China police detain 46 after violent protest over schooling
BEIJING — Police in central China have detained 46 people who were part of a protest against a government plan to address overcrowded classrooms that escalated into violence.
Police in the city of Leiyang in Hunan province said on their official microblog that the people were detained early Sunday as officers dispersed around 600 protesters who had gathered outside the local police station on Saturday night.
They said some of the protesters hurled plastic water bottles, bricks, firecrackers and beer bottles, injuring more than 30 police and auxiliary police officers and damaging several vehicles. Police attributed the violence to “good-for-nothings” who were looking for trouble.
An official at the Leiyang city government who would only give his surname, Zeng, said the parents were protesting the city government’s plan to transfer students from overcrowded public schools to expensive private schools.