Police kill two in China after 400 protesters attack officers

Chinese police killed two people in a clash with local residents in the south-western province of Yunnan, according to official media, in the latest of several mass disturbances. The government has stressed the need for stability in the run-up to the Olympic games next month, but has faced a string of protests and the direct targeting of government property in recent weeks. The state news agency Xinhua said police used baton guns after they were attacked by around 400 local residents in Menglian County, a rubber farming area. Thirteen policemen and one local resident were also injured in the violence on July 19, which broke out as police tried to take away people suspected of involvement in illegal activities, according to Xinhua. This weekend police said they had detained 117 people in connection with the riots, in which people set fire to police headquarters. But the authorities also acknowledged that local people had "social grievances" and sacked the head and political commissar of the public security bureau. The provincial party chief accused local officials of neglecting their duties, being incompetent and using "rude and rough-hand solutions" to solve problems. The day before, Xinhua reported that more than 100 people in Huizhou city in the southern province of Guangdong had attacked police over the death of a motorcyclist. Angry protesters claimed that he had been beaten to death by security guards -- not, as the police stated, in a traffic accident. The incident came only a few days after hundreds of migrant workers attacked a police station in Zhejiang, eastern China, during three days of unrest. They alleged one man had been beaten while applying for a residence permit.