[Onthebarricades] CHINA: Unrest and protests, Dec/Jan 07-08

[Andy]

*  Man beaten to death by "enforcers" for filming protest
                Death leads to further protests, march on city hall
*  Shanghai "middle-class" residents protest magnetic train, allege noise, 
health problems
*  Collapse of ant aphrodisiac investments leads to mass protests in 
northern province, demand refund
*  Supermarket "riot" (stampede) as food prices soar; FAO chief "was right 
about food riots"
*  Tibet:  Hundreds protest for release of prisoners, destroy shops, state 
offices
*  Tibet:  exiles plan march from India to protest Beijing Olympics
*  Students at military academy revolt over worthless diplomas
*  Hong Kong:  protest over poll delay
*  Macau:  thousands march for democracy, against corruption
*  Macau:  "tourists riot over forced shopping" [one of those headlines you 
thought you'd never see]
*  Tibet/Australia:  protesters storm Chinese embassy in Tibet protest
*  Workers demonstrate at steel plant
*  China/US:  activists protest China olympic float over Falun Gong 
suppression, human rights abuses

http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,2238169,00.html

Chinese man killed after filming protest


David Stanway in Beijing
Thursday January 10, 2008
The Guardian

A man who used his mobile phone to film a violent clash between villagers 
and officials in rural China was beaten to death by public order 
"enforcers", Chinese state media reported yesterday, bringing more unwanted 
attention to the country's unruly hinterlands.

The People's Daily reported that 24 residents of Tianmen, a city in central 
China's Hubei province, have been detained after Wei Wenhua, the general 
manager of a company owned by the local water resources bureau, was pulled 
out of his car and savagely beaten.

Wei was driving through the area when he stopped to film the protests, which 
were triggered by a decision to build a rubbish tip close to a residential 
area.

It was not clear whether he stopped on impulse or deliberately set out to 
record the clashes, in which villagers faced about 50 local officials and 
enforcers known as chengguan. But when it became clear what he was doing, 
the chengguan turned on him. He tried to flee but was beaten for 10 minutes, 
witnesses said. Among those being questioned by police is a senior 
government official, the state news agency Xinhua said.

Witnesses also revealed that at least five other people were taken to 
hospital when the chengguan tried to put an end to an ugly confrontation 
that began at new year after the authorities reneged on a promise to shut 
down a rubbish tip built close to a residential area.

Normally hired by local authorities to enforce relocation orders, crack down 
on "antisocial" behaviour and disperse crowds, the role of the chengguan has 
aroused concern about the power and accountability of Chinese officialdom.

One indignant contributor to a local online discussion group said that they 
were "inhuman" and "out of control". Another, worried that the news will be 
suppressed by government censors, urged fellow internet users to spread the 
message as far as they could.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jIIdy5zxMVBl2M2k6Yu2H4DfR8tQD8U2DI0O0

Chinese Protest Beating Death

By AUDRA ANG - Jan 9, 2008

BEIJING (AP) - The beating death of a passer-by who filmed a streetside 
fracas between villagers and authorities touched off protests in central 
China, in the latest incident to underscore public anger over abusive 
treatment by government employees.

Residents angrily marched in front of city hall in Tianmen on Tuesday, 
demanding redress for the death of Wei Wenhua, a 41-year-old construction 
company executive, a relative and a company employee said Wednesday.

"This is a spontaneous demonstration," said Chen Junling, Wei's 
brother-in-law. "What we want is for the killers to be severely punished."

Chen said protesters numbered in the thousands - a figure that could not be 
independently verified - while a Communist Party official denied there were 
any demonstrations.

Police had detained four people and were investigating more than 100 in the 
killing, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. An autopsy was being 
conducted on Wei's body, Xinhua said.

The swift action reflected official concerns that such incidents could spill 
over into larger protests against authorities whose heavy-handed manner of 
dealing with civil disputes frequently arouses public anger.

On Monday, Wei stopped when he saw local villagers squaring off against 50 
urban administrative inspectors in Wanba, a village on the outskirts of 
Tianmen in Hubei province, his family and state media said.

The villagers were arguing with authorities over the dumping of garbage by 
city trucks near their homes. The dispute evolved into a scuffle when 
residents tried to prevent the trucks from unloading, which Wei captured on 
his phone, Xinhua said.

After Wei took out his cell phone to record the demonstration, officials 
turned on him, punching and attacking him for five minutes, Xinhua said. Wei 
was dead on arrival at a Tianmen hospital, the report said.

The officials allegedly involved in Wei's death were not police, but workers 
from the Tianmen urban administration bureau who are responsible for keeping 
streets orderly and making sure vendors are properly licensed.

A Tianmen government official who would give only his surname, Li, confirmed 
there had been protests Tuesday but refused to give any other details.

But Zhang Beiping, spokesman for the Tianmen Communist Party office, denied 
any demonstrations took place. He said police were investigating and already 
have detained culprits, though he declined to say how many or further 
identify them.

The passions unleashed by Wei's death, if left unchecked, could pose a 
problem for Chinese leaders, who have promised to deliver a more 
compassionate, law-abiding government.

In 2003, the public outcry after police in the southern city of Guangzhou 
fatally beat a 27-year-old college graduate for not carrying proper 
identification prompted China's premier to restrict police powers of 
detention.

In the central city of Zhengzhou last year, 1,000 college students scuffled 
with police and overturned cars after city inspectors beat a female student 
who had set up a street stall.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j98wxfo4uDB9-oWqDGlIwjZ5xrCgD8U5R6R80

Shanghai Residents Protest Maglev Train

By ELAINE KURTENBACH - 2 days ago

SHANGHAI, China (AP) - Protests by Shanghai residents angry over the 
proposed extension of a high-tech train line forced the government Monday to 
acknowledge widespread public concern, in the latest standoff between 
China's communist authorities and middle-class urban Chinese.

Hundreds of people defied bans on public demonstrations on Saturday and 
Sunday over the potential health risks of the showcase project. The crowds 
staged what they called "strolls" through a busy square and at a popular 
shopping street to protest extending the magnetic levitation train line.

"Oppose the maglev! Resist radiation! Save the children!" some in the crowd 
shouted, according to mobile phone videos posted on Chinese web sites and 
YouTube.

Though Shanghai authorities did not directly comment on the demonstrations, 
a statement the city government posted Monday on the Environment Bureau's 
Web site said it was gathering opinions on the extension and taking public 
concerns "very seriously."

The government spokesman's office struck a solicitous tone but also warned 
people against further protests.

"City planning and environmental departments are very cautious and take very 
seriously these concerns," the statement said, urging the public not to 
"disrupt social stability."

It was the second time in two years that the high-profile, costly 
German-made maglev has generated protests in Shanghai, China's commercial 
capital. And the government's response underscores how delicately 
authorities must tread in the face of Chinese who want a say in protecting 
the homes, jobs and other goods their rising living standards have afforded.

