Migrant Workers Spark Urban Unrest in China

Chinese authorities are seeking to contain violent unrest that has broken out in several cities in recent weeks amid growing public anger over economic and political grievances. Over the weekend, armed police clashed with demonstrators in the southern manufacturing city of Zengcheng.

Chinese Police Deter Protesters (AP photo)

Authorities deployed armored vehicles and used tear gas against protesters who overturned police cars, smashed windows, and set fire to government buildings, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The protests by migrant workers erupted over security personnel’s rough treatment of a pregnant street vendor.

“A wave of violent unrest in urban areas of China over the past three weeks is testing the Communist Party’s efforts to maintain control over an increasingly complex and fractious society, forcing it to repeatedly deploy its massive security forces,” the Journal reports.

Earlier in June, a man set off a bomb outside a government office in Tianjin, injuring two. Violent protests also broke out in Lichuan this month, and a man set off blasts at government offices in Fuzhou on May 26, killing three.

The unrest is being fueled by public anger over issues including official corruption and police abuses.