Riot in China over 'corrupt' company privatisations

Riot police were called in to rescue the mayor when former military construction workers surrounded him while protesting their compensation in China’s showcase business city of Shenzhen, news reports said today.

The protests by up to 5,000 former employees of the army’s construction corps highlight festering resentment over losses of pay and benefits as government companies, often headed by corrupt managers, are converted into private enterprises.