New Yotk Times
November 19, 2008
By ANDREW JACOBS

BEIJING — A local government’s decision to move its administrative headquarters from one city to another has provoked two days of unrest in northwest China, according to state media and witnesses who said protesters had burned police cars and looted government offices.

A local newspaper and Xinhua, the official news agency, said the skirmishes, in Longnan, a prefectural capital in southern Gansu Province, began on Monday and involved 2,000 people. Witnesses reached by phone, however, said the crowds had swelled to more than 10,000, many of whom were still battling the police on Tuesday night.

Although the state media did not explain the source of the unrest, residents said many protesters were motivated by the government’s decision to transfer its offices to another city. The move, residents said, would deprive Longnan of desperately needed jobs and lower real estate values.

Riots are not uncommon in China, but as the economy slows, the government is acutely sensitive to unrest. Many disturbances are prompted by grievances over illegal land seizures or the malfeasance of abusive officials.

Last week, a skirmish involving thousands of people flared up in the southern city of Shenzhen after the death of a motorcyclist who crashed after being hit by a walkie-talkie, which was tossed by an official stationed at a police checkpoint, witnesses said.

In recent weeks, there have been a number of high-profile taxi strikes across the country, some of which turned ugly. The protests — in Chongqing, Sanya and a small city in Gansu Province — were prompted by low fares, rising costs and what many drivers contend is the collusion of corrupt officials and greedy fleet owners. The drivers, some of whom smashed cabs of those who refused to join the strike, relented after the government acceded to some of their demands.

In Longnan, residents said the disturbances were provoked by economic distress, rampant corruption and a lack of transparency by the local Communist Party.

Officials have said the decision to move the administrative headquarters from Longnan was based on the city’s location in a seismically unstable area. The earthquake that devastated parts of Sichuan in May, they point out, claimed more than 300 lives in Gansu, which borders Sichuan to the north.

Some residents have questioned the rationale behind the move, saying that if the area is so dangerous, Longnan’s 2.6 million people should be moved as well. According to a news release issued by the Longnan municipal government, the trouble began Monday morning when more than 30 people whose homes had been demolished gathered at the city’s Communist Party offices to petition for compensation. By the evening, thousands of others had joined them.

Dissatisfied with the pace of discussions, the petitioners began attacking officials and the police with rocks and metal batons, the government news release said. Then they charged the building, breaking windows and burning whatever they could, including motorcycles and bicycles, it said.

Officials said more than 60 people were injured.

“Around 10 p.m., government officials spoke to the petitioners with loudspeakers trying to persuade them to stop but failed,” the release said. “The law enforcement department then decided to handle the problem immediately and controlled the situation.”

Witnesses said armed police officers from the provincial capital used tear gas to subdue the rioters, some of whom were tossing bricks and burning cars. As of Tuesday night, the witnesses said, smoke was still rising from the city center.

“People are furious, and now many farmers from surrounding villages and townships came to support them,” a man who described himself as a retired government worker said in a telephone interview. “Though I used to work in the government, I’m for those people now.”

Huang Yuanxi and Zhang Jing contributed research.