In June, thousands of protesters massed on the streets of another prosperous 
Chinese port city, Xiamen, forcing the government to delay construction of a 
$1.4 billion chemical plant. Like the Shanghai protesters this weekend, the 
Xiamen demonstrators organized by mobile phone text messages and put photos 
and video of the marches on the Internet.

"Before the Xiamen case, the general pattern was always that the big 
factory, or big road or big bridge would crush everything," said Ding 
Xueliang, a political analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International 
Peace in Beijing.

"Now, Shanghai residents have more confidence that their voices will be 
heard," he said.

Shanghai has the world's only commercially operating maglev, which uses 
powerful magnets to suspend the train above a track and propel it at high 
speeds of up to 280 mph. But the showcase project has struggled to prove its 
viability.

Opened in 2004, the line currently runs from Shanghai's Pudong International 
Airport 20 miles to a nondescript, out-of-the-way suburban subway stop. 
Plans to extend the line last year were shelved after residents mounted a 
letter-writing campaign and hung banners in opposition.

Revised plans to take the train line through different neighborhoods 18 
miles to the Hongqiao airport in Shanghai's western suburbs prompted the 
weekend protests.

Among the protesters were those who said their homes would be affected by 
supposed radiation from the maglev. It is unclear if this concern has any 
validity.

"We feel like we'd be living beside a big microwave oven," said a resident 
surnamed Tao whose apartment is 100 yards from the planned route.

"My wife and I are delaying our plans for having a child until after this 
problem is resolved," said Tao, who would not give his full name for fear of 
retaliation by authorities.

Several witnesses said some protesters were taken away by police on public 
buses. Government officials would not comment. Tao and others played down 
any confrontation.

"We tried our best to keep social order but we hope the government can hear 
our voices," said another resident, who would only give her surname, Song.

http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnPEK327579.html

Hundreds protest Shanghai maglev rail extension
Sat 12 Jan 2008, 11:08 GMT
[-] Text [+]

By Royston Chan and Sophie Taylor

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Hundreds of people marched through China's financial 
hub of Shanghai on Saturday protesting a planned extension of the city's 
magnetic levitation train, or "maglev", worried it would emit radiation and 
sicken them.

Police initially detained dozens of people, bundling them into waiting cars, 
vans and buses, as protesters gathered in front of city hall shouting "We 
don't want the maglev" and carrying placards reading: "No to maglev -- bad 
for health".


"We are afraid how the radiation will affect us. Why does the government not 
listen to our concerns?" said a protester surnamed Guan, adding the 
extension would pass within 100 metres (328 ft) of her house.

As police cordoned off the city government in People's Square, once home to 
a race track in Shanghai's colonial heyday, demonstrators took off down the 
fashionable Nanjing Road shopping area.

The protest was the largest the cosmopolitan and wealthy city has seen since 
thousands took to the streets in sometimes violent anti-Japanese 
demonstrations in 2005.

"I'm marching against the proposed line as it's too close to town. It's 
going to be noisy and emit pollution," said another protester, who would 
only give his family name, Liu.

"If you have a house near the line, you will not be able to sell it for as 
much money," he added.

Some demonstrators handed out anti-Nazi resistance poems in German, while 
others sang the Chinese national anthem.

In a prepared statement, a spokesman for the Shanghai city government said 
authorities had "persuaded" the protesters to disperse because they were 
affecting public order.

He said the government was still in the process of showing to the public a 
proposal for the maglev project, which would help to improve the transport 
system of the city and the whole country.

"We hope city residents will go through legal channels to express their 
opinions rationally, and not use methods that affect public order," he 
added.

The protest gradually dispersed peacefully under a light drizzle in the 
early evening. The police kept their distance as people left.

The country is grappling with an acknowledged rise in unrest, driven by 
anger at illegal land grabs, corruption, environmental woes and a rising 
rich-poor gap, though large scale protests in big cities are rare.

"Yes, it's an illegal protest. But we've been pushed into a corner," said 
another protester.

EXTENSION PLAN "SAFE"

China has the only commercial maglev in operation in the world, developed 
and built by the government and a German consortium including industrial 
giant Siemens.

Launched in 2003, the maglev floats on a magnetic cushion over a distance of 
30 kilometres between an outlying part of Shanghai's financial district in 
Pudong and the international airport.

The government wants to extend the train to downtown Shanghai, and then 
possibly to the nearby tourist city of Hangzhou.

An environmental assessment report released by the Shanghai Academy of 
Environmental Sciences this month, compiled for the government after 
complaints by city residents, declared the extension plan was safe.

The maglev line would not affect air and water quality, and noise pollution 
could be controlled, the official Xinhua news agency quoted the report as 
saying.

However, Xinhua also quoted the report as saying a greenbelt buffer zone 
around the track would only be 22.5 metres wide, though an original 
blueprint by the local government showed a buffer zone of 150 metres on 
either side, and German specifications required 300 metres on each side.

Authorities planned to limit the maximum speed along the Shanghai section of 
the route to 200 km per hour, about half of the maglev's speed on the 
existing section of track from the international airport, Xinhua said.

(Additional reporting by Andrew Torchia; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing 
by Sanjeev Miglani)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7188122.stm

Well-heeled protests hit Shanghai
By Quentin Sommerville
BBC News, Shanghai

China's new middle class usually tends to stay out of politics

Rarely have protests in China been so well organised, or the protesters so 
well-dressed.

The residents of Pingyang district, in the south of the city, say their 
health is at risk and their homes will become worthless if a planned 
extension to Shanghai's futuristic maglev railway goes ahead.

They are part of China's new middle class. Many of them bought their first 
homes here, capitalising on China's new economic freedoms.

The government is considering a 30km (19-mile) extension to its showpiece 
magnetic levitation train. The train, which floats on magnets, is the 
fastest commercial train service in the world, travelling at 430km/h 
(267mph).

But local residents along the route - including those in Pingyang - say the 
electro-magnetic field is dangerous and that their homes are now impossible 
to sell.

"Real estate agents won't come near now; we'll lose everything if this goes 
ahead," said one woman who did not wish to give her name for fear of 
official reprisal.

"We're prepared to take the risk, because our health, and a safe living 
environment, is more important," she said.

'White elephant'

The maglev is a controversial project.

The original $1.4bn (£715m) line runs from Shanghai's international airport 
to the outskirts of the city.

Shanghai protest broken up

Despite its incredible speed, it is poorly connected to the rest of the 
transport network and it is often quicker to travel by taxi than use the 
maglev.

Critics say the project is a white elephant and the government would be 
better spending its money on improving the city's ageing fleet of buses.

China is a country with little patience for dissent. But in a little over a 
week, Pingyang residents and their neighbours have marched through the city, 
chanting and waving slogans.

