At least 12 people were injured in the restive Xinjiang region when security guards armed with clubs and knives attacked workers protesting over unpaid wages, state press said yesterday.
More than 50 migrant workers were protesting in the regional capital of Urumqi when the security guards attacked them in front of an office building on Thursday, the China Youth Daily reported.
Incident
The incident occured at the building housing offices of the Yahong Land Development Co, which owed 140 workers a total of one million yuan (US$120,000) in back wages, the paper said. One worker was seriously injured but is expected to survive, it said. The workers were attacked after a group of a dozen or more representatives tried to enter the building to engage the company in negotiations, it added.
An official at the company said by phone that most of the workers were Han Chinese, not Uighurs, a largely Muslim ethnic nationality which makes up about 50 percent of Xinjiang's population.
He refused to comment any further.
Unpaid wages have become a headache for the government, which has sought to ensure that migrants are fully paid ahead of China's Lunar New Year holiday, which begins this year on Feb. 18.
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