|
Bootleg deaths spark village rioting in Hunan
By Edward Cody (Washingtonpost.com)
Updated: 2005-12-05 10:32 Much of the damage to cars or buildings, and injuries to police and other
officials, occurred during riots and other violent disturbances that have broken
out in towns and villages across China with increasing frequency. The ministry
estimates that 74,000 such incidents erupted in 2004, involving 3.76 million
people.
The unrest has become a major concern for the government of President Hu
Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. Most of the uprisings have exploded in reaction
to economic complaints, such as land confiscations or pollution, as China
evolves swiftly but unevenly under the impetus of market reforms. But the
disturbances -- and the willingness to clash with police or civilian officials
-- also have revealed a growing sense of disillusionment with local Communist
Party administrations, suggesting a politically significant break in trust
between those who govern China's towns and villages and those they
govern.
Unusual Accidents
As the truck
started down the darkened highway at 1:30 that morning, three migrant workers
and Shangdeng's own Deng Xizai were jammed into the front cab, the farmers said.
In the rear, sitting atop a dark green tarp covering the tobacco leaves, were
Deng Jianlan and Deng Silong.
Although they shared the surname Deng, the three villagers were only vaguely
related. As often happens in small Chinese villages, most of Shangdeng's
families have the same family name, denoting their roots in the same place.
A fourth villager rode ahead on a motorcycle, scouting for trouble. In the
dark, he sputtered right by the ambush, however, and the officials sprang their
trap as planned, halting the truck only a few minutes after it started down the
highway.
Deng Xizai and the three migrant workers were dragged from the cab, the
farmers recounted. The hired hands were allowed to go their way, they said, but
Deng Xizai was stuffed into a small government car, one of four that were lying
in wait for the bootleggers.
Deng Xizai immediately offered to pay a fine, the farmers said, in what they
described as the usual way Yantang officials and Shangdeng farmers settled
things when smugglers were caught in the act. Local officials said such
confiscations and fines are almost routine in southern Hunan's tobacco country.
Twenty-nine truckloads have been taken into custody so far this harvest season.
But this time, things were different. Farmers said Deng Xizai and the
motorcycle lookout later told them that the anti-smuggling squad carried iron
bars as weapons and that officials refused to discuss a fine. Instead, they kept
Deng Xizai in custody and assigned a Yantang township driver to get behind the
wheel of the truck and drive it to the local tobacco monopoly office, according
to an official account. The officials did not know that Deng Jianlan and Deng
Silong were still atop the load of tobacco, huddling under the tarp and unseen
in the predawn darkness.
An unusual pair of accidents happened next, a statement issued by local
officials said , so unusual that peasants here said the official version defies
credulity.
First, the statement said, Deng Jianlan jumped off the moving truck, but fell
under the wheels and was crushed to death. Then, it went on, Deng Silong leapt
from the truck about two miles down the road as it pulled into a toll station,
also falling under the wheels. He was seriously injured and died soon afterward,
according to the official statement.
"It was so dark outside that [the driver] did not notice at all," it added.
|
