Guangxi Officials Downplay Family Planning Riots

C O N F I D E N T I A L GUANGZHOU 000608 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2032 TAGS: PHUM PGOV SOCI CH SUBJECT: Guangxi Officials Downplay Family Planning Riots REF: A) Beijing 2855 B) Guangzhou 589 (U) Classified by Acting Economic/Political Section Chief Drake Weisert for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Guangxi officials and Mainland media acknowledged the violence in Bobai County almost a week after the incidents occurred, playing down the severity and extent of the riots. On May 24, Yulin Municipal Government spokesman Guo Chengqiu denied reports of fatalities, estimated that the largest single demonstration involved only 2,000 people, refuted foreign media reports that police dispersed crowds with water cannons and that women were forcibly sterilized regardless of age. Guo admitted, however, that the incident reflected that some problems exist in the local officials' handling of family planning enforcement. ¶2. (C) Guo said that 28 people were detained in connection with the incidents, 23 of whom are now under house arrest on charges of "networking, persuading and being involved in damaging properties." Bobai County Vice Director Huang Wei stated that some individuals with "ulterior motives" had incited the riots. Their identities have not been released. Guangdong Foreign Studies University Law Professor Wang Yunxiang (strictly protect) and Shenzhen- based China Development Institute senior research fellow Li Weining (strictly protect) told Congenoff that some local officials will be punished in order to pacify the people and warn officials in other regions against similar practices, but that their punishments will likely not be as severe as the riot organizers'. ¶3. (SBU) According to a May 23 Xinhua report, in response to the riots, central and local governments have increased police presence in the affected areas of Bobai County, one of the largest counties in Guangxi with a population of 1.6 million. Yulin City and Bobai County dispatched 4,200 "cadres" to the area to study the incident, respond to residents' concerns, and to prevent future unrest. ¶4. (C) The Chinese government continues to tightly control information on the Guangxi riots. Zhongshan University Professor Ai Xiaoming (strictly protect),an advocate for greater political openness, told Congenoff that emails containing certain key words associated with the incident have been blocked, and that she cannot access internet news about the riots. Professor Ai suggested that email and text messaging about the incident, especially Chinese- language messages, would continue to be blocked, but that English-language messaging may slip by censors. GOLDBERG