At the weekend many hundreds of them took their complaints to Shanghai's 
city hall - the seat of communist power.

Dragged and shoved

The largely middle class protesters are keen to downplay any political 
aspect of their defiance. They insist on calling their well-organised 
marches "going for a walk" events.

Protests in China usually come from the landless and the poor. It is rare 
for China's newly rich middle class to take to the streets. Many have struck 
a bargain: in exchange for their new wealth, they stay out of politics.

These protests are organised using email and text messages

Largely ignored by official state media, the protesters are using their 
sophisticated organisational skills to grab what attention they can.

Within minutes of our arrival in the neighbourhood, a couple of hundred 
people had gathered, marshalled by text message and email.

And although the "walks" are centred on a single issue, they are 
unmistakable acts of defiance.

On Saturday, dozens of demonstrators were detained by police. The next day 
others were dragged and shoved when they took their protest to a busy 
shopping street.

Residents in the areas affected by the planned extension complain that local 
officials and police are trying to intimidate them, and that the government 
has set up video cameras to monitor activities in their neighbourhood.

Boundaries tested

The protests are the biggest Shanghai has seen since the anti-Japanese 
protests of 2005.

Then, thousands of people, many of them students, demonstrated against 
Japan's perceived failure to apologise for its war record. However, those 
demonstrations, unlike the maglev protests, had tacit government approval.
             How can we go through official channels? There is no proper 
process
Protester

Around the Pingyang neighbourhood, police had come and removed their 
anti-maglev banners, replacing them with official looking slogans that 
instructed them to make their protests "through proper channels".

But China is a country where laws are still being written and where there 
are few checks and balances against the authoritarian rule of the Communist 
Party.

People have gained greater economic freedom under the government's opening 
up process, but they don't have the political and legal rights to match.

"The email address they have given us isn't even a government address, it's 
a private email. So how can we go through official channels? There is no 
proper process," explained one man.

Others complained that the consultation period for the train line had been 
too short or lacked transparency.

The government says it will meet representatives from the neighbourhoods and 
that a final decision has yet to be taken on the project. As well as the 
email address, it has also set up a hotline to listen to people's 
complaints.

Protesters' victory

The Shanghai protesters have taken comfort from other public protests in 
China. Last June, protests in Xiamen, Fujian province, are believed to have 
led the local government to drop plans to build a chemical plant, because of 
health risks.

The Xiamen decision has been hailed as a victory for people power in China 
and has featured widely in state media.

The local residents in Pingyang are putting their faith in this new 
"listening communism" - one that promises to be more responsive and less 
corrupt by paying attention to people's complaints.

"We love our government, we just want them to listen, and we'll keep 
marching until they do," a local resident said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/14/2137502.htm?section=justin

Chinese police break up high-speed train protest

Posted Mon Jan 14, 2008 7:40am AEDT

Police in the Chinese city of Shanghai have broken up a second day of 
protests against a planned extension to a high-speed train service.

Shanghai's police dragged and shoved dozens of protesters who had come to 
complain about a planned extension to the city's high-speed maglev train 
line.

The train line is the world's fastest and a show piece for the city.

It runs at 430 kilometres per hour and floats on electric magnets.

The protesters are worried that the new line will run too close to their 
homes.

They say it poses a health risk and will cause property prices to fall.

-BBC

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=4d3224c6-07bd-4b36-aae7-590d2b23ca1a&k=24219

Magnetic train plans attract Shanghai protest
Aileen McCabe - Asia Correspondent ,  Canwest News Service
Published: Monday, January 14, 2008

SHANGHAI - Rare public demonstrations over the weekend in China's financial 
hub may actually make a difference to the proposed route of the high-speed 
maglev train through the heart of this city.

A statement on the Shanghai government's Environment Bureau's website Monday 
gave a phone number and e-mail address for residents along the route to send 
their "proposals and opinions" about the project.

It said the city was taking their concerns "very seriously."

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The weekend protests were on a scale not seen in Shanghai in more than a 
decade. Saturday's march by hundreds of people who live along the proposed 
route proceeded relatively peaceably, although police briefly detained some 
demonstrators. Sunday, however, the security forces were ready for the 
smaller crowd that turned out and did their best to contain and disperse 
them quickly - successfully breaking up the demonstration.

Residents along the 32-kilometre route proposed for the magnetic levitation 
train, or maglev, from Pudong to Hongqiao, Shanghai's inner city airport, 
are concerned about the environmental impact of the 400-km/h cars running by 
their doors, not to mention the impact it will have on house values.

Chinese media managed to mostly ignore the protests, despite the fact 
several hundred decidedly middle-class residents took to the streets of 
central Shanghai on Saturday and Sunday to protest the planned extension 
route.

The Southern Metropolitan Daily, based in nearby Guangzhou, dared to mention 
the marches, but said residents who lived along the planned maglev route 
went "shopping" on trendy Nanjing Road on Sunday after going for "a walk" in 
central People's Square on Saturday.

It quoted one of the "shoppers," Daniel Zhang, saying: "This is a way of 
expressing opinions."

The initial leg of the maglev already runs 30 kilometres towards town from 
Pudong International Airport, but most of the area it passes through is 
former farmland rapidly being redeveloped into industrial parks.

The Shanghai government opened a token consultation process for the 
extension project on Dec. 29, but the map it posted on official websites was 
far from precise and people from all over the area were forced to scramble 
for information. In the end, residents of nearly 40 neighbourhoods joined in 
the weekend protests and called for consultation on the route to continue 
beyond this Friday's cut-off.

Protests are not unheard of in China, although the government does its best 
to suppress news of them. In 2005, there were "officially" 87,000 "mass 
incidents across the country and, in 2006, the government said the number 
declined by 16.5 per cent, without giving an exact figure. The numbers for 
2007 have not been released yet.

A high percentage of these protests involve China's impoverished 
underclasses, demonstrating against working conditions, and they take place 
far from the big cities that are the motor of the "new China."

The maglev protest is quite different, however, more akin to the 
demonstrations last spring in the seaport city of Xiamen, in southeastern 
Fujian Province.

There, thousands of relatively well-off citizens came out to try to block a 
huge chemical plant slated for construction in a city suburb. The novelty of 
their action was not only that they weren't poor and uneducated, but that 
their tactics appear to have worked.

The chemical plant has not been officially cancelled yet, but during two 
days of hearing late last year that were widely reported in the local media, 
residents opposed to the plant were allowed to voice their concerns 
publicly.

With file from Jessie Zhao

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSSP70669

Thousands protest over China ant aphrodisiac scheme
Wed Nov 21, 2007 6:53am EST
(Adds byline and details, quotes in paragraphs 7-9, 13, 21)

By Chris Buckley

BEIJING, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Thousands of people in northeastern China have 
protested on the streets and surrounded government offices demanding help 
recovering money from a get-rich-quick scheme to raise ants to make an 
aphrodisiac tonic.

