Riots in southwest China over girl's death: report

jetsetter · June 29th, 2008, 03:49 PM

Quote:

BEIJING (AFP) - Rioters in southwestern China torched government buildings and cars after anger over a probe into a schoolgirl's death exploded into violent protests, locals and state press said Sunday.

The riots occurred Saturday in Guizhou province when protesters ransacked three government and police buildings after the girl's uncle died from an alleged beating by police trying to stop him from protesting against the handling of the case, locals and Internet postings said.

The official Xinhua news agency said the riots had erupted due to "dissatisfaction" over the investigation into the girl's death, but added no further details.

Pictures posted on Internet blogs showed several thousand people gathered in front of the Wengan county police station, its windows shattered and the building smouldering.

The Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said that over 10,000 people took to the streets in the protests, with up to 150 people injured in clashes with police.

Police have arrested nearly 200 rioters and Sunday were seeking to round up others caught on videotape ransacking the government buildings, the centre said.

Over 1,500 paramilitary and riot police have been dispatch to the county, it added.

Locals contacted by AFP by phone said protesters took to the streets after the deceased girl's uncle was pronounced dead in a local hospital on Saturday afternoon.

The uncle had protested against the conclusion of the police investigation that had determined the 15-year-old girl committed suicide.

He had been badly beaten as he sought justice after the death of his niece, locals said.

Internet postings said the girl had been raped and then killed nine days ago and that the police were trying to cover up the alleged murder and protect the suspect, who was identified as the son of the vice head of Wengan county.

Officials at the county government and police station did not answer telephone calls Sunday.

The uncle was a teacher at a high school and his students descended onto the police station after they heard he had died, locals said.

"Her uncle, who was beaten by police or gangsters hired by the police died Saturday," said one local who refused to name herself out of fear of police retribution.

"As he was a teacher at the local high school, students from local schools went to the police to ask for justice, dozens of them I think, then some students were beaten by the police, after they were beaten, they started fires at the police building and torched police cars."

The woman said she had donated money to the grandfather of the dead girl, who was in possession of the body and was refusing to allow police to take it away.

Photos on the Internet posted overnight showed a steady stream of police and military personnel and vehicles rolling into the city.

Internet search engines listed scores of postings on the riots, but access to most of the pages were blocked Sunday, indicating a possible government black-out.

"A group of unidentified people incited the crowd to attack the police bureau, the county government and the county (Communist Party) committee building," Xinhua news agency said.

"After this, a small number of criminals ransacked offices and even torched many public offices and several cars."

China's government and police are seeking to quell any unrest and ensure order across the country is maintained ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August.

China's crackdown on unrest in Tibet against Beijing's rule in March drew international condemnation and spurred protests in several countries that disrupted the Olympic torch on its round-the-world journey.

Xinhua said the Guizhou government has taken measures to "appropriately" handle the situation.

Early Sunday, the crowd had dispersed and "the incident did not further escalate," the report said, adding "order has been basically restored at present in Wengan county."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080629...t_080629091017

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Something you don't see everyday. Nice to know that the Chinese still have it in them.

chaos386 · June 29th, 2008, 04:36 PM

The eerie thing is, despite the burning building and the overturned police cars, everyone's faces in those photos look so indifferent.

Koenig · June 29th, 2008, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chaos386

The eerie thing is, despite the burning building and the overturned police cars, everyone's faces in those photos look so indifferent.

Whoa! How do you see people's faces when they all have the backs of their heads towards you? YOU MUST TEACH ME THIS SKILL!

chaos386 · June 29th, 2008, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Koenig

Whoa! How do you see people's faces when they all have the backs of their heads towards you? YOU MUST TEACH ME THIS SKILL!

Because the sides of faces are visible in some of the pictures? images/smilies/dunno.gif

argatoga · June 29th, 2008, 05:54 PM

Looks like the Chinese government is unraveling. Despite their best attempts at avoiding Gorbachev's mistakes, it looks like they too are failing to rectify communism and modern day democracy.

