China unrest: 25 arrested after clashes with police

[SHASH2K2]

China unrest: 25 arrested after clashes with police
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Police in southern China say they have arrested 25 people after clashes between residents and security forces near the city of Guangzhou.
A crowd threw bottles and bricks at police after a dispute between two street vendors and local security.
Riot police are also patrolling the city of Lichuan in central China after crowds attacked government offices.
Protests and clashes with police are common in China over corruption and land seizures by local officials.
In the Guangzhou incident, reports said people in the town of Xintang blocked traffic and damaged vehicles as the dispute between police and two street vendors, a migrant couple, escalated.
Police later seized control of the area, which is in southern China's manufacturing heartland and is home to migrants working in a number of textile factories.
'Unnatural death' The arrests follow a separate incident further north, in Lichuan city in Hubei province, where hundreds of people laid siege to local government offices following the death in custody of a respected local official.
The official, Ran Jinxian, had been arrested for allegedly taking bribes linked to land seizures and forced demolitions of people's homes.
Mr Ran, 49, was arrested on 26 May and died on 4 June. His family said he was beaten to death during interrogation.
"Ran's cousin said he found signs of wounds and bruises on Ran's body at the hospital and believed that they were signs of an 'unnatural death'," state-run Xinhua news agency said.
Residents of Lichuan said Mr Ran was arrested because he refused to co-operate with his superiors in a campaign of land requisitions.
Several officials have been detained or are under investigation over Mr Ran's death.
There is widespread anger in China over corruption and the practice of seizing land and clearing out the residents to develop it for a profit.

 

[satish007]

The first one is not big deal.
but second one is popular in China. RIP.
He knew too much. only dead don't leak. he must die.
so toper bosses are safe.

 

[JAYRAM]

Protesters, security forces clash in China
By the CNN Wire Staff
June 17, 2011 -- Updated 1056 GMT (1856 HKT)

Beijing (CNN) -- A rash of violent protests in China continued over the weekend as migrant workers and security forces clashed in a rural city about 60 miles northwest of Hong Kong, local government officials and witnesses said.

The protest erupted in Zengcheng over what witnesses described as rough handling of a pregnant street vendor by security guards Friday. Local government officials said the protests involved hundreds, while other unofficial reports estimated tens of thousands of protesters.

The demonstrators hurled bottles and bricks at government officials and marched to the local police station, where they damaged several cars, according to the local government officials. Protests continued Saturday and Sunday, according to local officials.

The situation in Zengcheng remains tense, according to a businessman who asked to be identified only by his surname, Hu, because he was concerned about reprisals from government officials.

Looting and violence is widespread at night, despite the presence of security forces, according to Hu, who said he witnessed nighttime violence before deciding it would be safer to stay inside at night.

The Zengcheng riot is the latest disturbance in China, whose government is apparently unnerved by scenes of masses of protesters across the Middle East and North Africa seeking, and in some cases winning, reform from their governments.

"Because of the Arab Spring and economic insecurities people face in China, the government has been cracking down even harder on protests, even if they are of a local nature," said Patrick Chovanec, a political analyst at Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management in Beijing.

Last week in Lichuan, protests broke out after the prison death of a local government official who had been charged with bribery.

The local government said the death of Ran Jianxin was still under investigation. They said that two local officials had been suspended and were under investigation in his death. Two others involved in the corruption case against Ran were in custody, according to the local government.

Residents said they believed Ran was killed for not cooperating with other corrupt officials.

A YouTube video showed people gathered in front of government buildings with a banner reading, "(Ran) offended the officials for the benefit of the people, and he was murdered."

Large protests also continued last week in Inner Mongolia, when thousands of ethic Mongolians swarmed security officers after the death of a Mongolian who had been hit by a coal truck driven by an ethnic Han Chinese.

In late May, thousands of Mongolian students protested in support of the herder in Xilin Gol. And Chinese authorities arrested dozens of demonstrators in Hohhot last month as protests spread to the provincial capital and other cities in Inner Mongolia despite tightened security and reports of martial law, activists said.

On Monday, military veterans openly demonstrated at Beijing's railroad ministry, claiming they were denied jobs they had been promised. Ministry officials could not be reached for comment Monday.

Protesters, security forces clash in China - CNN.com

 

[JAYRAM]

Tension, security high in China's 'jeans capital' after riots

By Steven Jiang, CNN
June 17, 2011 -- Updated 1818 GMT (0218 HKT)

Xintang, China (CNN) -- Noisy traffic and bustling crowds returned to the streets of Xintang on Friday after days of rioting by migrant workers, but security remained heavy in this industrial town in southern China that produces almost half of the jeans sold in the United States.

Police and guards were manning checkpoints at major intersections, questioning some drivers. Anti-riot police patrolled the streets as propaganda vans touted the importance of stability. Fire trucks with high-pressure water cannons stood ready to deal with potential unrest.

Authorities have arrested 19 men, including nine teenagers, on charges related to the riots, the local government said on its website.

Outside the Longjiafu supermarket, where a scuffle between two street vendors and town officials triggered the unrest on June 10, people were reluctant to recount the incident to foreign reporters.

