Posted on 04/21/2011 8:08:10 AM PDT by Jagermonster
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A two-day strike over rising fuel prices turned violent in Shanghai on Thursday as thousands of truck drivers clashed with police, drivers said, in the latest example of simmering discontent over inflation.
About 2,000 truck drivers battled baton-wielding police at an intersection near Waigaoqiao port, Shanghai's biggest, two drivers who were at the protest told Reuters.
The drivers, who blocked roads with their trucks, had stopped work on Wednesday demanding the government do something about rising fuel costs, workers said.
"I want the government to stand up to solve our problems because we cannot take this anymore. We are unable to bear the cost of operating now," said a driver surnamed Chen, 33, a native of Henan province who has been driving for eight years.
The strike comes against a backdrop of rising consumer prices and fuel price increases. China's inflation rate hit 5.4 percent in March, prompting officials to renew vows to use all available means to contain price rises.
Police arrested at least six people and beat up some protesters with batons, said Chen and another driver also surnamed Chen, 35. They declined to give their full names or the name of their company for fear of reprisals.
Both drivers, who work for a small transport company, showed photographs to two Reuters reporters of police carrying a man with a bloodied head, with his wife and daughter at his side.
Repeated calls to the Shanghai public security bureau and the municipal government went unanswered. [snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at af.reuters.com ...
The clashes will be in America soon.
We are bankrupt and Bubbles Bernanke is going to lose control and we are going to hyper-inflate, Weimer Germany and Zimbabwe style.
Are you ready? Gold, silver, food and firearms are highly recommended.
Along with the violence we can expect this coming here once those just making ends meet are caught in the fray of our gas and food prices...and sooner than we might think. In the US family members are expected to "make it" on their own. In other countries they often shack up with one another to weather the storms. Not so here...people will protest before they infringe on other family members.
China is subsidizing fuel prices well below market. What happens when that ends?
Oil Crisis Just Got Real: Sinopec (Read China) Cuts Off Oil Exports
...Xinhua, via Energy Daily, brings this stunner: “ Chinese oil giant Sinopec has stopped exporting oil products to maintain domestic supplies amid disruption concerns caused by Middle East unrest and Japan's earthquake, a report said Wednesday. The state-run Xinhua news agency did not say how long the suspension would last but it reported that the firm had said it also would take steps to step up output “to maintain domestic market supplies of refined oil products”. Oh but don't worry, those good Saudi folks are seeing a massive drop in demand... for their Kool aid perhaps. “Sinopec would ensure supplies met the “basic needs” of the southern Chinese special regions of Hong Kong and Macao, but they also should expect an unspecified drop in supply, Xinhua quoted an unnamed company official as saying.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/oil-crisis-just-got-real-sinpoec-cuts-oil-exports
Things are getting real interesting.
I would not be surprised that Russia’s Gazprom cuts off Western Europe from its natural gas and oil supplies soon. Ukraine and Belarus would be exempt from this order.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.