anthropologie du présent

Le comté de Zhushan (竹山县 ; pinyin : Zhúshān Xiàn) est une subdivision administrative de la province du Hunan en Chine. Il est placé sous la juridiction de la ville-préfecture de Shiyan.

Chine : Zhushan en état de siège après les émeutes populaires

24-03-2007 Écrit par Li Xi, La Grande Époque

Après les incidents, Zhang Zilin – un membre de la coalition Pan-Blue, qui a la première diffusé les photos des émeutes – a quitté la ville. Il dit avoir été « pris entre quatre yeux » par les forces de sécurité parce qu’il avait informé la presse internationale, et que les autorités ont décidé de bloquer totalement les médias.
A l’origine des affrontements, le triplement des prix des transports en commun, que les habitants disent directement lié à la corruption du gouvernement. En particulier, les habitants sont en colère contre « l’arrogance » des autorités qui ont organisé la répression des manifestants – provoquant ainsi l’émeute – en pleine session du Congrès National du Peuple à Pékin.
Les transports publics liant les villes de Zhushan, Daqingping et Yongzhou sont depuis récemment assurés par l’entreprise de transport Anda. Celle-ci a en quelques mois triplé le prix des billets et, après le Nouvel An chinois, fait payer des suppléments aux étudiants retournant à l’école pour leur bagages. Lorsqu’un chauffeur a giflé un étudiant qui refusait de payer le supplément, le mécontentement public s’est transformé en tempête : les premiers protestataires se sont retrouvés face aux gorilles d’Anda, puis à la police. Au final, près de 20 000 personnes se sont retrouvées face aux forces de sécurité appelées en renfort.

Le porte-parole de l’association Human Rights in China, Feng Congde rappelle que de tels événements sont de plus en plus fréquents, et illustrent la distance croissante entre la situation réelle en Chine et la « société harmonieuse » telle que décrite par le régime.et article.

Mencius in Zhushan Village

Frustrations boiled over in Zhushan village in Hunan province a few days ago, as people trying to take the bus to Lingling town were confronted with price gouging. Roland has the links, and pictures!

People are still traveling for the Chinese New Year holiday. Demand for public transport is high; so the owner of the local bus company, who seems to have some sort of monopoly rights on this particular route, tried to take advantage of the situation. Here’s an excerpt from a Boxun story (translation by Roland):

During the spring travel season, the Anda Transport Company which manages the bus line between Zhushan town and Lingling raised the ticket price from 6 RMB to 10-15 RMB. At around 10am on March 9, 2007, a large group of people gathered at the bus station to demand the ticket price be lowered.

The boss of Anda Transport Company arrived at the scene in the company of a carload of people who were ready to threaten the people. But they were prevented from doing so. The boss then announced to the assembly: he was going to take his buses away, which stirred the crowd to stronger dissastisfaction. The crowd then overturned four of the buses belonging to the Anda Transport Company. The event had escalated.

On March 10, the ticket price had not come down. The bus company boss came with dozens of unidentified men to intimidate the crowd, who became more incensed. At around 2pm, about 10,000 people were assembled and some of them set one of the Anda buses at the station on fire. At the time, the bus company boss said: « I’ll offer 20 million RMB to raze Zhushan town to the ground. » This really made the people at the scene very, very angry. More and more people showed up and things got worse. The fire department came to put out the fire.

Eventually, riot police were called in, people were beaten, and one person was reportedly killed.

At one level, this is just another example of a local tyrant, the bus company operator, who takes advantage of his position, and his connections with local officials, to line his pockets. The fusing of economic interest and political power is commonplace in China today.

On another level, however, this is a reminder of the hollowness of the calls for a « new socialist countryside » emanating from the National People’s Congress meetings going on right now in Beijing. And that is why this incident is not being reported in the Chinese press. Beneath all of the happy talk is the continuing desperate reality of many people in rural areas, shut out from the economic boom and subject to systemic abuses of political-economic power. The Zhushan incident is one small corner of a larger legitimacy problem for the Communist Party. Mencius makes the connection:

Mencius said: « The tyrants Chieh and Chou lost the people – that’s why they lost all beneath Heaven. And it was in losing the people’s hearts that they lost the people.