Witnesses and media reports said local officials beat up a pregnant migrant worker and her husband, pushing the woman to the ground. Mass protests ensued, quickly spiraling to violent clashes with government forces that spread to other parts of Xintang, a city of 400,000 residents, almost half of them migrant workers.

Photos posted online showed torched police cars and government offices by angry demonstrators. Witnesses told CNN of looting and other violence at night. Anti-riot police and paramilitary troops were sent in, reportedly using tear gas to disperse the crowds.

Although local authorities put the number of "troublemakers" at several hundred, tens of thousands are said to have taken to the streets during three days of riots, some of the worst seen in China in years.

Zhang Jihe, who owns a jeans factory that churns out up to one million pairs a year, said he hoped to see things return to normal soon, especially in light of an already-tough business climate.

"Our production cost has gone up," Zhang said. "Workers' wages are higher, fabric and other materials are pricier."

At a labor market next to Xintang High School, now a makeshift anti-riot command center, migrant workers also saw a darker future in this export-oriented town.

"Factories are not getting enough orders," said Tan Zhijian, 33, who has worked in clothing factories in Xintang for 17 years. "Many owners owe workers back pay. Some just run away."

Although they did not get involved in the riots, the workers at the job market say they share the frustrations of the street vendors whose treatment by officials unleashed the turmoil.

For years, booming industries in southern China, particularly Guangdong province where Xintang is located, have attracted millions of migrant workers from poor rural provinces looking to find factory jobs and a better life.

Mirroring the rest of the country, a slowdown in economic growth here is now stoking social tensions in various dimensions --- rural versus urban, ethnic minority against majority, and haves versus have have-nots.

"The people who were being squeezed now feel like they are being squeezed even more, to the point where they can't bear it anymore," said Patrick Chovanec, a political analyst with Tsinghua University in Beijing. He said China's one-party system fails to provide people with a proper mechanism to air grievances or resolve disputes.

"When those violent outbreaks do take place, especially in light of what's happened with the Arab Spring, the government feels the need to simply throw in the use of force," he added.

Back in Xintang, authorities are taking no chances. Propaganda officials stopped CNN from filming on the streets and questioned the journalists in their office for an hour. The team was ordered to leave the town just as night was falling --- the time local residents have said when the risk of rioting is highest.

Tension, security high in China's 'jeans capital' after riots - CNN.com

 

[JAYRAM]

China's riot town: 'No one else is listening'

By Eunice Yoon, CNN
June 18, 2011 -- Updated 0135 GMT (0935 HKT)

A photo dated June 12 shows damaged police cars overturned by protesters in Xintang, China.

Xintang, China (CNN) -- The authorities here are obviously nervous. My crew and I are sitting in a local government building being questioned by six propaganda officials.

One of them is scribbling down our credentials in a worn pocket-sized notebook. My producer, Steven Jiang, is talking non-stop to one officer who looks especially nonplussed.

We traveled to the manufacturing town of Xintang to investigate why thousands of migrant workers suddenly took to the streets just a week ago.

We knew the unrest was triggered by what appeared to be a minor event -- a pregnant migrant worker and her husband got in a scuffle with city officials and she ended up falling on the ground.

However, the ferocity by which this dispute exploded in a massive conflagration, pitting thousands of enraged workers against hundreds of riot police, took many by surprise.

The unrest seems to belie the image of China as a bustling economy going from strength to strength, enriching the lives of millions across the country, especially in the industrial south. But the problem is many people feel they are not getting their fair share of the rapid growth.

Since we arrived, the streets look relatively calm here. People are out shopping. Cars are on the roads.

However, the frustrations the workers feel is palpable.

We visited a job center and, for the first time since I started reporting in China years ago, workers approached us unfazed by our cameras. They were unafraid to vent their grievances to foreign TV journalists even as the police looked on.

The workers complained of the lack of jobs, unscrupulous bosses hoarding back pay, and corrupt local officials.

In China, with its one-party government, getting people to speak openly about the authorities is challenging and extremely rare, especially with the cameras rolling. It struck me these workers must feel no one else is listening.

Economic uncertainty is the root cause of China's wave of discontent. However, unlike in the Middle East, people here are not calling for a new government. What they want is a way to right wrongs and not to be forgotten.

We had been filming for several hours before the propaganda officials stopped us at a jeans factory to take us in for questioning. They told us Xintang had just been declared a special zone requiring additional permissions above and beyond our press credentials to report here.

We apply for new permits but, not surprisingly, they aren't granted and we are told we have to leave.

We need more video footage of the town so we negotiate a few more minutes of filming -- but we have to be escorted and are asked not to film the increasing security presence

Migrant workers had told us more police patrol the town at night. Unfortunately, we won't be able to see that for ourselves.

China's riot town: 'No one else is listening' - CNN.com

 

[mattster]

The Rich and Powerful and Corrupt Government in China uses the police to control the peasants. China is slowly becoming a state where those in the government are increasingly being resented by the regular population. Local officials are hated by the peasants and working poor.