in the thousands by the time she arrived on the scene at about 7pm.
“I have no idea why the protesters, most of whom seemed to be migrant labourers, were so discontented and indignant that they hurled almost everything within their reach, including bricks, stones and water bottles, even when the police seemed prepared to retreat,” she said.
Ms. Shi said many of the armed police were in full riot gear, including helmets, shields and camouflage clothing.
“Surrounded and with no way to retreat, the police apparently had no choice but to hit back against the protesters, resulting in a series of injuries.”
She said locals were not comfortable with the surging number of migrant workers, blaming them for a decline in public order.
However, she also said the migrant workers would not have been so aggressive if the police had dealt with the situation properly.
She said she had heard that the man on the motorbike was an off-duty auxiliary police officer whose arrogance had ignited the outpouring of anger.
A blogger who claimed to have witnessed the incident posted similar comments online.
He wrote that he had seen a motorcycle-riding auxiliary police officer knock down a man in his 50s. The officer then punched the man when he refused to let him go.
A squad of more than 100 armed police was sent in after the bystanders smashed the motorcycle.
The blogger wrote that the armed police had beaten many of the people involved, which only inflamed the situation.
The mainland’s migrant labourers are one of the most vulnerable sections of society and have been on the receiving end of much of the fallout from the global economic downturn in recent months.
This month, the Ministry of Agriculture said up to 20 million migrant workers, or 15.3 per cent of the 130 million strong migrant workforce, had lost their jobs.
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