BEIJING—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 countrya 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.
