Riots ensue after child crackdown in China

NANNING, China, May 23 (UPI) -- Residents of the Chinese county of Bobai were targeted recently as part of a crackdown on the nation's birth rate, prompting riots to erupt in the streets.

The Washington Post said Wednesday that when local leaders in the Chinese county decided to act as collectors of birth control fines last week, residents resisted and violence ensued.

Residents said those officials behind last Thursday's fine-collection drive, which targeted people who violated the nation's one-child law, used violence to get payment.

"The people who didn't have money, they threatened to knock their houses down, or punch holes in the roof," one unidentified resident said.

A major riot broke out in the town of Dunbu after tensions escalated at a local store, eventually leading to thousands of residents fighting with hundreds of police officers.

Once order in the region had been restored Saturday, Bobai County officials blamed the disorder on those who using excessive tactics to collect government fines. But, the Post said, county officials also recognized protesters had significantly damaged government property during the ensuing riots.