Protest Erupts Into Chaos at Beijing Zoo Market
A show of resistance has interrupted the systematic closing of the city's small commodity markets as brawls broke out at a protest in front of Beijing Zoo market.
READ: Say Goodbye to Your Favorite Wholesale Market
Over 100 shopkeepers protesting against a lack of compensation have scuffled with uniformed police at the entrance to the 30-year-old wholesale market on Friday afternoon, reported Agence-France-Presse (AFP).
Videos reportedly show protestors chanting "Return our money!" as police use chokeholds to drag them away.
Authorities made their presence known at the public protest. Rows of police were seen encircling the crowd, some equipped with riot gear helmets and shields.
The shop owners were protesting an order issued last week that would close down some parts of the market this week, and have the entire market shut down next week.
"At least three people got hurt and two went to hospital," one unidentified shopkeeper from Hebei told AFP.
Protestors say they have not received adequate compensation despite the order to leave their shops.
"I have been paying rent on four stalls after signing a 20-year contract for them. We moved to Beijing to support our children and now we have nowhere to go," said a 33-year-old woman named Ye, originally from Zhejiang. "We are not making any big demands. We just want some appropriate compensation."
READ: Market Madness: Which Beijing Wholesale Markets Are Still Standing?
The closing of the Zoo market has been a long time coming. First announced in 2013 for the following year, the Zoo market has managed to prolong its inevitable end while the list of remaining Beijing markets continue to dwindle.
Beijing has been systematically closing wholesale markets located within the Fourth Ring Road in light of a government initiative to reduce the city's population by 20 percent by 2020. The strategy would see "low-end businesses" and wholesale markets moved away to Hebei province in much the same way the Beijing government has been relocating many of its institutions out to the spacious suburbs.
With future plans to amalgamate Beijing with Tianjin and parts of Hebei into a "megacity," the city said this year it will cap its population at 23 million residents and aim to "keep it at that level for the long term."
READ: Tianyi Market to Permanently Close This September
The most recent Beijing wholesale market to be marked for closure is Tianyi Market, which, like the Zoo Market, had served tens of thousands of Beijing customers for some 30 years. But although reports say the Zoo Market would be relocating to Langfang, Tianyi Market shopkeepers were optimistically reported to be taking their wares online instead.
Images: Hong Kong Free Press
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