Posted on 04/28/2003 10:52:19 PM PDT by Destro
FEAR
SARS Is the Spark for a Riot in China
By ERIK ECKHOLM SHAGUGANG, China, April 28 — Thousands of people rioted in this rural town on Sunday night and ransacked a local school, residents said, after word spread that the four-story building would be turned into a ward for patients suffering from severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.
Despite the presence of hundreds of police officers and two busloads of paramilitary troops in riot gear this morning, residents were unrepentant about their resistance, illustrating how hard it may be for the government here to control popular emotion about a disease whose existence it played down for months before abruptly changing tack eight days ago.
Daily totals of those infected have increased sharply since, with reported SARS cases in Beijing today climbing by 96 to 1,199, up from fewer than 350 just one week ago.
Chagugang is an agricultural market town about 12 miles northwest of the port of Tianjin, a two-hour drive from Beijing with major truck and train traffic. As of Sunday, the Tianjin municipality had 22 confirmed and 55 suspected SARS patients.
On Sunday night, residents in this nearby town had heard — mistakenly, local officials insisted today — that urban SARS patients were to be housed in a junior high school here. This was read as one more sign of the disdain big city officials have for rural folk, as well as a possible health threat.
Residents said more than 10,000 people took to the streets in violent protest before the police dispersed the crowd around midnight.
"We are people too!" snapped an elderly woman, who like others interviewed would not let her name be used. "This disease is exactly what everyone wants to avoid, and they want to throw it right at us."
The junior high school was, in fact, abruptly closed last week for rebuilding into a facility with 200 individual bedrooms. Officials insisted it was to be used for quarantining people with possible exposure to SARS, not for sick patients.
Today, the damaged building was guarded by scores of policemen and the paramilitary troops. Hundreds more police officers lined the road through town, preventing residents or visitors from approaching.
The school attack is the first reported instance of civic violence directly associated with SARS. More conflict appears possible as China's government — used to treating the public, especially in rural areas, in a highhanded fashion — applies stringent measures to contain the disease and runs up against social tensions and the fast-spreading fear of SARS.
Defending "social stability" has been the first principle of China's leaders, who were already on edge over growing unemployment and economic inequality. In addition, the epidemic is dragging down the economy, and that could further inflame discontent.
On Sunday night, witnesses said, the partly built bedrooms in the school had been ripped apart, construction materials had been burned and the windows were shattered.
Residents said that during the night and today, the police had detained 20 to 40 people suspected of taking part in the melee.
Local officials declined to provide arrest figures, but an official of Chagugang township, reached by telephone, acknowledged that the violence had occurred and said, "Of course people will be punished if they engaged in smashing property and robbery."
The same official said that the school was being renovated, not to house ill patients with confirmed or suspected SARS, but as a quarantine center for people who had close contacts with SARS patients and for travelers returning from SARS hotspots.
"The villagers are unscientific, and trusted rumors," said another official, a Mr. Wei, of the government of Wuqing District, which includes Chagugang.
The distinction between actual and potential SARS patients in the new facility did not impress local people.
"This just isn't right," said a man who fixes farm machinery in a shop near the school. "If they're afraid of exposing the people in Tianjin to the disease, then why wouldn't they be afraid of exposing all of us out here in the villages?"
Local people said that they had learned about the project only when the school was suddenly closed.
"One day last week the school was closed, the students were sent away and carpenters came in," said a young man. "The government never communicated with us, but just suddenly decided to build a facility here."
"The people started trashing the school yesterday," he added. "Most of the things they just threw into the river, but some pieces of wood they burned outside the school."
Even a central government official from the area, who happened to be visiting, expressed sympathy for the protesters. "They can endure economic challenges, but when it comes to matters of health, their tolerance is lower," he said.
Cumulative SARS cases in China reached 3,106 today, the Health Ministry reported. China has the most of any country, and the potential for the vast spread of SARS in the Chinese interior, and from China to other parts of the world, has become the chief worry of global health officials.
Officials of the World Health Organization told reporters today that they remained frustrated by the lack of detailed information on where, when and how the virus had spread through the population in Beijing.
Without such data, the experts said, it will be impossible to judge whether the city's new quarantines, restrictions on public activities and other actions are appropriate or making any difference.
On Sunday, W.H.O. officials met with the Beijing Communist Party secretary and the acting mayor to discuss the data problems.
(Posted for the prophetically inclined)
How about routing a copy of these reports to the people responsible for exporting jobs under the euphemism of "Out Sourcing"?
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