The violent clashes which led to the death of a student were born out of protests against the increase in public transport costs. Soldiers are drafted from Guangzhou, to contol the area.

Zhushan (AsiaNews/Agencies) –The Hunan government intervened to stop the mass protests which have rocked the province in recent days and has decided to meet with the farmers request for a reduction in the public transport costs.  However at the same time, authorities have sent more troops to monitor the area hit by the protests.    

 

The soldiers were drafted from Yongzhou and the neighbouring city of Guangzhou. Eye witnesses say that the soldiers “were checking into many households and asking those who got involved to surrender to the police”.

 

Meanwhile, the local government has suspended Anda Transport, the bus company whose recent fee increases of 4 Yuan, prompted angry villagers to take to the streets. Tickets have now returned to their original cost of 5 Yuan.

 

Mr Tang, who lives in the village attacked by armed forces, says that “the local government has issued a mass-circulation notice declaring the "pacification" of the situation”.

 

The protest started peacefully on March 9 but rapidly degenerated into a bloody clash after local police allegedly used force to crack down on protesting farmers. After a day of protests and exasperated by the lack of response to their requests and the use of police force, the villagers attacked police cars. 

 

20 thousand people joined the protests, which lasted for over four days.  With the arrival of the army, sent to quash the villagers protest, the protest degenerated into further violence.  One student died and dozens were seriously injured.

 

Now the local government is minimizing the incident – describing the mass riot as "a very simple civil dispute between a bus company and the public” – but NPC delegates on the sidelines of the NPC session, underway in Beijing asked their colleagues from Hunan “How could such a big incident happen”.

 

Social protests are on the increase across the Chinese territory, despite numerous appeals from the communist leadership, who have asked local authorities to create a “society of harmony.  Liu Jinguo, vice minister for social security touched on the theme last January at a national conference on public order.  According to Party directors the number of “mass incidents” actually decreased last year by 16.5 %, compared to an estimated 87 thousand protests in 2005.

 

And yet data shows that these protests – even if they are decreasing in frequency – are increasingly violent.

 

 

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