Chinese riots

Both Radio Free Asia, a news service based in Washington DC, and China's official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday that clashes had occurred after "chengguan," or "urban administration," officials tried to confiscate an illegally parked electric-powered bicycle. The female owner of the bike was apparently injured in the process.

China National Radio reported that the incident of low-level policing had attracted "thousands of onlookers" who then indulged in "smashing law enforcement vehicles and blocking roads."

The crowds turned over a police vehicle and attacked the police officials who had come to calm down the situation, Xinhua reported. The rioters apparently also smashed 10 vehicles. In total, 10 police officers and guards were injured in the incident; 10 people were arrested.

'Mass incidents'

Protests by Chinese citizens angered by the heavy-handed ways of local administration officials are a recurrent feature of Chinese life. In a recent study, two scholars from Nankai University in northern China put the number of such "mass incidents" - which include riots, protests, mass petitions and other acts of unrest - at 90,000 in 2009. This figure was up from 80,000 in 2007 and 60,000 in 2006.

But in a world of ever-increasing connectivity, the Chinese authorities are increasingly also having to deal with the Internet fallout of such "mass incidents." On Friday, pictures of the alleged protesters in Qianxi could be seen on the overseas Chinese website Canyu. Reports of the riots also spread on China's popular Weibo microblogging site.

However, by Friday morning, searches on the site for "Qianxi county" or even "Guizhou province" were apparently blocked, Radio Free Asia reported. A message came up saying that "relevant legal regulations" prevented the search results from being shown.

Author: Arun Chowdhury (Reuters, AFP)
Editor: Anne Thomas