Migrant workers from China's Sichuan province erupted in violent protests over the manhandling of a pregnant vendor, exposing the fragility of social order. China censored film footage of the protests, which follow unrelated rioting in other parts of the country. Chinese authorities struggled to restore order Monday after migrant workers overturned police cars, smashed windows and set fires near the southern manufacturing hub of Guangzhou over the manhandling of a pregnant vendor.
It began as a run-of-the mill altercation that erupted Friday night when city authorities tried to clear away migrants from Sichuan province who were hawking produce in front of a supermarket in Zengcheng, in the outskirts of Guangzhou. But the ferocity of the rioting over the weekend exposed the fragility of social order.
The Chinese government has reason for concern. Last week, migrants from Sichuan battled police and overturned cars in Chaozhou, about 210 miles east of Guangzhou, after a worker demanding two months of back wages was attacked by the boss of a ceramics factory where he had worked. In Lichuan, Hubei province, people have been rioting over the death in prison of an anti-corruption crusader.
A sociologist at Beijing's Tsinghua University reported earlier this year that China has experienced 180,000 "mass incidents" in 2010, double the number from 2006. "There are a lot of resentments built up among ordinary people who are frustrated trying to get by on a daily basis with prices going up and the difficulty of young people in finding decent jobs," said Geoffrey Crothall, an analyst with the Hong Kong-based China Labor Bulletin. "Any little spark can set things off."
For more: China riot: Migrant workers riot in China - latimes.com
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