Hundreds of villagers in southern China clashed with riot police over an election dispute, with some villagers hospitalized with injuries, a news report said yesterday.
Hong Kong's Cable TV broadcast footage provided by villagers in Shadui Village, Guangdong Province, showing them scuffling with police in riot gear on Tuesday.
The station said hundreds of villagers took part in the clash, and some were injured and hospitalized.
One injured female villager told Cable TV that, ``One policeman grabbed my neck ... grabbed my hand and yanked me out. I passed out for a while.''
But the footage showed the villagers, not the police, as the aggressors, with one villager kicking a policeman in the back and others attacking police officers with their umbrellas.
The villagers are upset that the local government didn't issue them elector certificates, preventing them from voting in a village election on Tuesday -- allegedly in retaliation over a land dispute, Cable TV reported.
Hundreds of villagers protested again on Wednesday at local government offices demanding compensation for those injured in Tuesday's clash, according to Cable TV. Footage showed protesters raising their fists outside government offices on Wednesday.
A Shadui village official, who wasn't identified, told Cable TV the village election "ran into some kinks," adding, "just a few kinks."
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