Hundreds of anti-riot troops and police in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning 
province, were deployed to stop protesters reaching the provincial 
government and Communist Party headquarters, residents said on Wednesday.

The irate investors from across Liaoning, a rustbelt province striving to 
attract investment, have demonstrated in Shenyang since Monday and sporadic 
clashes with police have broken out, they said.

Several thousand protesters gathered near the provincial government offices 
on Wednesday, a resident told Reuters by telephone.

The investors -- many of them laid-off workers or farmers -- put their 
savings into Shenyang's Yilishen Group for a scheme in which they raised 
ants to provide ingredients for a health tonic promising an aphrodisiac 
boost.

For every 10,000 yuan ($1,350) they paid the company as "deposit", investors 
were promised a dividend of 3,250 yuan.

The tonic was promoted on television by Zhao Benshan, the country's 
best-known comic who specialises in playing innocent bumpkins with a 
northeastern twang.

But since October, the group has twice delayed payment of dividends, 
fuelling investor fears that it was on the brink of bankruptcy or that the 
government might have frozen its funds.

"We strongly demand the government offer a way out for Yilishen!" read a 
banner held by protesters as they marched along a Shenyang street. A photo 
of the banner was posted on Internet and blog sites.

China has seen rising protests from farmers and disgruntled workers as 
inequality and corruption stoke popular resentment

The unusual origin of this latest uproar was a reminder that even as China's 
economy booms, there are pitfalls that can spark discontent from citizens 
eager for a share of wealth.

Chinese media have said the scheme collected more than 10 billion yuan from 
hundreds of thousands of Liaoning residents.

USELESS RUSE?

Some local reports have said the ants were a useless ruse for an illegal 
scam, but the group has survived several probes in the past eight years and 
investors had previously received their dividends on time, protesters said.

As they looked for reassurance, panicked investors have turned their ire on 
the government.

"If Yilishen goes bankrupt, the government will be the chief culprit," said 
a message that appeared briefly on domestic Chinese Web sites before it was 
removed. "The government will be drinking our blood."

A Shenyang resident told Reuters that about 1,000 people had collected in 
front of the company's head office on Wednesday. Repeated calls to the 
office by Reuters went unanswered.

Investors said the group's good relations with the government and its 
commercials on state television had convinced them Yilishen was legitimate.

"It has been out there for eight years and the government has given the 
company and the manager so many honours. We thought there mustn't be any 
problem," investor Li Dechun told Reuters.

He said he had poured more than 200,000 yuan into the scheme.

A spokesman for the Liaoning provincial government said officials had been 
talking to the protesters, and the company's failure to pay dividends was 
not due to any government action.

"Most of the investors are from the lower class of society. Some have 
threatened to take more radical actions, such as blocking trains at the 
railway station," a local resident surnamed Cong told Reuters.

Online discussions about the protests and the ant scheme were quickly 
removed from Web sites, as were recent news reports about Yilishen. The 
Group's Web site was also shut, announcing "service unavailable". (Reporting 
by Beijing office, editing by Nick Macfie and Roger Crabb)

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-30636220071122

Passions cool after China ant aphrodisiac protest
Thu Nov 22, 2007 2:29pm IST

BEIJING (Reuters) - Tensions have eased after thousands of people in 
northeast China besieged government offices demanding help to get their 
money back from a get-rich-quick scheme to raise ants to make an aphrodisiac 
tonic.
Several thousand irate investors from across Liaoning, a rustbelt province 
striving to attract investment, demonstrated on the streets and surrounded 
the provincial government offices in the capital city Shenyang on Wednesday.
"The provincial government has paid great attention to this situation," 
Zhang Yunqiang, propaganda director of the Liaoning provincial government, 
told Reuters. "The besieging of the office has gradually eased."
The investors -- many of them laid-off workers or farmers -- put their 
savings into Shenyang's Yilishen Group for a scheme in which they raised 
ants to provide ingredients for a health tonic promising an aphrodisiac 
boost.
For every 10,000 yuan ($1,350) they paid the company as "deposit", investors 
were promised a dividend of 3,250 yuan.
But since October, the group has twice delayed payment of dividends, 
fuelling investor fears that it was on the brink of bankruptcy or that the 
government might have frozen its funds.
"Due to internal operational reasons, the group delayed payment of dividends 
twice, and the third delay on Tuesday caused discontent among the 
investors," Zhang said.
He did not mention anything about funds being frozen.
The group was not available for comment.
"The Yilishen Group is a private enterprise, and it takes full 
responsibility for its own profits and losses."
Chinese media have said the scheme collected more than 10 billion yuan from 
hundreds of thousands of Liaoning residents. Some reports said the ants were 
a useless ruse for an illegal fund-raising scam.
"The provincial government has no right to determine the nature of this 
scheme," Zhang said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/25/wants125.xml

Chinese protest at squashed ant investments

By Richard Spencer in Beijing
Last Updated: 1:44am GMT 26/11/2007

Pensioners and workers have been staging protests outside a company which 
offered shares in giant ants in the latest example of the effects of China's 
lopsided economic growth on ordinary people.
The protesters had invested savings in a scheme that was intended to make an 
aphrodisiac tonic out of the ants. Some also paid to become ''ant farmers'', 
being given equipment selling on the ants as they grew.
In common with a raft of similar schemes which have grown up in the last two 
decades of economic reform, several based on pyramid-selling techniques, 
investors were promised their money would grow dramatically in value. Such 
offers are tempting, particularly to small investors.
With banks offering tiny interest rates for China's glut of personal 
savings, and investing abroad not allowed for most people, pensions have 
gone into property speculation, the highly volatile stock market, and in 
many cases small companies relying on local appeal.
The latest case saw thousands of people, many laid-off factory workers, 
surround company and local government offices in Shenyang, the capital of 
Liaoning province in China's north-east, on several occasions last week.
They were demanding compensation for money invested in Yilishen Group, which 
had promised a 30 per cent dividend on every deposit of 10,000 yuan (pounds 
650). The tonic was promoted in advertising campaigns by a leading comic, 
Zhao Benshan, whose on-screen persona is of a ''Mr Ordinary'' with a 
north-east Chinese accent.
The company made little secret of its good connections with local 
government, which to many investors is an important guarantee of 
reliability.
The company, which is rumoured to have collected ten billion yuan (pounds 
650 million) in investments, started holding back dividends in October, 
leading to fears it might be in financial or legal trouble. Its main product 
had been banned from sale in the United States, as it contained the active 
ingredient in Viagra while being sold as a health supplement rather than a 
drug.
Posters visible in photographs published on the internet demanded the 
government intervene to rescue Yilishen and guarantee investors' savings.
There is still no confirmation that the police are investigating this latest 
scheme, though a provincial government spokesman said: ''The government has 
paid great attention to this situation, and will take appropriate measures 
within the framework of the law.''
But there is a precedent for aggressive government intervention. A 
businessman was sentenced to death last year for swindling investors out of 
£200 billion in a similar giant ant scam.

