China says protests, riots down a fifth this year

BEIJING, Nov 7 (Reuters) The number of protests and riots by discontented Chinese citizens fell by more than a fifth in the first nine months of 2006, a senior official was quoted as saying in reports seen today.

Chinese police dealt with 17,900 ''mass incidents'' from January to September this year, the vice minister of China's Ministry of Public Security, Liu Jinguo, told a police meeting yesterday, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

This was a drop of 22.1 percent on the number of protests, riots, mass petitions and other ''mass incidents'' in the corresponding months of last year, Liu said. The Xinhua Web site (www.xinhuanet.com) carried a transcript of his remarks.

China's leaders are in the middle of a campaign to bolster brittle social stability by raising the welfare and incomes of China's poor farmers and migrant workers, and also by cracking down on dissidents and disgruntled citizens.

Reuters DH VP0725