Inside China Today

Mass riot in Gansu province leaves thousands injured

News of relocating the city administration centre in Longnan in Gansu province has ignited the largest mass riot in the province this year.
Displaced farmers unhappy with inadequate compensation and relocation arrangements of Dongjiang county in Wudu district began attacking the City Chinese Communist Party Administration Building on Monday and Tuesday. Officials sent in large numbers of military and anti-riot police to control the scene. Tear gas was released by police, and clashes left over 1000 farmers injured.

Eyewitnesses say that on Monday afternoon, hundreds of displaced residents went to the Party Committee to petition against unreasonable relocation. The crowd grew in numbers towards the evening, and some puts the estimation at nearly 10,000 people. Until the next morning, key Party leaders were still nowhere to be seen. Order began to descend in the crowd due to an unknown trigger and many began attacking the Party Committee administration office. Officials called in large numbers of military police, violently arresting farmers. This was the first wave of clashes between the protestors and officials. At least a dozen farmer representatives were hurt and arrested.

Under the military pressure, crowds were dispersed around 2am on Tuesday morning, but the excessive force used by military police ignited public anger, with a large group of farmers again heading to the Party Committee around 9am to seek an explanation. The protestors and spectators numbered in the tens of thousands surrounded the administration building, and officials began another round of crackdown. So far over 20 farmers have died, and thousands have been injured with the situation continuing to develop at the scene.

Longnan is situated in southern Gansu, and is the only region in the province through which the Yangtze River flows. 300 people were killed or injured during the May 12 earthquake in Longnan which was the worst affected area outside of Sichuan province. In rebuilding works, local city Party Committees and the city government proposed to relocate the city’s administration centre from Wudu district to Chenxian, raising strong dissent from already relocated famers and earthquake victims. Prior to the earthquake, the region underwent large scale urban development, and many farmers had their farmlands resumed. Some were even forcibly removed by developers and many people are still living in tents.

After the leaking of the relocation plan, landless farmers and homeless residents began surrounding the city Party Committee.

the above news is brought to you by Yu Shan and hosted by Chris Thomas for Inside China Today on the SOH Radio Network