Tax on furniture trade sparks riot
Thousands rioted in Nankang , Jiangxi province , yesterday after the local government levied new taxes and clamped down on the city's furniture industry.
Protesters took to the streets and paralysed traffic. They also attacked government offices and overturned police cars.
A statement on the municipal government's website said hundreds of furniture shop owners started blocking National Highway 105, while nearly 100 petitioned outside the government's headquarters. The notice said a 'misunderstanding' over a new tax on furniture products was the cause of the protest, and that the case was settled by 1pm.
But Xinhua reported that all entrances to another highway, from Daqing , Heilongjiang , to Guangzhou, had been blocked since 1.50pm.
The report said another batch of protesters attacked a local-administration complex and turned over several police cars.
The boss of a workshop said he estimated 80 per cent of the 6,000 to 7,000 local furniture enterprises paid no tax when the cottage industry began thriving in 2003.
The middle-aged man, who gave his family name as Yuan, attributed the loophole to lax management by the local administration.
'I think more than 10,000 people have taken part in the riot,' Mr Yuan said, adding that many of his fellow professionals were infuriated by yesterday's new taxes on their products.
'Some violent protesters threw stones and water bottles at the police before clashing with them. I've seen at least four or five police vehicles smashed and overturned before the arrival of roughly 100 riot police.'
A local woman said the cause of the problem was excessive tax demands at a time when business was suffering because of the global economic downturn.
'As far as I know, all furniture businesses with assets over 500,000 yuan [HK$568,000] will be charged 20,000 yuan in tax from now on,' the woman named Cheng said, adding that this was a difficult burden in the current financial climate.
'These factory owners were particularly disappointed with the new tax and so protests followed,' Ms Cheng said, adding that excessive red tape was also causing anger. 'Others were given requests to get licences from five different departments, including the local industrial and commercial bureau, fire services department and city administration squad, in a recently launched crackdown on the industry.'
A spokeswoman for the Nankang government confirmed the protests but refused to give any figures on the number of participants.
'Some of them just simply did not fully understand the crackdown on the industry launched by the administration,' said the woman, who identified herself as Ms Pei.
'In regard to this, the city's leading officials have already been out to persuade the people to return home, promising them a satisfactory response soon.'
