| Story Views | |
| Now: | |
| Last Hour: | |
| Last 24 Hours: | |
| Total: | |
Shenyang Businesses Strike Against ‘Extortion’ from CCP Officials
Friday, August 10, 2012 14:31
% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.
 |
Small businesses in Shenyang City in China's Liaoning Province closed down starting in August in silent protest against what they say is extortion by local authorities. Shenyang officials announced in mid-July they would take action against businesses selling counterfeit goods or not following regulations. Local business owners say the officials are using the action as an excuse to extort money from them. Fines range from 5000 yuan to tens of thousands of yuan. A business selling toothpicks without a deforestation permit and another business selling tofu with staff not wearing masks were each fined 5000 yuan—about 800 US dollars. Locals say authorities are extorting businesses to raise funds needed in preparation for the national sports competition next year. To avoid the high fines business owners shut down their stores. One netizen wrote on his blog, “Entire businesses are closed, we cannot even find a place to buy a bottle of soy sauce, the atmosphere is of terror, people are in panic.” The head of a group called the “Rights Movement,” Hu Jun says this kind of extortion a very common phenomenon in China. [Hu Jun, Rights Movement]: “We can see now from real estate and land sales, Chinese Communist [officials'] taking property from the people has to go elsewhere. So then they think of other ways to extort…They cannot take the blatant way to extort. So they change the pattern, and find any other excuse for extorting money.” Hu Jun says that the Communist Party's …
|
Views:
0  0
ratings |
| Time: 02:36 |
More in News & Politics |
2012-08-10 14:21:28
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZMVNiFIJu0&feature=youtube_gdata
Source:
