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PRINTA two-day demonstration involving massive crowds clashing with police due to the merger of two regions in Chongqing has ended, and was not related to the firing of former municipal Party chief Bo Xilai, a government spokesman told the media Thursday.
According to an official news release from Chongqing, some 10,000 local residents of Wansheng took to the streets in protest at the government decision to merge Wansheng district into former Qijiang county to form a new Qijiang district.
The protest began on Tuesday when people started to block major streets and highway exits.
Some in the crowd threw stones and bricks at the police who came to keep order, the spokesperson said.
Four police vehicles were burned and 12 police cars smashed, the spokesperson said, adding that there were no deaths and lightly injured police officers and residents had been taken to hospital.
Disgruntled residents complained that their businesses would be affected after the merger while some worried about the lowering of healthcare standards. Some were simply unhappy about the disappearance of Wansheng.
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