Text of report by Hong Kong Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy on 30 November

[Unattributed report - handwritten: "More Than 1,000 Chongqing Retired Workers Block Highways To Launch a Protest"]

Our information centre has learned that more than 1,000 old employees and retired workers of the Chongqing Jialing Motorcycle Factory began to block two highways at 0700 on 29 November because they were worried that their lives would not be guaranteed after the post-bankruptcy reorganization of the factory. The protesters tightly blocked the two highways leading to the Shuangbei industrial zone in the Shapingba area, paralysing the traffic on the two highways. The protest continued until this morning. All vehicles going in and out of the Jialing factory were blocked. A large number of policemen were on the alert, but there was no bloody clash. However, when the workers blocked the highways on 7 November, three of them were injured and two others were arrested.

In addition, as our information centre has learned, a riot broke out in Dangshan County, Anhui Province, on 25 November, during which three police vehicles were smashed. The construction of the second-phase project of the Dangshan Town Zixin Garden in Dangshan County started on 25 November. The local villagers had long refused the land requisition compensation. They swarmed into the construction site on 25 November to destroy the vehicles there. Public security officers arrested some villagers and this triggered the riot. On the night of 25 November, more than 1,000 villagers set fire and engaged in bloody clashes with some 200 policemen. Twenty villagers were injured and 30 others were arrested. Three police vehicles were smashed.

Source: Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, Hong Kong, in Chinese 30 Nov 09