« The way to win over all beneath Heaven is to win over the people. The way to win over the people is to win over the people’s hearts. And the way to win over the people’s hearts is to surround them with what they want and keep them clear of what they hate. (129)

The people of Zhushan do not want a whole lot, just a fair chance to make a living and freedom from petty tyrants who can arbitrarily manipulate prices and political power.

If Beijing does not respond to such incidents openly and effectively, they will lose the hearts of the people (have they lost them already in big parts of the countryside?) and, thus, lose all under Heaven.

« Il ne s’est rien passé à Zhushan »

Posté par Maripier St-Jean le Ven, 2007-03-30 08:26. Asie

Les autorités banalisent l’émeute de Zhushan dans la province chinoise du Hunan.

Mme Li, la porte-parole de la municipalité, continue de dire que l’évènement du 9 mars dernier est une affaire classée. Pourtant, la mairie affiche 10 000 yuans de récompense à quiconque voudra dénoncer un criminel lié à l’émeute. Cette émeute aurait débutée par la colère des habitants contre la compagnie d’autobus Anda qui détient le monopole de la région et qui ne cesse d’augmenter ses tarifs. Les billets, pour 38 km, étaient passés à 9 yuans ou 15 yuans pour quelqu’un qui transportait des bagages. Pour un pauvre paysan qui gagne en moyenne 500 yuans par mois, c’est un trajet inabordable. De plus, n’ayant pas de lycée dans cette ville, les enfants doivent se rendre en bus dans la ville voisine et leurs parents ont manifesté dans le but d’obtenir un demi-tarif comme c’est le cas partout en Chine. Résultat : refus de la compagnie Anda et brutalité policière contre les parents. L’émeute a vraiment commencée le 9 mars par la destruction de quelques autobus et s’est étendu 4 jours. «Il n’y a rien de spécial dans toute cette affaire. Dans le monde entier, il arrive que des gens soient mécontents à cause des tarifs de bus.» souligne Mme Li qui aura bientôt fini de comptabiliser les voitures brûlées, les blessés et les arrestations.

Bus fares spark riots in China

IN A stark reminder of the social unrest bubbling beneath China’s economic boom, the People’s Liberation Army has been sent to a village in central Hunan province to quell mass riots involving up to 2000 people over five days.

The incident, one of tens of thousands every year, came in the midst of the annual National People’s Congress, China’s yearly parliamentary session, where a key theme has been building a « harmonious and peaceful society ».

The riots began last Friday in a village on the outskirts of Zhushan, a town of 60,000 in Hunan, as a peaceful protest against a steep increase in local bus fares. It turned into a series of battles with police and later paramilitary reinforcements in which at least seven police cars and nine buses were attacked and burned and dozens injured, according to witnesses.

Locals said the protest turned heated on Monday after the privately owned bus company threatened to bring in hired thugs and local police backed the bus company.

Villagers, who earn an average of 500 yuan (about $A80) a year, were incensed that the privately owned company had increased fares 80 per cent last month, from five nine yuan.

China’s economic boom, which has averaged 8-10 per cent growth a year for the past few decades, has made it the world’s fourth-biggest economy. However, a widening gap between the mainly urban rich and largely rural poor, and discontent over illegal land grabs together with other corruption and environmental issues, has seen a big increase in riots.

Official state media yesterday reported the « mass incident » in Zhushan had been calmed and denied earlier reports that a protester had died in the clashes.

A doctor at Zhushan central hospital, who declined to give her name, said yesterday the streets were unusually empty and armed police and troops were stationed at government institutions including schools and her hospital, where a squad of soldiers had been stationed.

« I heard that there were around 2000 people on the first day of the riot, » she said.

« At the beginning people were throwing stones at the police and the police station, and later the Government dispatched anti-riot troops to fight back and that’s when people got injured. »

She said no one had heard of anyone dying from the riots.

