Angry tea farmers attack police station

By Zhan Lisheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-26 08:10

YINGDE, Guangdong -- A long-simmering grievance boiled over into violence when tea growers attacked a police station in Yingde, south China's Guangdong province.

According to a government bulletin, the tea growers descended on the Kengkouzui police station of the city's Yinghong township over the weekend after hearing rumors one of the organizers fighting for their concerns had been killed.

They attacked the station with stones, bricks and hoes, and set police vehicles on fire.

The riot was brought under control four and a half hours later.

It's only one of a string of recent incidents where citizens have attacked police stations.

"The case should teach grassroots governments a lesson," said Xu Binbin, a lecturer of public administration with South China Normal University.

"This kind of violence is happening more and more at the grassroots level and grassroots governments should play a more effective role in dealing with complaints," he said.

Issues for the tea farmers have been brewing for many years, and include more than 50 million yuan ($7.3 million) in medical insurance, social pensions and unemployment compensation that is in arrears.

"The municipal government of Yingde has spared no effort in dealing with the problems," Huang Zhensheng, a press official with the city government of Yingde, told China Daily yesterday.

"Some problems can't be solved without the support of the government of Qingyuan and even the provincial government of Guangdong. We've been seeking help from other governments," he said. "It really takes time."

The government bulletin said the tea farmers have protested outside the gates of the city government complex twice in the last month urging the government to solve their grievances.

Last Friday police arrested four organizers they believed had illegally raised funds in an attempt to launch even larger-scale campaigns.

The next day family members of the four mustered about 300 other tea farmers, who blocked the Kengkouzui police station and demanded the police immediately release the four suspects.

They began to attack the police, smashed the station with stones and bricks and burned the police vehicles when rumors spread one of the four organizers had been killed.

"The rumor was totally groundless. No one was killed during the confrontation," Huang said, adding that three police officers and some of the farmers were hurt, one fire engine was smashed, plus four police cars and four police motorbikes were burned during the riot.

Attacks on police stations are becoming more common in China.

Last Monday, traffic wardens in Huining county in Northwest China's Gansu province were attacked by hundreds of people after police reportedly beat up a cyclist. More than a thousand people later rioted outside a police station.

And in June 2008, the public security bureau of Weng'an county in Guizhou province was attacked after a 17-year old female student was drowned in a river and the local police deemed her death a suicide.