Olympic Torch Relay in Shanqiu Cancelled
The Olympic Torch Relay through Shanqiu city in Henan province has been cancelled amidst fears of mass protests by victims of an illegal fundraising group.
Wu Zhenhai, the CEO of Shanqiu’s “Future Agricultural Pty Ltd” was arrested for illegal fundraising which involved 50,000 thousand investors and 1.2bn Yuan. For the past month, victims have protested in front of the Shanqiu government building, which led officials to cancel the Olympic Torch Relay’s leg through the city.
In addition, the journey of the Torch in Luoyang was also cut down from 45km to 6.9km, shrinking the planned 9 hour journey to just 1. The route in Anyang was cut down from 42.1km to 5.9, leaving the distance for the 208 torch bearers to just 20 metres.
Henan commentator, An Jun, said the government has lost the trust of the people, with hostile sentiments rife amongst the Chinese public against the government. Any incident has the potential to mobilise thousands to take part in riots and civil unrest. An believes the Chinese public is in a very volatile state, and any trigger can have wide-reaching effects, and this is what’s causing the biggest headache for the Chinese communist regime. An points out the Chinese Communist Party is in a constant state of fear of the public, and this fear will only get worse into the future.
The above news is brought to you by Fang Qiong and hosted by Wilma Reynolds for Inside China Today on the SOH Radio Network.
July 30th, 2008
[...] Wu Zhenhai, the CEO of Shanqiu’s “Future Agricultural Pty Ltd” was arrested for illegal fundraising which involved 50,000 thousand investors and 1.2bn Yuan. For the past month, victims have protested in front of the Shanqiu government building, which led officials to cancel the Olympic Torch Relay’s leg through the city. (more…) [...]
Olympic Torch Relay in Shanqiu Cancelled