Lan Yuanxian, a 16 year-old migrant worker from Anhui, was beaten up by two or three officials from the municipal management bureau of the Guilin city government, she told RFA’s Cantonese service(ZH) from her hospital bed.
The incident began outside the Ximen vegetable market in the Xiangshan district of the city when a truck wanted to make a delivery of oil to a shop there. Lan’s bicycle was parked in the way for about five minutes, for which local city management officials tried to fine her 50 yuan. Lan protested and argued with them, and was beaten up. Another woman was beaten with truncheons when she tried to stop them.
The incident sparked protests in which more than 1,000 people encircled the city officials’ cars, refusing to leave. More than 50 riot police were called in to disperse the crowd, which took about two hours.
Lan said her condition was stable, and that she had been moved from the emergency room to a bed on a regular ward.
“I’m OK. There are no internal injuries. I am paying for the treatment myself. There isn’t a serious problem, so I plan on discharging myself to recover at home. The government officials have been to visit me but they have just asked me how I am. They haven’t done anything to help with the cost of treatment. They didn’t mention it. I am not really interested in any compensation. I just want a simple apology from them. They are law enforcement officials; they shouldn’t be using violence and hurting people.”
More than 1,000 residents staged angry demonstrations following her protest. Lan was oblivious to all of it.
“I couldn’t see any of it,” she told Cantonese service reporter Bat Tsi-mo. “I was already on the floor unconscious by then. I heard about it afterwards from people who came to the hospital to see me.”
“There was more than one person beating me. There were two or three.”
An employee who answered the phone at the Guilin municipal government said he didn’t know anything about the incident, which took place Friday at about 8 a.m. local time.
“I don’t know anything about it. I didn’t come to work that day,” he said.
Phone calls to the city management team of Xiangshan District went unanswered. An official at the Guilin city management team said: “I haven’t heard about this. But reports like this are probably quite one-sided. “
“I have been doing this job for many years now, on the night shift. I’m not saying that these clashes don’t take place. They do. But they probably have a good reason.”
“For example, it might be that you have city management officers who are trying to put right a violation of city regulations, and perhaps the language isn’t appropriate, or physical struggles take place. This does happen. Such things are occasional occurrences because some people don’t take very kindly to criticism,” he said.
“The incident you are describing to me involved a 16 year-old girl. It would be very rare that city management officials would use force with a young girl like that,” he said.
“Of course, if such a thing did happen, it might well incite the anger of ordinary citizens. And the officials concerned would be punished, that’s for sure,” he told RFA’s Mandarin service (ZH).
Photo: Harry Wagner on Flickr
Filed under: China, East Asia, Newsdesk, cantonese, china_civil_rights, china_civilrights, china_law, china_rights, china_unrest, east_asia, governance, guangxi, human_rights, women | Tagged: chengguan, china_city_management, china_unrest, guangxi, guilin, lan_yuanxian