While many foreign pundits described the Zhushan riot as deeply embarrassing for China’s leaders — Hunan’s governor Zhou Qiang, China’s youngest provincial leader at 46, is a protege of President Hu Jintao — the incident will also reinforce attempts by Mr Hu to slightly rein in economic growth in favour of greener, fairer development, to prevent just such mass unrest from spiralling out of control.

The Ministry of Public Security reported 87,000 mass incidents in 2005, up 6.6 per cent on 2004 and 50 per cent over 2003.

China: Hunan Party Secretary Says ‘Yongzhou Incident’ Not ‘Riot’

Posted on: Thursday, 15 March 2007, 06:00 CDT

Text of report by Hong Kong newspaper Wen Wei Po website on 14 March

[Comprehensive report by Wen Wei Po’s Hunan-based reporter Deng Yifan and Wen Wei Po Two-Sessions Reporting Team: « Yongzhou Riot Has Calmed Down, the Bus Company Has Stopped its Business »]

13 Mar – A riot broke out in Zhushan Town, Lingling District, Yongzhou City, Hunan Province, last Friday because bus fares increased by a wide margin. The local authorities sent armed police personnel and the situation returned to normal on Tuesday. There were no casualties in the incident. Now the district government has ordered the Yongda company to stop its business for rectification, and the police have also started their investigation of the matter.

At 0830 on 9 March, some villagers of Zhushan Town, Lingling District, assembled and blocked the transportation of the Yongda company and turned over one of the company’s buses, because the company raised the bus fare from 7 to 9 yuan. As a result of the relevant department’s persuasion, the incident temporarily calmed down on the night of 10 March.

The Reason Was the Bus Company Increased the Bus Fare

The Yongda company changed back the bus fare to 7 yuan on the morning of 11 March, but some villagers insisted that it was 39 km from Zhushan to Lingling, and from Zhushan to Quanzhou, whereas the bus fare from Zhushan to Quanzhou was 5 yuan. So the bus fare from Zhushan to Lingling should also be 5 yuan, and 7 yuan was irrational. They demanded that the bus fare from Zhushan to Lingling be reduced to 5 yuan. But the Yongda company refused. Therefore some villagers of Zhushan Town one more time gathered and blocked the company’s transportation while in the meantime smashing and burning four of the company’s buses. Some police vehicles present on the spot to handle the incident were also damaged in varying degrees. The crowds dispersed and left the scene at 2300 after being persuaded by local cadres and public security personnel.

On the afternoon of 12 March, some people gathered in front of the bus company again. Some law breakers took the opportunity to turn over a law enforcement vehicle and started looting. To prevent the incident from further worsening, public security personnel immediately arrested six suspects involved in smashing and burning the vehicles. Subsequently the crowds dispersed and left the scene. The situation was under control.

The Police Arrested Six Suspects

After the outbreak of the incident, Hunan Provincial Party Committee Secretary Zhang Chunxian and Governor Zhou Qiang issued important instructions; principal officials of the relevant provincial departments, the Yongzhou City Party Committee, the city government, promptly hurried to Zhushan Town and organized district and township cadres to go to village leading groups and neighbourhood committees to conduct patient persuasion, thus stabilizing social order. In the meantime, the authorities ordered the Yongda company to immediately stop its business for rectification, investigation, and further handling. The Lingling District Party Committee and government arranged some 10 buses to ensure smooth transportation from Zhushan to Lingling.

As reported, now the local public security department has started investigating the incident and will handle the criminals who conducted beating, smashing, and burning.

The Party Committee Secretary Stresses the Need to Mete Out Severe Punishment

Hunan Provincial Party Committee Secretary Zhang Chunxian, currently attending the National People’s Congress in Beijing, said that the incident was not a riot; he is still learning about the situation and will severely handle the problems. Hunan Provincial Party Committee Deputy Secretary and Governor Zhou Qiang said that the incident in Yongzhou had been appropriately handled, adding that it was only a simple civil conflict. Some media reports that « 20,000 people were involved » in the incident were utterly groundless rumours. The incident involved several hundred people, he said. Reports on one death toll among the students were also rumours, and no one died in the incident, he explained.

The mass incident in Yongzhou was a conflict between the villagers and the bus company. Similar incidents also occurred in other places.

