Derrick Sobodash has a post up on Beijing Cream about being attacked by two men he believes were 'black chengguan', corrupt urban management officials who intimidate and extort local residents.
In less than 50 meters the car flanked us and forced our driver off the road. The sanlunche went up onto two wheels and almost rolled over.
Looking out the window we saw that the car was marked as belonging to the Sanjianfang Town birth control department. Our driver kept shouting at the men to stop following her.
Two young men between the ages of 16 and 19 jumped out of the car brandishing clubs. They were wearing ill-fitting coats that looked like generic ones used by most private security guards.
One man screamed, “Fuck your mother!” and smashed in the right rear window, which was beside me. Glass rained in like powder, with the small bits sticking to my hands and large chunks landing in my shoes and coat pockets.
A moment later, the window on my wife’s side was smashed by another of the men.
From Derrick's account, it appears that the two men, who may or may not have been chengguan, were targeting the cab driver, rather than Derrick and his wife, who were merely unlucky observers. Abuse by chengguan is widespread and frequent, and the urban management and law enforcement department was recently voted China's "most distrusted" government agency.
[Image (for illustrative purposes only): Shanghai chengguan on parade. Via CNS]
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