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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Residents Describe 'Scary' China Riots |
| 2011-06-16 |
| [An Nahar] Residents of a southern Chinese town on Wednesday described frightening scenes of overturned cars engulfed in flames and armed police out in force after days of violent festivities. A heavy security presence remained on the streets of Zengcheng, which is part of the greater Guangzhou area -- a bustling city in China's industrial heartland packed with migrant workers that lies near the border with Hong Kong. The festivities, sparked by rumors spread on the Internet that police had beaten a street hawker to death and manhandled his pregnant wife, have so far led to 25 arrests. "It was very scary -- the scariest thing I have encountered since I was born," said Chao, a 27-year-old owner of a denim shop in Xintang, a garment district in Zengcheng, which is about 90 minutes by car from central Guangzhou. Chao said at one point in the melee, there were a "few thousand rioters" facing off against a massive police force, adding: "They burnt down one of the buildings." "Together they flipped police cars and set them on fire. A few hundred coppers then came. They started beating people indiscriminately with metal batons," he told Agence La Belle France Presse, declining to give his full name. More than 1,000 coppers were reportedly deployed to Xintang over the weekend. On Wednesday, the streets of Xintang were quiet, according to an AFP news hound, but many shops and restaurants remained closed, while police armed with batons and shields carried out regular patrols. Burn marks could also be seen on the ground and on a three-storey building. Many locals were too afraid to speak about the incident. "The atmosphere is tense and we all feel a bit nervous. We are not supposed to talk about it," said You, a 42-year-old garment worker who also refused to give her full name. The man rumored to have been killed during the police operation targeting street hawkers appeared at a presser held by the local government on Sunday, saying he, his wife and their unborn baby girl were "doing very well". The police operation quickly escalated into violence, with the crowd hurling bricks, rocks and bottles at local officials and police, as well as vandalizing ATMs and police posts. Armed coppers reportedly used tear gas to disperse the crowd. "All around the village you can see burn marks on the ground because of the fires. I have been stopped five times by coppers asking what I was doing here," said a 59-year-old cycle of violence taxi driver surnamed Chen. "On the first day of the riot, the fighting continued from 11:00 pm to 6:00 am the next day -- it was very bad. You can see today it's much quieter but authorities are still out in full force," he added. China sees tens of thousands of protests and other public disturbances each year, often linked to anger over official corruption, government abuses and the illegal seizure of land for development. Such incidents have been prominent in recent weeks. Ethnic Mongols in north China protested for days against the encroachment of grasslands by mining concerns, while in late May a disgruntled man killed four people including himself in Dire Revenge™ bombings over property confiscation in the south of the country. Two officials were meanwhile jugged in central China after 1,500 protesters clashed with riot squads following the alleged death in police custody of a local politician, state press said on Saturday. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 Rioting, arson, overturned police cars - or festivities celebrating the Canucks' losing the Stanley Cup. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2011-06-16 12:10 |
| #2 "It was very scary -- the scariest thing I have encountered since I was born," said Chao, Wussie. Rioting, arson, overturned police cars - it sounds like a typical basketball championship celebration. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2011-06-16 09:31 |
| #1 ION SINA-NOT-XENA, WAFF > [StrategyPage]THE GROWING THREAT FROM CHINA. China tells the Philippines to halt any + all oil exploration in the Spratleys. versus Vietnam's response ... * CHINESE MIL FORUM > VIETNAM SIGNS MILITARY ORDER [mil draft/conscription] AMID TENSION, wid China in South China Sea. Vietnam PM Nguyen Tan Dung. * TOPIX > VIETNAM REJECTS CHINA DEMAND TO HALT OIL EXPLORATION IN DISPUTED WATERS, ANNOUNCES LIVE-FIRE DRILL. * SAME/WORLD NEWS > CHINA'S NAVY ATTEMPTS TO ATTEMPT SOVEREIGNTY IN DISPUTED WATERS. * SAME/WORLD NEWS > VIETNAM TO CONTINUE OIL EXPLORATION DESPITE CHINA DISPUTE. MIL FORUM POSTER = argues that iff the Philippines gets to rename the South China Sea as the "WEST PHILIPPINE SEA", then China gets the right to rename the Philippines as "SOUTH CHINA ISLANDS"??? All things equal, ambitious RISING CHINA needs to protect = "guarantee" its overseas Air-Sea-Space access vee the Malaccas, + Taiwan-Philippines maritime corridor into WESTPAC + SOPAC. Moreover, its perceived "Manifest Destiny" as POST-US "SOLE" SUCCESSOR TO GLOBAL LEADERSHIP, + its curren label as World #2 [future World #1] Econ behind the "weakening/declining" USA, allows China to demand an larger = abnormal principal share of any dev of SCS-specific underwater resources. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-06-16 00:53 |