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Thousands of villagers have rioted in south-western China over the
country’s controversial family planning restrictions, reports say.

The villagers, in Guangxi province, reportedly attacked government
offices after officials imposed heavy fines on families who had too
many children.

The rioting allegedly took place on Friday and Saturday.

Beijing allows urban dwellers to have one child, while villagers can
have two if the first child is a girl.

The policy - which was launched in the 1970s - is aimed at controlling
population growth in the world’s biggest nation with some 1.3 billion
people.

‘Property confiscated’

Angry villagers targeted several local government offices in Shapi
township in Guangxi, setting fires and destroying public property,
local residents were quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

At least one person was injured in clashes after riot police were
called in, Hong Kong’s Ming Pao Daily News newspaper said.

“The farmers were really angry because the family planning team was
going around to homes and making farmers pay fines if they had too
many kids,” one local resident told AFP.

“If the farmers had no money they took things from them,” the resident
said.

It was not immediately clear when the fines had been imposed and how
many families were affected.

Local and provincial officials have not yet commented on the unrest.

It is the latest in a series of civil disturbances in China which have
come to the attention of the international media.

In March, there were riots in the central province of Hunan, provoked
by a sharp increase in bus fares.

Story from BBC NEWS: