Beijing shopkeepers protest evictions
BEIJING: More than 100 shopkeepers at a popular market here yesterday held a rare street protest against what they call unreasonable eviction, as the Chinese capital seeks to curb population growth.
The crowd gathered outside the entrance of the Beijing Zoo wholesale market in the west of the city, punching their fists in the air and shouting, “Return our money!”
Rows of police officers encircled the crowd, some wearing riot gear as the two sides bumped against each other.
Street protests are rare in the Communist-ruled country, especially ones that continue over multiple days, and authorities shut them down swiftly.
The merchants said they had been demonstrating since receiving notice a week ago that some sections of the market must clear out by today, and the market shut down by month end.
Videos posted on social media showed protesters and police pushing each other on Thursday.
“At least three were hurt and two went to hospital,” said a protester. Most of the shopkeepers were migrants from other parts of the country.
“I have been paying rent on four stalls after signing a 20-year contract for them. We moved here to support our children and now, we have nowhere to go,” said a shopkeeper known only as Ye.
Ye and her husband said they paid about 300,000 yuan (RM188,000) in shop rent and fees since 2012.
“We are not making any big demands. We just want appropriate compensation,” said the 33-yearold. “We have suitcases and handbags to sell, but no place to store them now.”
The Beijing Zoo market, built in the 1980s, attracted 100,000 customers daily in 2015, according to the state-owned China Daily.
Plans to close the businesses to “reduce traffic congestion and population density” were announced in 2015, according to the state-owned Beijing Times.
Earlier this year, Beijing announced it would cap its population at 23 million residents by 2020, and aimed to “keep it at that level for the long term”.
The capital’s official population is over 21 million, but the figure does not account for the number of unregistered residents. AFP