On the morning of 24 December, more than 100 protesters, staged a sit-in in front of the Paragon Hotel, Xiangtan, where a celebratory party in honour of the 110th anniversary of Mao Zedong’s birth was being held. The protestors were workers from the former Xiangtan Hongqi Farm, who were deeply affected by the massive restructuring of the farm. The workers decided to hold the protest at the Paragon hotel because the hotel’s director was also the leader of the Farm. In view of the high profile nature of the demonstration police officers were quickly sent to the hotel and the protest was violently dispersed. Scores of workers were apprehended and it was reported that some 16 were arrested. [Mao Zedong was born in the small town of Shaoshan, some 40 kilometres from Xiangtan in Hunan Province.]
[See Chinese audio interview on 25 December - English transcript to follow]
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