Up to 2,000 retired soldiers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) have staged protests in Beijing, a police officer and a foreign Web site said yesterday, just days after large-scale anti-Japanese street rallies nationwide.
The PLA protest, at the west gate of the General Political Department of the PLA, was apparently over the army's poor retirement and social security benefits, a police officer at the Changqiao police station told reporters.
"There were a lot of people out there," the policeman said, declining to give his name. "They are not there now, but this morning there were still some people but they were taken away."
According to the Epoch Times, an overseas Web site, the protest began Monday evening and continued through to Tuesday with 2,000 soldiers gathering at the offices just west of the Communist Party's leadership compound of Zhongnanhai.
Hundreds of police descended on the area to ensure calm, it said.
Traffic in the area, which is known for the picturesque hutongs or traditional courtyard houses, was snarled throughout the day.
China has seen a growing number of protests in recent months, with millions of laid off workers and tens of millions of rural migrant workers increasingly expressing dissatisfaction over a lack of economic opportunity in the booming economy.
While the government appeared to encourage the noisy anti-Japanese rallies last weekend, one of its worst fears is seeing them spill over into general social discontent, analysts say.
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