BlaRo · June 29th, 2008, 06:37 PM

Ahh, and so it begins! Dissent against the government is finally spreading among the people, and with 1 billion of them and the worldwide stage of the Olympics coming up, it's going to be wonderfully difficult for the Communist government to maintain order while keeping face. I'm looking forward to this. images/smilies/dance.gif

IceBone · June 29th, 2008, 11:26 PM

Erm... what girl?

phuckingduck · June 29th, 2008, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlaRo

Ahh, and so it begins! Dissent against the government is finally spreading among the people, and with 1 billion of them and the worldwide stage of the Olympics coming up, it's going to be wonderfully difficult for the Communist government to maintain order while keeping face. I'm looking forward to this. images/smilies/dance.gif

Thanks for reading my mind and then typing out my thoughts.

Scooby5 · June 30th, 2008, 07:49 AM

With the US economy going the way it is now........ you have to be even more worried about problems in China than you might think. So narrow minded and blinkered.

I've said it before and will again, the government in China should be given a level of respect for the changes made in the last 10-years and those scheduled to come, not least because of their signing up to WTO and the transparancy that must follow. The age of Internet and Mobile Phones is making them change even faster than perhaps they thought a few years ago but they are still changing. This incident is just one in a lengthing list of activism borne from the age we now live........ perhaps you remember the protests ar Carrefour? This started simply by SMS's starting from some people (Wal-Mart employees probably) saying the French company was pro-Tibet.

Anyway, how recently have any of you guys been to China?

China is having to do and deal with in 20-years what the "West" took 50-years top come to terms with. Communism (or one party politics) is not the enemy itself, said from Singapore. It's how the party and the government look after the people that's the judge. In many cases, as seen from the recent earthquake, a single party government benefits from the removal of politcial one-upmanship. The government issues an order it it generally happens......like the instant mobilisation of a hundred thousand or so troops to affected areas.

For Trekkie fans.......... tell me what the difference is from a late 60's Kirk Star Trek Earth to an, in principle, single party state? Remember the original Star Trek spoke of an Earth where there was no currency and everybody worked for teh benefit of mankind, at that time.

hansvonaxion · June 30th, 2008, 08:44 AM

Power to the people.

F*ck the police.

and so on.

jayhawk · June 30th, 2008, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlaRo

Ahh, and so it begins! Dissent against the government is finally spreading among the people, and with 1 billion of them and the worldwide stage of the Olympics coming up, it's going to be wonderfully difficult for the Communist government to maintain order while keeping face. I'm looking forward to this. images/smilies/dance.gif

You typed out what I had in mind.

But, whatever government will come next, count on it being as bad as the ones in the past, what 4000 years? It seems that China and Russia just cannot get it right!

Scooby5 · July 1st, 2008, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayhawk

But, whatever government will come next, count on it being as bad as the ones in the past, what 4000 years? It seems that China and Russia just cannot get it right!

That's rich, from a country that voted in GWB not once but TWICE.

jetsetter · July 1st, 2008, 04:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scooby5

That's rich, from a country that voted in GWB not once but TWICE.

We have had worse. Don't comment on the system if you don't understand it.

BlaRo · July 1st, 2008, 05:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayhawk

You typed out what I had in mind.

But, whatever government will come next, count on it being as bad as the ones in the past, what 4000 years? It seems that China and Russia just cannot get it right!

Hey...the Ming Dynasty was alright. images/smilies/tongue.gif

Scooby5 · July 1st, 2008, 05:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jetsetter

We have had worse. Don't comment on the system if you don't understand it.

Reel you r neck in first.....

I didn't say GWB was better or worse, just commenting on the fact jayhawk said after 4000-years Russia and China couldn't get things right. From a lot of perspectives, even within the US, the country didn't get it right with regards GWB so where's the difference?

Pot calling the Kettle black if you ask me.

Suggest people read the following story from the BBC......

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7313998.stm

thedguy · July 1st, 2008, 05:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scooby5

That's rich, from a country that voted in GWB not once but TWICE.

And there is still question on if he got the job legally.

BlaRo · July 1st, 2008, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scooby5

Suggest people read the following story from the BBC......

