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Chinese Students Protest Cup Power Cuts
SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- Students at a Chinese university set fires and smashed equipment in a protest over power cuts during soccer World Cup games, media reports and a school administrator said Wednesday, in China's second case of campus unrest in recent days. The protests broke out last week at Sichuan University's Jiang'an campus in the country's southwest. Two Chinese-language news Web sites said that up to 9,000 students took part, although an administrator said that was likely an exaggeration. The administrator, who refused to give his name, said midnight power cuts were standard at the university to ensure that students get enough rest. But he said power would stay on overnight this week, ostensibly to allow students to better prepare for upcoming exams. "This does not mean we are encouraging more students to watch the games," the man said.
In a similar incident, thousands of students smashed offices and set fires at Shengda Economics, Trade and Management College over the weekend in a riot sparked by administrative changes that made their diplomas less prestigious. Zhengzhou police and local government and education officials have refused to comment on the Shengda protests, believed to be among the worst episodes of campus violence in recent years. Both incidents were also not reported in the official state media. Campus unrest is treated with extreme sensitivity in China following the 1989 student pro-democracy protests that led to the bloody military crackdown in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Despite loosening social controls, Chinese university campuses tend to be tightly controlled, with students still liable for expulsion if caught spending the night with those of the opposite sex.
Sichuan University students began protesting in the early hours of June 12, throwing beer bottles and basins out windows and setting bicycles, computers and bedding on fire, according to news Web sites Chinagate and Epoch Times. Dozens of security guards were dispatched but refused to enter the dormitories, the reports said. The protests quieted down later after appeals from teachers and counselors, they said. At Shengda, protests broke out after students said administrators broke promises to issue them degrees from more prestigious Zhengzhou University, with which the school is affiliated. Photos of the riots posted on the Internet showed fires set in debris-strewn school courtyards and glass smashed in administrative offices, shops, cars and a bank. Students said police with water cannons had moved onto campus, but there was no word of further clashes. © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy. |
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