A local government’s decision to move its administrative headquarters from one city to another provoked two days of unrest in northwestern China, according to state media and witnesses, who said on Tuesday that protesters had burned police cars and looted government offices.
A local newspaper and Xinhua news agency said the skirmishes, in Longnan, a prefectural capital in southern Gansu Province, began on Monday and involved 2,000 people. Witnesses reached by phone, however, said the crowds had swelled to more than 10,000 and many of the protesters were still battling the police on Tuesday night.
Officials said more than 60 people were injured on Monday and Tuesday.
Although the state media did not fully explain the cause of the unrest, residents cited the plan to move the government offices. The move, they said, would lower real estate values and deprive Longnan of desperately needed jobs.
Riots are not uncommon in China, but as the economy slows, the government is acutely sensitive to unrest. Many disturbances are prompted by grievances over illegal land seizures or official malfeasance. But in recent months, as thousands of manufacturers have left the Pearl River Delta, jilted creditors and suppliers and unemployed workers have rampaged through empty warehouses and factories.
Last week, a confrontation involving thousands of people in the southern city of Shenzhen was ignited by the death of a motorcyclist who crashed after being hit by a walkie-talkie, which was thrown from a police checkpoint, witnesses said.
In recent weeks, there have been a number of high-profile taxi strikes across China prompted by low fares, rising costs and what drivers said was the collusion of corrupt officials and greedy fleet owners. The drivers, some of whom smashed the cabs of those who would not strike, relented after the government acceded to some of their demands.
In Longnan, residents said the disturbances were provoked by economic distress, rampant corruption and a lack of transparency in the local Communist Party.
Officials have said the decision to move the administrative headquarters from Longnan was based on the city’s location in a seismically unstable area. The earthquake that devastated parts of Sichuan in May, they point out, claimed more than 300 lives in Gansu, which borders Sichuan.
Taiwan moved clear of Mexico to be the only country at No. 2 in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Men’s Baseball World Rankings. Meanwhile, draft bills to set up a ministry of sports were approved at a joint session at the legislature in Taipei yesterday. After previously being tied with Mexico for second on 4,118 points, Taiwan moved clear on 5,498 points after they defeated Japan in the final of the WBSC Premier12 tournament on Sunday. Mexico (4,729) dropped to fourth, behind Venezuela (4,846), who finished fourth at the tournament. Taiwan narrowed the gap to first-placed Japan to 1,368 points from 1,638, WBSC
GLOBAL SUPPORT: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the motion highlighted the improper exclusion of Taiwan from international discussion and cooperative mechanisms Taiwan yesterday thanked the British parliament for passing a motion stating that UN Resolution 2758 does not involve Taiwan, making it the latest body to reject China’s interpretation of the resolution. The House of Commons on Thursday debated the international status of Taiwan and unanimously passed a pro-Taiwan motion stating that the House “notes that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the political status of Taiwan or establish PRC [People’s Republic of China] sovereignty over Taiwan and is silent both on the status of Taiwan in the UN and on Taiwanese participation in UN agencies.” British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Parliamentary
HIGH ALERT: The armed forces are watching for a potential military drill by China in response to the president’s trip, with the air force yesterday conducting an exercise President William Lai (賴清德) is to make stopovers in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam during his seven-day trip to the South Pacific, his first official visit since taking office in May, the Presidential Office said yesterday. Lai, accompanied by a delegation, is scheduled to depart for the South Pacific on a chartered flight at 4:30pm tomorrow, stopping first in Hawaii for a two-night layover before traveling to the Marshall Islands, an office official said. After wrapping up his visits to the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu, the president is to transit through Guam, spending a night there before flying to Palau,
‘IMPORTANCE OF PEACE’: President Lai was welcomed by AIT Managing Director Ingrid Larson, Hawaii Governor Josh Green, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi and others President William Lai (賴清德) was feted with red carpets, garlands of flowers and “alohas” as he began his two-day stopover in Hawaii on Saturday, part of a Pacific tour. Looking relaxed in a Hawaiian shirt, Lai flitted around the US island state, visiting the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Hawaii’s leading museum of natural history and native Hawaiian culture, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency and the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. Lai was given the “red carpet treatment” on the tarmac of Honolulu’s international airport, his office said, adding that it was the first time a Taiwanese president had been given such
RSS