http://www.dailyreckoning.co.uk/article/chinesesupermarketriotasfoodinflationhits1760617.html

Chinese Supermarket Riot As Food Inflation Hits 17.6%
Officially, prices are rising at a 6.5% annual rate in China. Even at the 
official rate, the Chinese have not seen so much inflation in nearly 11 
years. But food is rising faster at a 17.6% rate. "This past Saturday in 
Chongqing", reports the New York Times, "people began lining up before dawn 
when a Carrefour store offered a discount on large jugs of cooking oil, an 
essential for a lot of Chinese cooking. When the doors opened, a stampede 
ensued, killing 3 people and injuring 31. China's commerce ministry 
responded on Monday by ordering a ban on limited-time sales promotions."
Bill Bonner - Other articles
Thu 15 Nov, 2007
Inflation is not supposed to be a problem. If it is not under house arrest 
it is at least wearing an ankle bracelet. But there is growing evidence that 
it is on the loose.

As to why it is supposed to be under control, the usual explanation is that 
the entry of Asia into the world economy has reduced labour costs. Since 
labour is such a big part of both manufactured goods and services, it is 
reasonable to think that lower wages will lead to lower prices.

As to why inflation may now be at large, we offer the following: the Asians 
have to eat too.

Wages in mainland China are said to be going up at nearly 20% per year. In 
other words, the cheap labour is not as cheap as it once was.and getting 
more expensive each year. And now that these wage-earners are coming up in 
the world, they want a little more meat in their soup.

Money, as we all knows, practically grows on trees. But food does not. 
(Readers can try to fix that metaphor on their own time.) And putting more 
Asians to work does not automatically increase the supply of farmland.or 
what grows on top of it.or what lies underneath of it. So, what we've been 
seeing is just what you'd expect. While increased industrial output has 
managed to hold prices down for manufactured goods, the rising supply of 
money has forced up prices for things that don't come out of factories. 
Gold, contemporary art, land, and cooking oil come to mind.

Cooking oil comes to mind because it was in the news this week:

".this past Saturday in Chongqing," reports the New York Times, "people 
began lining up before dawn when a Carrefour store offered a discount on 
large jugs of cooking oil, an essential for a lot of Chinese cooking. When 
the doors opened, a stampede ensued, killing 3 people and injuring 31. China's 
commerce ministry responded on Monday by ordering a ban on limited-time 
sales promotions."

Officially, prices are rising at a 6.5% annual rate in China. Even at the 
official rate, the Chinese have not seen so much inflation in nearly 11 
years. But food is rising faster.at a 17.6% rate. This is a big problem in 
China. Because people don't earn much money; they have to spend a lot of it 
on food. That's why people got killed trying to get a good deal on cooking 
oil.

We recall that Jacques Diouf, director general of the UN's Food and 
Agriculture Organisation had predicted only weeks ago: "If prices continue 
to rise, I would not be surprised if we began to see food riots."

Well, there you are, Mr. Diouf. You were right.

Meanwhile, let us turn back to the big picture.

"The mortgage black hole is, I think, worse than anyone saw," said Tony 
James, president of Blackstone, the big private equity firm. "Deeper, 
darker, scarier. [The banks] are now looking at new reserves and my sense . 
. . is they don't have a clear picture of how this will play out and 
confidence is low."

It looks to us as if there has been a big sea change in the world's markets. 
Yesterday brought more evidence..

Housing prices in Southern California have now fallen back far enough to 
erase the last 2½ years of gains, says the LA Times.

In Atlanta, 5,244 houses on going on the auction block next month.already, 
53,365 houses have been auctioned this year.a total that is rising at about 
36% per year.
And the Chicago Tribune reports on a study by the Center for Responsible 
Lending that predicts a "foreclosure hit" equal to $223 billion.

A hundred billion here.a hundred billion there.pretty soon you're talking 
real money.

Americans are the world's biggest spenders - with a 20% share of total 
global consumption. They are the world's biggest users of oil. They are also 
the most indebted people in the world. And now, Americans are running out of 
money.  Their houses are sinking in value. Their wages are stagnant or 
falling. Their dollar is so depressed it can't get out of bed in the 
morning.

Again, yesterday, the buck took a beating. When is it going to get a break?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7118960.stm

Last Updated: Thursday, 29 November 2007, 14:48 GMT

E-mail this to a friend Printable version

Chinese media reports Tibet riot

Chinese state media has carried a rare report of disturbances in Tibet.
Almost 200 people were involved in a riot following an argument between 
Buddhist monks and a local shopkeeper, Xinhua news agency said.
Shops and government offices were reportedly destroyed in the riot, which 
took place more than a week ago.
The agency said two Buddhist monks had been among seven people arrested. 
Xinhua gave no reason for the delay in reporting the riot.
'Ethnic tensions'
The two monks were accused of robbing a Chinese-run motorcycle maintenance 
shop on 19 November in the town of Paingar, about 300km (190 miles) 
north-east of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, Xinhua reported.
Five other people were arrested for "fanning the riot" the day after the 
monks' arrest.
About 190 people, including monks, gathered outside local government 
headquarters to demand the release of those arrested.
The crowd then "destroyed shops and government facilities", Xinhua said.
The agency reported that crowds had been "persuaded to return home later the 
same day by government workers".
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told Reuters news agency 
that that the situation in Tibet was now stable.
"Anyone who tries to disrupt Tibet's stability and development will not have 
the support of the people and will not succeed," he said.
Analysts say a growing population of Chinese settlers in Tibet has resulted 
in increased ethnic tensions in the province.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-tibet4dec04,1,7443856.story?coll=la-headlines-world&ctrack=1&cset=true

Riot, arrests reported in Tibet

'The local social order is stable,' the official New China News Agency says. 
It's unclear whether incidents of unrest are on the rise.
By John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 4, 2007
BEIJING -- Protesters in Chinese-controlled Tibet were arrested during a 
riot that erupted after two Buddhist monks were taken into police custody, 
according to the government's news agency.

The monks were arrested after a dispute with a shopkeeper, and the 
subsequent unrest triggered a crackdown, according to the New China News 
Agency.

The incident occurred in mid-November but was only recently reported in 
China. The news agency gave no reason for the delay but stressed that "the 
local social order is stable," citing statements by local government 
officials.

Activists say the incident signals an upsurge in protests by the Tibetan 
majority against the Chinese military's presence in the Himalayan region.

"It doesn't take much to spark things right now," said Brad Adams, the Asia 
director for Human Rights Watch. "There's a sense that the Chinese are being 
heavy-handed on a whole range of issues."

