China tour guides protest over corruption claims

BEIJING, July 31 (Reuters) About 400 Chinese tour guides took to the streets of a southwestern city to protest over a reporter who wrote that they took kickbacks, a newspaper said today.

The Guilin Daily, published in a scenic tourist city in the Guangxi region, and the reporter had since apologised saying the report had ''caused some bad effects'', another newspaper, the Southern Metropolis Daily, had said.

Tour guides blocked the gate of the municipal government and some nearby roads in Guilin on Sunday, demanding that the reporter apologise.

The Guilin Daily published a story on Thursday saying some tour agencies and guides took kickbacks from shops and hotels.

Guides petitioned the government for three days, the Beijing News quoted Huang Dan, the vice-mayor of Guilin, as saying.

''There was no clash and no one died or was injured,'' Huang was quoted as saying. ''All the guides have since been persuaded to go home.'' A widening gap between rich and poor, corruption and official abuses have in recent years fuelled growing numbers of demonstrations, riots and other what the government calls ''mass incidents'', which are often sparked by minor issues.

Beijing officials this month detained a journalist for fabricating an investigative television report on a Beijing snack vendor selling steamed buns, or ''baozi'', stuffed with flavoured cardboard.

REUTERS ARB HT1422