Guangzhou, war veterans protest over meager pensions
Guangzhou (AsiaNews / Agencies) - More
than 500 army veterans demonstrated yesterday in front of the Sun Yat Sen
Memorial Hall in Guangzhou
asking for an increase in their meager pensions. In a confrontation with police
who tried to evict them, a veteran was injured and taken away on stretchers. Police
forces also chased away some journalists and operators who wanted to film the
scene.
With the approach of the 18th Communist Party Congress, scheduled in the fall,
the authorities have increased security measures prohibiting or controlling
demonstrations and nipping petitions in the bud.
According to a report in the South China
Morning Post, the demonstration was supposed to have been attended by at
least a thousand veterans, but many were discouraged by the authorities from
participating. But at least 500 of them between 50 and 60 years of age, with a
red ribbon on his chest, gathered in the park next to the Memorial, with
banners and slogans demanding a pension increase given the increased cost of
living.
The Chinese government says that inflation is contained at 4%, but prices of
essential commodities have increased by 15-30%.
Some veterans complain that with a monthly pension of 510 Yuan (about 66 euros)
they are unable to feed their families, others claim they can not send their
children to school because they can not pay school fees, others cure themselves
because can not afford medical expenses.
"The local government - says one of them - should follow the instructions
of the central government and increase our pensions." In China, military
pensions are paid by local governments. Beijing
orders that they be distributed taking into the cost of living account.
The protesters wanted to meet Zhu Xiaodan, the provincial governor, but
hundreds of police blocked their attempts from 2 o'clock in the afternoon. The
governor's building, next to Sun Yat-sen Memorial was completely cordoned off
by barricades and police.
The demonstrators - all veterans of the war against Vietnam in the late 1970s - waited
until 4 o'clock in the rain. After several clashes between police, protesters
and journalists, an old man - whose identity is unknown - fainted and was
carried away on stretchers. The police and security personnel disbanded the
group at about 5 pm.
23/02/2017 14:14
16/02/2018 10:36