Southern Metropolis Daily
April 27, 2009

Following last week's anger over a textbook that instructs city administration forces (城管, "chengguan") in violent enforcement tactics comes a news report that illustrates the other side of the struggle between chengguan and street vendor.

A standoff yesterday between roadside peddlers and chengguan on a Shenzhen street erupted into a bloody violence that left one chengguan seriously injured. The cover photo of today's Southern Metropolis Daily captures the moment right before the attacker, shown with knife in hand, stabbed his victim.

According to the newspaper, at around 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon, four chengguan from Shenzhen's Xin'an sub-district were conducting a raid to drive peddlers off of the pedestrian overpass outside a Walmart. Most of the peddlers fled before the officers arrived, but a few who had too many things were unable to pack up in time.

Zhao Junping, vice party chief of the sub-district office, told the newspaper that the peddlers were asked to leave by the chengguan who had no intention to confiscate their belongings.

According to Zhao's account of the episode, a woman drew a box cutter from a bag and directed it in the direction of chengguan Lu Guangwei, drawing blood when he tried to grab it. The women ended up biting Lu's right hand.

At almost at the same time, the woman's husband, identified as Lao Shuai by the newspaper, took out a 30-cm knife and stabbed Lian Shitao, another chengguan, two times. The knife entered Lian's torso from behind and passed out his chest. When Lian look back, Lao Shuai stabbed him again and fled. One of the chengguan recorded the whole incident with a digital camera.

Lian was rushed to the hospital, where his injury was reported to be serious but not life-threatening.

Update (2009.04.28): ESWN translates the SMD report.