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7313998.stm

It's one thing to say that the BBC should exhibit a more balanced empathatic understanding of modern Chinese life, it's another for a Westerner to suggest that the Chinese are only suggesting this because they've been brainwashed by their evil vicious kitten-massacring pinko Commie Red Menace government into believing so.

Western media sometimes loves to claim that the Chinese are worse off than they really are. Yet after being blocked free Internet access since, well, the Internet was invented by the amazing Al Gore, it's no surprise that it'd be jarring, shocking to some who have never experienced unblocked Western media. You have to put everything in context.

June 29th, 2008, 04:36 PM	#2
chaos386 .sa = bad driver! Joined: Nov 8th, 2004 Last Online: Yesterday Location: Paris, France Age: 22 Posts: 3,443 LFS Status: Rep Power: 58	The eerie thing is, despite the burning building and the overturned police cars, everyone's faces in those photos look so indifferent. __________________ "My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to $3.00 a can. That's almost $21.00 in dog money." -Joe Weinstein

June 29th, 2008, 05:54 PM	#5
argatoga Can't Start His Wank Joined: Oct 4th, 2005 Last Online: 07:38 AM Location: Washington State, USA Age: 25 Posts: 1,974 Car: '97 Mustang GT, '78 MG Midget (12a swap) Rep Power: 48	Looks like the Chinese government is unraveling. Despite their best attempts at avoiding Gorbachev's mistakes, it looks like they too are failing to rectify communism and modern day democracy. __________________ "Until a President is killed in a 300c, it can NEVER be as awesome as the Lincoln Continental." - thedguy "But to take alobohol rectally... Couldn't that kill a man?!?" - Austere "If you think about it breast implants aren't much different than braces. Their main purpose is to improve one's appearance, at least that's how it was in my case." - KaJun

June 29th, 2008, 11:26 PM	#7
IceBone Gulf Livery Rules Joined: Jan 14th, 2007 Last Online: 08:02 PM Location: Slovenistan Age: 24 Posts: 6,669 Car: Mitsubishi Carisma GDI Rep Power: 71	Erm... what girl? __________________ The Mitsubishop of Natural Aspiraton

June 30th, 2008, 07:49 AM	#9
Scooby5 Joined: Mar 24th, 2005 Last Online: 09:23 AM Location: A Scot in Singapore Posts: 402 Car: '06 Subaru Legacy 2.0L GT Wagon Rep Power: 20	With the US economy going the way it is now........ you have to be even more worried about problems in China than you might think. So narrow minded and blinkered. I've said it before and will again, the government in China should be given a level of respect for the changes made in the last 10-years and those scheduled to come, not least because of their signing up to WTO and the transparancy that must follow. The age of Internet and Mobile Phones is making them change even faster than perhaps they thought a few years ago but they are still changing. This incident is just one in a lengthing list of activism borne from the age we now live........ perhaps you remember the protests ar Carrefour? This started simply by SMS's starting from some people (Wal-Mart employees probably) saying the French company was pro-Tibet. Anyway, how recently have any of you guys been to China? China is having to do and deal with in 20-years what the "West" took 50-years top come to terms with. Communism (or one party politics) is not the enemy itself, said from Singapore. It's how the party and the government look after the people that's the judge. In many cases, as seen from the recent earthquake, a single party government benefits from the removal of politcial one-upmanship. The government issues an order it it generally happens......like the instant mobilisation of a hundred thousand or so troops to affected areas. For Trekkie fans.......... tell me what the difference is from a late 60's Kirk Star Trek Earth to an, in principle, single party state? Remember the original Star Trek spoke of an Earth where there was no currency and everybody worked for teh benefit of mankind, at that time. __________________ The species of whale known as the Black Right whale has four kilos of brains and 1,000 kilos of testicles. If it thinks at all, we know what it is thinking about. -- Jon Lien (Professor, St. John's University, Newfoundland)

June 30th, 2008, 08:44 AM	#10
hansvonaxion Joined: Apr 8th, 2005 Last Online: 01:09 PM Posts: 1,095 Rep Power: 29	Power to the people. F*ck the police. and so on. __________________