Tax dispute leads to street protest in Zhejiang province

Over 1,000 people took to the streets in an eastern China township on Thursday, sparked by a dispute between a store owner and tax officials, Reuters reported. Protestors, mostly from Anhui province, gathered in Zhili township, near Huzhou city and marched towards government offices shouting, “People of Anhui, unite!” The crowd overturned cars, hurled rocks, smashed traffic lights and injured several security guards before being dispersed by police. Photos and reports of the protest were posted on the microblog site Sina Weibo, though searches for “Zhili” on the site have been blocked. “We are angry at the government. … They (the government) are not giving us any reply. We have to continue (protesting),” said a man from Anhui. While generally localized, such outbursts force senior leaders to balance growth with public discontent over corruption.