Local govt seeks to restore calm after violent protest

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-24 21:22

GANCHENG TOWNSHIP - The government of Dongfang City, Hainan Province, sent 12 work groups to calm villagers following a violent protest that stemmed from a high school brawl, a senior official said Tuesday.

A township government building and a local police station were damaged in the villagers' protest, the city's Party chief Wang Heshan said. At least two bystanders were injured in the incident.

Wang told Xinhua the work groups, totaling more than 100 officials, went into all villages under the jurisdiction of Gancheng Township, about 250 km southeast of the provincial capital of Haikou, early Tuesday.

The provincial department of public security said police were not involved in dealing with the protest.

Hundreds of residents of Gancheng Village protested in front of the township government building Monday afternoon, after two or three middle school students from Gancheng and Baoshang Villages were involved in a fight, according to Fu Bo, the chief public relations official of Dongfang City.

Gancheng has had a troubled relationship with Baoshang for decades, with frequent brawls between residents of both villages, each having a population of about 10,000.

Gancheng villagers blamed the township government for not properly handling the village dispute in Monday's protest. The villagers claimed that several children had been beaten by unidentified people and the local government and police had not intervened.

The protest became violent at about 7 p.m. Monday when the Gancheng villagers damaged the government building and set fire to the local police station. The crowd had dispersed by 1 a.m. Tuesday.