Adams said it was unclear whether there was an increase in civil 
disobedience in Tibet or whether efforts to get news of such events to the 
outside world were more successful. "Even the people who know the most about 
Tibet aren't sure," he said.

Tibetans in exile with ties to the Dalai Lama say China is trying to keep 
Tibet under tight control in the months leading up to the 2008 Summer 
Olympics in Beijing.

"If they want to improve their image for the Olympics, they can allow free 
media access," said Tsering Tashi, a London-based representative of the 
Dalai Lama at the Office of Tibet, a group that considers itself the 
government in exile.

A group called Friends of Tibet said the Chinese had recently restricted 
travel among Tibetans in response to the protests.

"The Chinese government is restraining travel because they fear Tibetans 
will spread the message of these protests to different places," said Tenzin 
Tsundue, a Tibetan writer and member of Friends of Tibet who lives in India.

Tibetans have demanded more human rights as well as the return of the Dalai 
Lama, their spiritual leader, who fled into exile 48 years ago after a 
failed uprising against Chinese rule.

Tibet had de facto independence from the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911 
until the arrival of Chinese communist troops in 1951.

A Tibetan exile in India with family near the remote village of Paingar --  
pronounced Palkar by Tibetans -- said that the two monks, both about 16, 
quarreled with the Chinese shopkeeper Nov. 19 and were beaten by the 
merchant. They were later arrested.

Neither the exile nor the news agency described the nature of the quarrel, 
which seemed to suggest tensions between ethnic Tibetans and ethnic Chinese.

The exile, who is a member of Friends of Tibet, said that more than 1,000 
people showed up at police headquarters the next day and demanded the monks' 
release.

Troops dispatched from Lhasa, 190 miles away, used force to disband the 
protesters, said the exile, who asked that his name not be used.

According to the New China News Agency, 200 people, including some monks, 
"destroyed shops and government facilities."

The news agency said five people were arrested for "fanning the riot."

Crowds were "persuaded" to return home as authorities sought a third monk 
for questioning, the news agency said.

Activists said the riots followed other incidents deemed politically 
sensitive by the Chinese government that had received attention in the 
Western media.

In February, more than 30 Tibetans were sent to a labor camp after their 
attempt to flee their homeland across the Himalayas failed. Chinese border 
guards fired on and killed several members of the unarmed group, according 
to a survivor.

In August, a nomad named Runggye Adak walked onstage at a horse-racing 
festival in a Tibetan area of Sichuan province and, as dumbfounded Chinese 
dignitaries looked on, led the Tibetan crowd in chants calling for the 
return of the Dalai Lama.

He was arrested after a series of riots and sentenced to eight years in 
prison, according to Chinese news services.

The protests also have spread outside Tibet. In October, two dozen Tibetan 
activists living in exile in India broke through the gates of the Chinese 
Embassy and painted "Free Tibet" on the building walls before being 
arrested.

Activists say Tibetans also have turned to an unusual strategy: In October, 
when the Dalai Lama was honored by Congress in Washington, Tibetans lighted 
firecrackers and burned incense in celebration as monks whitewashed the 
walls of several monasteries in honor of the Nobel Peace Prize winner.

"People are performing simple cultural gestures without making political 
statements," Tsundue said. "The Chinese have responded by trying to stop all 
fires, even garbage-burning. It's paranoia."

Tashi said the Chinese acknowledged the Paingar riots only because of fears 
the outside world would learn the news anyway.

"Protests are always suppressed, but the word gets out from tourists or 
others who escape Tibet," he said. "The outside world comes to know. Then 
the Chinese are forced to make a comment."

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/01/04/asia/AS-GEN-India-Tibet-Olympics.php

Tibetan exiles plan to march from India into Tibet to protest Beijing 
Olympics

The Associated Press
Published: January 4, 2008

NEW DELHI: Hundreds of Tibetan exiles plan to march from India to Tibet to 
protest China's hosting of the Olympic Games, an exile group said Friday.

The protest is one of a series in India against the Aug. 8-24 Beijing Games, 
which the Tibetan exiles say comes despite China's continued attempts to 
subvert Tibetan Buddhist culture and strengthen Beijing's hold on the 
Himalayan region.

"The march to Tibet is an initiative by exiled Tibetans to strengthen 
Tibetan resistance by taking the struggle home," said Tsewang Rigzin, 
president of the Tibetan Youth Congress.

India has been a center for the Tibetan exiles since the Tibetan Buddhist 
spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fled to there in 1959 after a failed 
uprising and set up his government in exile in the northern town of 
Dharmsala.

Rigzin said hundreds of members of his organization would depart from 
Dharmsala on March 10, the day Tibetans commemorate the uprising, and try 
and walk to the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.

He declined to give further details on the march, including the route they 
planned to take.

It was also unclear what sort of reception the marchers would receive from 
the Chinese authorities.

"The Chinese have said in the past that Tibetans are welcome to return home, 
so we are going to test that," Rigzin said.

The Tibetan Youth Congress, which takes a more radical line in its protests 
against China than the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Government in Exile, said it 
had not consulted the Dalai Lama over the protests.

The group called on all Tibetans to use peaceful means to protest the Games 
and Chinese plans to have the Olympic torch carried through Tibet.

http://chronicle.com/news/article/3527/angry-students-riot-in-china

November 30, 2007
Angry Students Riot in China
Beijing - Thousands of students at a Chinese military academy rioted this 
week after learning that the government would not recognize their diplomas, 
Radio Free Asia reported on Thursday.
The students were all enrolled at the Hefei People's Liberation Army 
Artillery Academy, in China's Anhui province, but as self-financing 
"contract students" with no military status. They became upset after hearing 
this week that their diplomas would not be recognized, despite their paying 
higher than normal university fees and more than their classmates with 
military status.
China has experienced an increasingly competitive job market in recent years 
as a result of rapid growth in the number of students going to college. 
Major universities around the country have set up subsidiary programs at 
smaller colleges, offering students who fail in the competitive university 
exam a back-door way of obtaining a big-name degree. But the central 
government has begun to shut down such programs, leaving many students 
empty-handed upon graduation.
The radio station said the rioting began on Wednesday and then worsened the 
next day. Windows were smashed, and classes had to be canceled. One 
photograph posted online showed the electric gate at the main entrance of 
the university completely turned over on its side.
"The students rioted because they are angry that their diplomas are fake," a 
student surnamed Peng told Radio Free Asia, estimating that 6,000 to 7,000 
self-financed students had joined the rioting. "The school sent military 
personnel to mediate. The students beat them and drove them away - even the 
military officers. Everyone is like an angry lion now."
Phone calls to several dormitories went unanswered throughout Friday, an 
indication that some of the students involved in the rioting had fled the 
campus.
Students and their relatives were active on the Internet, though, posting 
complaints about the program. The uncle of one student said his family had 
paid 9,650 yuan - or $1,300 - to a middleman to get his nephew accepted, 
29,200 more yuan to the university, and then 8,800 a year in tuition. "But 
in the end all he got was a worthless piece of paper," he said. -Paul Mooney

