Beijing (AsiaNews) - Thousands of protesters clashed with police in recent days in Chongqing, a megalopolis in southern China, to protest against a merger that threatens to throw them into poverty. The demonstrators, about 10 thousand people, are demanding the Council of State withdraw the order to unify Wansheng district with Qijiang county. Some sources say dozens of people were injured, the central government has sent about 1,000 police in riot gear to stop the riots.
A few days from the purge and state indictment of Bo Xilai, his former domain has once again returned to the spotlight. Residents of Wansheng, a mining district of the megalopolis, fear losing the generous state subsidies granted by the government to the mining industry and so have chosen violent protest. The shops are closed and the streets are guarded by the army and local police.
A resident explains the reasons for the revolt: "Qijiang will eat up our district like a snake, leaving 280 thousand people in extreme poverty. There will be no health care or pension. It is obvious that we are angry." The government project is to create a "mega-district" to make it more competitive than the two previous entities.
But residents of Wansheng - which has long established itself as a thriving district from an economic standpoint - fear that those of Qijiang will take advantage of the situation weighing heavily on the overall budget and blocking the release of funds for public welfare from Beijing. This fear is unfounded: as explained by Professor Larry Lang [see: As China's govt cheats, its economy is "on the brink of bankruptcy", Chinese scholar says] provinces and districts can now only rely on their own income, since the central government is cheating on the accounts and risks implosion.
The mayor of Chongqing, Huang Qifan, visited the area several days ago and assured the government's commitment to "balance and coordinate" the development of rural and urban areas. In addition, the local government has issued a statement to "reassure the people" about pensions and the health care system, which "will continue as usual," and added that Wansheng "will continue to enjoy the usual policies in its favor".
