Tax Dispute Sparks Mass Protest in China

By: EW News Desk Team   Date: 28 October 2011

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EW News Desk Team

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28 October 2011

Hundreds of small business owners in an eastern town in China have protested over a tax dispute, in the latest episode of social unrest resulting from growing discontent and economic pressure.

According to a report by the Huzhou Online, a state controlled news portal in the city of Huzhou, Zhejiang, the protests started after a migrant business owner refused to pay taxes and gathered a group to attack a tax collector.

The report did not explain why the business owner refused to pay his dues, but a local doctor told the AP that it could be because the town authorities were imposing a higher tax rate for migrant businesses than for local ones, causing unhappiness among the group who were from the neighboring Anhui province.

 Zhejiang Online, a government-run news portal covering Zhejiang province, said about 600 people were involved in the unrest, which began on Wednesday and continued into Thursday.

The website said a group of about 100 people swarmed toward government offices in Huzhou's Zhili township, throwing stones, destroying street lights, and smashing car windows.

In a report that appeared in the Shanghai Daily, the “police detained a total of 28 people, among whom five will face criminal charges for assaulting, damaging vehicles and disturbing social order.”

Pictures spreading on Chinese social-media websites showed a burnt-out bus, crowds blocking traffic, and lines of riot police, leading to a media blackout in China’s popular social media sites on Friday.

According to the BBC, China has thousands of riots every year, often sparked by minor rows.

Mass protests, or “mass incidents” as Chinese officials call them, are not uncommon in China as disenfranchised people left behind in the country’s economic boom often take to the streets to air their grievances.

Related: The Chinese Economy

Related: China Economic Analysis: The World's Largest Economy By 2035?


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