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b70f8300-c210-11dc-8fba-0000779fd2ac.html

Protest at Hong Kong poll delay
By Tom Mitchell in Hong Kong
Published: January 13 2008 20:01 | Last updated: January 13 2008 20:01
Democracy activists in Hong Kong on Sunday held their second mass rally in 
less than a month to protest at Beijing's recent decision to delay direct 
elections for the territory's chief executive until at least 2017.
Organisers said more than 20,000 people marched to Hong Kong government 
headquarters, while police put the number of participants at 7,000.
Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp wants direct elections to be held for the 
chief executive, who is currently selected by an 800-member rubber-stamp 
"election committee", and all 60 seats in the territory's legislature in 
2012.
"We are caught between a rock and a hard place," said Fernando Cheung, a 
pro-democracy legislator and member of the Civic party. "Reality tells us 
there won't be direct elections [for the chief executive] until 2017, but I 
don't think we can accept that."

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-31064820071220

Thousands march in Macau for democracy, clean govt
Thu Dec 20, 2007 4:33pm IST
 By James Pomfret
MACAU (Reuters) - More than 1,000 people marched through Macau streets on 
Thursday demanding an end to corruption and calling for greater democracy at 
a time of mounting tensions and social inequalities in the gambling haven.
"Fight for democracy. Protect our livelihood," shouted the protesters, who 
brandished banners and shouted slogans denouncing what they called the 
authorities' poor and opaque governance of the former Portuguese enclave.
The rally marked the eighth anniversary of Macau's reversion to Chinese 
rule, and came as the city of about 500,000 grapples with a raft of 
challenges that have accompanied an unprecedented boom in its casino 
industry.
Earlier in the day, Macau Chief Executive Edmund Ho presided over a 
flag-raising ceremony to mark the anniversary.
Macau's rich-poor divide has widened in recent years, and the city's biggest 
ever corruption trial, involving former secretary for transport and public 
works, Ao Man-long, has rekindled worries about endemic graft.
"Do you think Ao Man-long is the only corrupt official in Macau?" opposition 
legislator Au Kam-san shouted through a loudhailer. The protesters yelled 
back "No".
Since 2002, Macau has flung open its doors to Western gaming giants such as 
Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts and MGM Mirage, which opened a 600-room joint 
venture gambling hotel in Macau earlier this week.
To feed the construction and hiring boom, Macau has had to import workers, 
and the marchers on Thursday protested what they called an influx of illegal 
labourers
Police blocked off roads and kept close tabs on the protesters as they 
snaked their way for several kilometers through Macau's narrow streets.
Earlier this year, during a May Day protest, a policeman fired warning shots 
into the air as riot squads struggled to disperse crowds demanding labour 
rights and an end to corruption. One bullet struck a motorcyclist in the 
neck several blocks away.
Thursday's rally included labour unionists, members of professional and 
political groups, and ordinary residents.
"There are old ladies in Macau who push around rubbish for nothing. Now that 
the government has money, why can't it help the poor? It's inexcusable," 
said Mike Tam, 24, who turned up with a group of friends.

Macau reverted to Beijing rule in 1999, ending centuries of Portuguese 
control, two years after the next-door former British colony of Hong Kong 
was handed back to China.

Thursday's rally was not as large or as heated as some of the previous 
demonstrations in Macau over the past year, but some observers said it 
showed that social disharmony was now spreading into middle-income homes.

"More and more people are more concerned that the governance in Macau is not 
very ideal, not very transparent and not fair to the people, especially the 
grassroots," said Larry So, a Macau-based social commentator.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22875490-401,00.htm

Tourists riot over forced shopping
>From correspondents in Hong Kong
December 05, 2007 04:33pm
Article from: Reuters
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MACAU riot police were called in to calm down 120 angry Chinese tourists on 
a wind-swept beach who had protested angrily to tour guides over an 
itinerary too packed with shopping.
Around two dozen police with batons and riot shields faced off with the 
tourists from China's Hubei province for nearly five hours yesterday night 
in the booming casino enclave of Macau, Hong Kong cable television and the 
Apple Daily newspaper said.
The tourists, pushing and struggling with policemen who detained two men and 
a three women, protested that the tour guides had taken them to too many 
shops and pressured them into buying things.
The argument erupted after the tour guides took the group to the beach, and 
the tourists, complaining of cold, could not reboard their four locked 
coaches, the Apple Daily reported.
Police arrived on the scene and called for reinforcements, and the stand-off 
ended when the tourists were persuaded to go to a hotel.
Macau, the only place in gambling-mad China where casinos are legal, has 
seen annual visitor arrivals double since 2003, when the Chinese government 
began to loosen restrictions on individual travel.
Some 22m people visited the former Portuguese-run enclave last year.
Since a gaming monopoly expired in 2002, US gaming firms including Las Vegas 
Sands and Wynn Resorts plus the James Packer owned Crown have rushed in to 
set up giant casinos, with Las Vegas-style shopping arcades and 
entertainment complexes attached.
But some analysts doubt the extra attractions will catch on with Chinese 
visitors, who like to gamble solidly night and day.

http://africa.reuters.com/odd/news/usnPEK371608.html

Chinese protest over shop-till-you-drop Macau tour
Wed 5 Dec 2007, 4:14 GMT
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Macau riot police were called in to calm down 120 
angry Chinese tourists on a wind-swept beach who had protested angrily to 
tour guides over an itinerary too packed with shopping.
Around two dozen police with batons and riot shields faced off with the 
tourists from China's Hubei province for nearly five hours on Tuesday night 
in the booming casino enclave of Macau, Hong Kong cable television and the 
Apple Daily newspaper said.
The tourists, pushing and struggling with policemen who detained two men and 
a three women, protested that the tour guides had taken them to too many 
shops and pressured them into buying things.
The argument erupted after the tour guides took the group to the beach, and 
the tourists, complaining of cold, could not reboard their four locked 
coaches, the Apple Daily reported. Police arrived on the scene and called 
for reinforcements, and the stand-off ended when the tourists were persuaded 
to go to a hotel.
Macau, the only place in gambling-mad China where casinos are legal, has 
seen annual visitor arrivals double since 2003, when the Chinese government 
began to loosen restrictions on individual travel. Some 22 million people 
visited the former Portuguese-run enclave last year.
Since a gaming monopoly expired in 2002, U.S. gaming firms including Las 
Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts have rushed in to set up giant casinos, with 
Las Vegas-style shopping arcades and entertainment complexes attached.
But some analysts doubt the extra attractions will catch on with Chinese 
visitors, who like to gamble solidly night and day.
(Reporting by Dominic Whiting, editing by Nick Macfie)

