Police clash with thousands of rioters in south China

Police in a south China city bordering Vietnam clashed with thousands of rioters who were protesting excessive brutality meted out to a suspected smuggler, the government and a rights group said.

The incident occurred on Friday in Dongxing city in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with rioters destroying numerous police and border patrol vehicles and clashing with security forces, local police said in microblog postings.

“Five policemen were lightly injured and nine anti-smuggling vehicles were damaged... no one (else) at the scene was injured or killed,” the Fangchenggang prefecture public security bureau, which oversees Dongxing, said on its microblog site late Friday.

“During the incident the police did not adopt overly violent behaviour.”

According to the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, up to 10,000 people joined in the rioting and over 20 police and customs vehicles were smashed or burned.

Up to 100 people were “killed or injured” during clashes, it said.

Increasing numbers of anti-riot police and security forces arrived in Dongxing throughout Friday.