Renewed rioting by Sichuan migrant workers broke out late last night in Zengcheng, central Guangdong, amid heavy police presence after two days of violent protests.
The migrant workers gathered along the main road in Xintang town, and a staff member at a nearby nightclub confirmed that it had closed its doors because of rioters just outside. Online forum posts said some cars had been damaged.
It was the third day of violence since tens of thousands of rioters smashed and overturned police cars, and torched and ravaged some local government offices. The demonstrators were mainly Sichuan migrant workers in Xintang, a denim- garment hub in Guangzhou.
The rioting started late on Friday after a 20-year-old pregnant woman, Wang Lianmei, from Sichuan was allegedly pushed to the ground in front of a supermarket in Dadun village, Xintang, by security personnel hired by the government. They were said to be trying to keep her from peddling goods.
Before the renewed rioting last night, Xintang appeared to be quiet yesterday afternoon under a seamless lockdown by riot police armed with heavy weapons and armoured vehicles. Thousands of tense and frightened-looking migrant workers gathered by police roadblocks set up around a Jiuyu shopping mall, bordering Dadun. Broken glass and bricks littered footpaths, and burn marks could be seen on streets where vehicles had been set ablaze nights before. Security booths, the local police station and village government offices all showed signs of being besieged.
Traffic leading towards Dadun remained at a standstill. A woman operating a grocery store across from a Dadun government office issuing temporary resident permits described the riot as 'scary'.
