Vol. 72/No. 29      July 21, 2008

Some 160 offices including the police headquarters and 40 vehicles were torched in the course of the protest, sparked by allegations that the young woman had been raped and killed by three people with connections to local government and police officials. The police insist Li committed suicide, drowning after jumping into a river July 21.

The demonstration began June 28 when Li’s family, followed by about 300 people including middle school students, marched with placards reading “Return justice to the people” and “Petition for the people.”

According to one report, they were beaten when they arrived at the police offices. The action grew. By the time it was over seven hours later, 150 were injured, including more than 100 cops, according to Xinhua.

Weng’an is set in a valley of rice and vegetable fields in Guizhou province. It grew from a population of 27,000 in 1990 to 65,000 in 2000, the latest year figures are available. Guizhou is China’s poorest province, which had a per capita gross domestic product of about $1,200 in 2001. For Shanghai, China’s richest city, the figure was $15,000.

At a panel discussion in Guizhou July 2, Communist Party officials acknowledged that local authorities “had failed to solve disputes over mines, demolition of homes for city building, relocation of residents for reservoir construction, and reform of state-owned enterprises,” Xinhua reported.

As the Chinese government pursues economic development using capitalist methods, land held collectively has been sold to private owners, new factories and dams have drastically altered the environment, and the gap between the countryside and the cities has widened. Many residents of Guizhou have joined the millions of rural Chinese who leave their homes in the countryside in search of work in towns and cities.

Workplace safety has severely deteriorated. In September 2000 a gas explosion at Muchonggou mine in Guizhou killed 162 miners.

The ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) moved quickly to try to restore stability by firing the police chief, the top CPC official, and the head of the local government of Weng’an for “severe malfeasance.”  
 
 
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