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7009365922

Riot Police Called In To Calm Down Tourists Held Against Their Will By Tour 
Guides
December 5, 2007 12:35 p.m. EST
Joseph Dela Cruz - AHN News Writer
Macau, China (AHN) - Around 20 riot police were summoned to help pacify 
angry tourists in Macau, China who claimed they were being forced into 
shopping by being led to shops instead of being shown the country's cultural 
heritage.
The tourists complained their guides were pressuring them to buy foods and 
other goodies instead of showing them more of the former Portuguese colony's 
historic sites.
However, a melee was almost triggered when arriving at a windy beach, they 
were not allowed to get on board their bus to get warm clothing.
Armed with riot shields and batons, the police quelled the five-hour 
standoff with 100 tourists in the newly-recognized gambling haven in Asia, 
arresting at least four of the tourists in the process.
"Some tourists refused to let some of our colleagues go and attempted to use 
violence," one of the police officers said.

http://livenews.com.au/Articles/2007/12/10/EXCLUSIVE_VISION_Chinese_embassy_protest_turns_nasty

EXCLUSIVE VISION: Chinese embassy protest flares up

John Barrington & AAP
10/12/2007 6:54:00 PM.
VIDEO: EXCLUSIVE: Storming the gates

Protesters have charged the gates of the Chinese Embassy in Canberra during 
a Human Rights Day rally.

What started as a noisy but peaceful demonstration quickly turned into a 
scuffle with police, when a young man brandishing a Tibetan flag attempted 
to leap the fence.

A crowd of people, including women and children, let their emotions and 
passions go, many throwing placards and flags and screaming at the embassy 
to stop the persecution of Tibetans.

Police and fellow protesters managed to calm the scene and no arrests were 
made.

One protester who was restrained by police, Pentap Dugeak, 26, said 
temperatures rose after the security guard at the embassy refused to take 
the letter.

"The emotion ran really high and a lot of Tibetans wanted to pass the 
message directly to the embassy staff about what's happening in Tibet," he 
said.

"The Chinese government don't have the guts to listen to one of the most 
peaceful people and I think a lot of young Tibetans nowadays across the 
globe are trying to tell the Chinese government to resolve the Tibet issue."

About 200 people from the Australian Tibetan community had met outside the 
embassy this morning to call on the federal government to stand up to China 
over its human rights record.

Protest organiser Tsewang Thupten said China continued to impose policies 
that were destructive towards the culture, environment and economy of Tibet, 
which it occupied in 1951.

"We need to draw attention to the fact that the Chinese government for over 
50 years has been relentlessly pursuing a policy of cultural genocide and 
repression of the rights of the Tibetan people under the illegal 
occupation," Mr Thupten said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSPEK6549120071211

Sinopec workers stage pay protest at China plant
Tue Dec 11, 2007 2:44am EST

By Chen Aizhu

BEIJING (Reuters) - Hundreds of workers demonstrated over pay for nearly a 
week at an eastern China refinery owned by Sinopec Corp, in a rare display 
of protest in the Communist country.

Workers at the Qilu Petrochemical Corp in Shandong province staged peaceful 
protests from early last week outside the firm's management building, but 
the management persuaded them to disperse on Monday, sources at the Qilu 
plant told Reuters.

The workers demanded higher pay amid rising inflation and record oil firm 
profits, company sources said.

Beijing has been increasingly concerned about the widening wealth gap and 
possible social unrest this can cause as its economy gallops ahead.

China is in the grip of decade-high inflation driven by higher food prices, 
and while this may have led to sometimes deadly stampedes in shopping 
centers, protests by workers are not common as unions are controlled by the 
Communist Party.

"The protest started with the front-line workers who are having a very 
difficult life now, as pay increases very slowly but prices of everything 
rise so fast," said one source working at the plant, who had witnessed the 
protests but not taken part.

"For a family of three with only one bread earner it is extremely tough," 
said a second source at the plant.

It was not immediately known if workers' requests were met, they said.

The protest gathered steam late last week when disgruntled former workers 
who had been laid off around 2001, when Beijing partially privatized the 
state oil firm, joined the demonstration.

Hong Kong's Ming Pao newspaper reported on Tuesday that some demonstrators 
had distributed "anti-corruption" postboards and demanded the sacking of the 
company's chief.

The report put the number of protesters at 4,000, but the sources said this 
was too high.

A Beijing-based Sinopec Corp investor relations officer said he was not 
aware of the incident, adding that his department's job was dealing with 
financial information only.

Spokespeople for Sinopec Group, parent of Sinopec Corp, were not immediately 
available for comment.

Workers at the Qilu plant earned a monthly salary between 1,000-2,000 yuan 
($135.5-$271), levels they said are below most other oil plants under the 
top Asian refiner on the coast, the sources said.

Their frustration mounted as oil rocketed to near $100 a barrel and oil 
firms were reaping windfall profits this year.

Despite Beijing's rigid control on retail fuel prices, Sinopec Corp, China's 
second-largest oil and gas producer, posted a 5.5 percent rise in 
third-quarter earnings as a big boost in revenue from its crude productions 
offset losses in refining divisions.

(Editing by Michael Urquhart)

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/usworld/news-article.aspx?storyid=99099

Activists Protest Olympic Float at Rose Parade

By Furnell Chatman
KNBC/NBC News Channel Report

PASADENA, Calif. -- The 119th annual Tournament of Roses parade delighted 
on-lookers and TV viewers but two groups used the occasion as a protest 
platform. Human rights activists protested a float honoring the 2008 Beijing 
Olympic Games. More than 100 anti-war protesters led by "Peace Mom" Cindy 
Sheehan were also there.

One float was not in line with the rest. Beijing China's float was tucked 
away on a short side street and under heavy security until it was time to 
roll. Hundreds of demonstrators turned out with signs along the parade route 
to protest Beijing's policies on human rights.

Human rights activist John Li says "China is still persecuting people, and 
that is why we are coming here, to tell people the Olympics and the crime 
against humanity cannot co-exist in China."

But there were also supporters who cheered and waved small flags as the 
Beijing float rolled along. Protesters had urged parade goers to turn their 
backs on the float that promotes the Summer Olympics in China, but that 
never seemed evident. Once the parade was over, the parade route was used by 
protesters.

Likenesses of President Bush and his top administrators were marched through 
the crowd as war criminals. It was all sponsored by several anti-war groups 
who drew both cheers and jeers from the crowd.

The march ended at Pasadena's City Hall with a brief rally condemning both 
the Bush Administration and Democratic congressional leadership. Anti-war 
activist Cindy Sheehan says "they can't defend what George Bush and Dick 
Cheney are doing, so they call us names. We are the true patriots."