EX-SOLDIERS RIOT OVER FEES AT RAILWAY VOCATIONAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 005976

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/12/2032
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV MARR CH
SUBJECT: EX-SOLDIERS RIOT OVER FEES AT RAILWAY VOCATIONAL
SCHOOLS


BEIJING 00005976 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Aubrey
Carlson. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) Around 2,000 ex-soldiers rioted at three
separate railway vocational schools in Baotou in Inner
Mongolia, Baoji in Shaanxi Province, and Wuhan in
Hubei Province on September 3, wire services reported
September 11, citing the Hong Kong-based Information
Center for Human Rights and Democracy. An Embassy
contact in Baotou confirmed the report, saying the ex-
soldiers were angry over poor living conditions at the
schools and were disillusioned at learning that the
jobs awaiting them at the end of their two-year
training program are among the worst in the railway
system. According to this contact, the demonstrations
were coordinated, with organizers communicating via
the Internet. A former PLA officer commenting to us
weeks before these incidents warned that highly
dissatisfied, and organized, demobilized soldiers pose
a potential threat to social stability, with many ex-
soldiers feeling they have been "abandoned" following
their service to the PRC. End Summary.

Ex-Soldiers Reportedly Riot at Three Schools
--------------


2. (SBU) Numerous wire services, citing the Hong Kong-
based Information Center for Human Rights and
Democracy, reported September 11 that 2,000 ex-
soldiers took part in what appeared to be coordinated
riots on September 3 at three separate railway
vocational schools in Baotou in Inner Mongolia, Baoji
in Shaanxi Province and Wuhan in Hubei Province.
According to the Center's report, the soldiers were
protesting poor living conditions and high fees at the
schools. The ex-soldiers reportedly had no electrical
outlets in their dorms and were charged up to RMB 1
(USD 0.13) to recharge their cell phones. According
to various press accounts, the soldiers who took part
in the unrest are part of a group of 6,000 who passed
a July examination and were offered spots in two-year
retraining programs at 12 different railway schools.
The program reportedly is part of the PLA's effort to
assist demobilized soldiers in finding employment and
reduce resentment that has been growing among former
officers and soldiers.

Contact Confirms Details of the Incidents
--------------


3. (C) Baotou-based dissident Wang Yong (very strictly
protect),confirmed to POLOFF on September 12 most of
the Information Center's report. Wang said 400 to 500
ex-soldiers had arrived at the Baotou Railway
Engineering School for the start of the semester and
had been shocked by the poor living conditions and
high fees. Most of the soldiers had arrived with
promises of good jobs but were angry to learn that,
after paying various fees over one to two years of
training, they would be assigned to difficult posts in
remote areas. The jobs being offered the soldiers,
Wang said, were the kind ordinary railway workers were
unwilling to accept.


4. (C) In Baotou, the ex-soldiers turned over and
burned one car, Wang said. According to Wang, some
accounts that the soldiers had also set fire to
buildings at the school were false. Officers from the
Railway Police Bureau (tie lu gong an chu) were called
in to quell the riot, and many of the demobilized
soldiers involved have since returned to their
hometowns. Wang described the railway school campus
as nearly deserted. The demonstrations were
coordinated, and activists among the ex-soldiers had
been communicating over the Internet using Skype,
according to Wang.


5. (C) In separate telephone conversations on
September 12, an official at the Baotou Railway
Engineering School, who would only give his surname
Chen, told POLOFF he had "heard" of the incident but
was unable to discuss the matter over the phone.
Meanwhile, several officers at the Baotou Public
Security Bureau denied to POLOFF that any "major
incident" had taken place at the school.

A Former PLA Officer's Prescient Comment?
--------------

BEIJING 00005976 002.2 OF 002




6. (C) Demobilized soldiers dissatisfied over their
treatment following discharge from the PLA are a
potential source of instability for the Chinese
regime, according to a retired PLA officer who
commented to POLOFF weeks before the above incident.
According to Zhai Zhihai (strictly protect),who now
heads his own consulting firm after a 22-year career
as a PLA intelligence officer, "millions" of former
military officers and enlisted men are "highly
dissatisfied" over their treatment, with many of them
believing they have been "abandoned" and "given
nothing" by the Party and State after having "put
their lives on the line" for the PRC. Meanwhile,
"spoiled rich kids" of the Party elite run around
making millions, often by corrupt means. These
demobilized soldiers are "highly energized and
organized" and ought to be a significant concern for
the Party, Zhai declared.


7. (C) Comment: Although the extent of discontent is
unclear, the recent incidents in Inner Mongolia,
Shaanxi and Hubei provinces appear to support Zhai's
observation regarding dissatisfaction among the ranks
of former soldiers, as well as their capacity to
organize in expressing their grievances.
Randt