Today there was a media report saying that people in Zhushan Town, Lingling District, Yongzhou City, Hunan Province, clashed with the police because they were dissatisfied with the bus fare hikes during the Lunar New Year transportation period. The report quoted an informed source as saying that more than 20,000 people took part in the riot; several police vehicles were burned, almost 90 people were beaten by the police, and one student died upon arrival at a hospital.

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserv

One dead, doezens injured in riot over bus fares in China

Asia-Pacific News Mar 13, 2007, 13:55 GMT

At least one person died and dozens were injured when tens of thousands of people rioted over rising bus fares in China\’s southern province of Hunan, news reports and a witness said on Tuesday.

Witnesses said hundreds of riot police used electric batons to quell rioting in Zhushan village after residents overturned and set fire to several cars and buses.

More than 20,000 people took part in the rioting and clashes with the police, in which a junior high-school student died, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post newspaper said.

Residents were angered by a large rise in public transport fares, a villager told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. Public bus fares in China have almost doubled in the last year.

Shops in Zhushan remained closed on Tuesday although the rioting had subsided amid a strong police presence, according to another resident.

Rights activist, Zhang Zilin told the newspaper that scores of people were arrested during the riots.

About 20 truckloads of armed police arrived in the village on Monday night to reinforce the 1,700 police already deployed since the rioting began on March 9.

The incident is the latest sign of growing unrest and violence in rural areas, where many residents accuse local officials of corruption and abuse of power.© 2007 dpa – Deutsche Presse-Agentur

至12日晚上8點傳來的最新消息，剛剛從外地開來20輛軍車，全是武警官兵，新鎮政府門前黑壓壓的一片是全副武裝的警察，正準備要大肆抓人了。

泛藍聯盟人員表示，12日下午在珠山鎮新鎮政府門前發生更大規模衝突，1700多名的民警、防暴警察、武警在現場戒備，很多路過的人也招致警方攻擊，摩托車被砸毀，在衝突中四輛警車被焚毀，城管的車輛被推翻砸毀，警方還主動出擊，追著民眾毆打。

三 月十日，安達運輸公司老總帶了幾十個不名身份人員來威脅群眾，群眾的不滿情緒再次被激化，到下午二時左右，群眾已聚集了大約一萬人左右。安達老總這時說: 「我出兩千萬把你們珠山鎮鏟平」，此話一出，激起現場極大民憤，聚集群眾越來越多，安達運輸公司停在車站的一輛客車被群眾燒毀，事態進一步惡化。

隨後消防隊趕至現場進行滅火，到晚上時，零陵區政府調集了一百多名防暴警察趕至珠山鎮。到11日時，群眾聚集兩萬多人，中午時，在現場的的一百多名防暴警察控制現場，這時零陵區公安局副局長兼珠山派出所所長廖勁松大喊抓人，防暴警察開始抓人，並和群眾發生激烈的衝突。

群眾開始憤怒的用磚頭、石頭砸派出所的門窗，警方開始用警棍攻擊群眾，當時防暴警察使用的是一米左右的鋼筋，在此次衝突中有十多名群眾被打傷，其中四名學生，有一名學生腿被打斷了，送到醫院後已經死亡。

為防止有人將此衝突事件拍攝下來，當地民眾打電話到焦點訪談、湖南日報、湖南經濟電視臺、湖南衛視及當地媒體，但是均表示此事不能採訪，原因是以免影響不好。

由於春運期間，經營此條線路的安達運輸公司擅自將珠山鎮至零陵的車費調漲，從原來的六元突然上漲至十～十五元，3月9日上午十時左右，因車費漲幅過大，引發大規模群眾到車站集會，要求降價，安達公司老總對集會群眾說，要把車子調走，而引發集會群眾強烈的不滿。

12日中午，大批群眾都被警方軀散了，而且零陵區政府廣播說：要群眾停止衝突，並且說是群眾衝擊政府部門，現在此事件被零陵區政府定性為「310」、「311」事件。

~ par Alain Bertho sur 10 mars 2008.

Publié dans banlieue