JIANGXI STUDENT RAMPAGE ENDS, BUT REMAINS TALK OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIJING 022812 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/27/2031 TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI CH SUBJECT: JIANGXI STUDENT RAMPAGE ENDS, BUT REMAINS TALK OF THE TOWN REF: A. BEIJING 13274 ¶B. BEIJING 13023 Classified By: Political Section Deputy Robert Griffiths. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). ¶1. (C) Police have restored calm at the Jiangxi Province Clothing Vocational Institute where thousands of students rioted October 23-24, Mo Yaping (protect), a professor at Nanchang University, told POLOFF by phone October 27. Mo confirmed media reports that students at the vocational college, located in the provincial capital Nanchang, protested because the school informed them that the Government would not recognize their diplomas. The Nanchang city government convened an emergency meeting and the national-level Ministry of Education dispatched a team to mediate the dispute, Mo related. He added that students and the school have reached a settlement, although he is unaware of the details of the deal. ¶2. (C) The riots are the talk of the town and among students at nearby Nanchang University, said Zhou Wenbin (protect),the school's president. Nonetheless, his campus has remained free of protest activity, Zhou reported. The local official newspaper, Nanchang Daily, has not posted any news of the disturbance on its website. A Nanchang city propaganda official reached by phone declined to comment on the incident or confirm that censors have banned coverage. Overseas Chinese news sites have run dramatic photos of damaged classrooms and crowds of students watching the institute's doors going up in flames. ¶3. (C) Comment: The protests mirror unrest that occurred in Zhengzhou, Henan province, in June (ref B),when students ransacked their college campus in a similar diploma dispute. While the demonstrations appear to be localized and apolitical, they reflect a nationwide problem students face. As university enrollment skyrockets, more and more graduates are entering a tight job market in which the status of one's diploma has extra significance in the hunt for employment. In this particular case, while the Central Government is seen as part of the solution, the incident will likely heighten official Chinese sensitivity to student protests. Randt