Social Mood in Zhejiang: Cangnan Crowd Beats Chengguan to Bloody Pulp

In China there is a municipal employee called chengguan (city management). They work for the City Urban Administrative and Law Enforcement Bureau

The agency is in charge with enforcement of urban management of the city. This includes local bylaws, city appearance bylaws, environment, sanitation, work safety, pollution control, health, and can involve enforcement in planning, greening, industry and commerce, environment protection, municipal affairs and water in large cities.

They are not police, but they often act as though they have the same authority. Members of the public are often disrespectful towards chengguan because they lack police authority. This naturally causes frequent tensions.

Zhejiang is the center of the real estate crisis in 2014. Zhejiang is home to Wenzhou, the entrepreneurial capital of China, where real estate prices have been going down for going on 3 years. Many businesses are now in trouble as well (see: Rumored Mass Death of Companies in Xiaoshan District of Hangzhou If Banks Collect on Debts; Government Tells Banks to Sit Tight or Leave). Clearly, the population is nervous and social mood is on the decline.

Cangnan is a part of Wenzhou. Over the weekend, chengguan beat a man for taking photos of them while they were on duty and was told to delete the photos. When he didn't, the chengguang hit him. This engraged the town, who came out in force。 Some of the crowd bgan throwing bricks and rocks and eventually beat the chengguan. It is amazing that no one died—yet. Two of the chengguan are still in serious condition at the hospital.

SCMP has coverage here: Chengguan officials seriously injured after assault by large crowd

Here is a translation of the Chinese report from Chinasmack. Comments from Chinese netizens are also translated (click through), showing the public has no love for the chengguan.

Graphic photos are below the article snip below, and some are also posted on Chinasmack if you click through.

Chinese Chengguan Surrounded, Beaten Bloody By Angry Crowd

From the around 8:30am in the morning until around 8pm at night on April 19th, the dispute between 5 Zhejiang province Wenzhou Cangnan county Lingxi town chengguan city management personnel and an individual who was taking photos to dissuade them from using violence in their law enforcement escalated into a mass incident involving the entire town.

According to local officials, at around 9am that morning, local chengguan had a dispute with a female street peddler while on patrol against street peddlers doing business by occupying and blocking the road. Immediately afterward, chengguan clashed with Huang Xiangba, a person who had been passing by and used his mobile phone to take photos of the dispute, beating the latter onto the ground until he was spitting blood. The 5 chengguan who beat him were then besieged by the surrounding crowd, with all 5 suffering injuries, and two of them going into shock with critical injuries.

As of yesterday night, local police authorities have already arrested over ten individuals involved in instigating the incident, with “most of them being idle bodies [troublemakers] in the town and surrounding areas.”

Within these 12 hours, Huang Xiangba, the person who passed by and took photos, has won the sympathy of the local populace. Then also in the name of sympathy, the 5 chengguan have become the victims.

“Can’t do it this way”

The chengguan wearing uniforms quietly left, while those not wearing uniforms stayed behind to continue beating Huang Xiangba

Around 8:30 on the 19th, as 39-year-old Huang Xiangba was on his way home after buying groceries, he saw several chengguan confiscating the gas stove and high-pressure pot of a street peddler. “One chengguan was getting physical with an old lady who was selling things.”

Eyewitness Zheng Ruiyuan claims that when the incident occurred, he saw an old grandma who was selling tea eggs and roasted yams pleading with four or five chengguan personnel. “You guys can’t do it this way [can't behave like this],” Huang Xiangba said as he took photos. Two chengguan personnel who were in the process of moving things turned around and charged up to Huang Xiangba. “They both slapped/hit me immediately,” Huang Xiangba says.

After running away about a dozen meters, Huang Xiangba was caught by chengguan squad members and beaten.