The social unrest in Weng’an is not an isolated incident, said Study Times, the publication of the Party School of the Chinese Communist Party. The article cited official statistics on the increase of social unrests, 8,700 in 1993, 87,000 in 2003 and over 90,000 in 2006. “The upward trend of numbers continues.” The article held that the Weng’an incident is representative of major social unrest in recent years in terms of the number of participants, duration, intensity of conflicts, and their ramifications.”
On June 28, over ten thousand local residents gathered in front of government buildings in Weng’an County, Guizhou Province, over the investigation of the death of a female high school student. Angry crowds torched the police station, county government building, and Civil Affairs Bureau building. 1500 anti-riot police arrived on Sunday morning and used tear gas and high voltage batons at the scene. It was reported that at least three people died, 200 people were arrested including 30 middle school students, and 150 injured.
Source: Xinhua, September 8, 2008
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