Chinese Taxi Drivers Drink Pesticide in Beijing Protest
By DAN LEVINAPRIL

BEIJING — A group of taxi drivers drank from bottles of pesticide in central Beijing on Saturday to protest what they said was poor treatment by their taxi companies, state and social media outlets reported.

At least 10 men, some of them frothing from the mouth, fell to the ground on a busy sidewalk at the Wangfujing shopping center about 11 a.m. after drinking the pesticide, according to the Beijing police force’s official microblog account. The men were rushed to nearby hospitals and all survived, the police said.

Videos of the protest quickly spread on Chinese social media sites, showing the men splayed on the ground and large crowds staring at them from behind police cordons.

According to The South China Morning Post, the men were all from a city in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang and tried to kill themselves to protest the way taxi companies renewed their vehicle leases.

Drinking pesticide is a common way to commit suicide in China, particularly in rural areas.

People with grievances in China have long sought to petition the central government in Beijing. But the ruling Communist Party presses local officials to thwart those seeking redress. Petitioners are often detained for protesting and trying to file lawsuits. Many are beaten, threatened and sometimes sent away to mental hospitals to prevent them from airing their grievances in the capital.

Some desperate protesters attempt suicide in public to raise awareness to their cause. Last year, a family of five tried to kill themselves by drinking pesticide outside the offices of a newspaper in Beijing in a protest against local officials who took their land and demolished their homes.

逾30黑龍江司機 上京躺地抗議

北京著名商業街王府井大街，昨上午十一時突然有卅多人躺倒在街道上，且身旁還留有散發強烈農藥味的藥瓶；這些人經救治後已無大礙。

北京市警方證實，這些人員是黑龍江綏芬河的個體計程車司機，來北京反映計程車續租及換車等個人訴求，北京市公安局正協調黑龍江省有關部門調查此事。

北京市公安局微博帳號「平安北京」昨下午表示，十一時許東城分局執勤民警在王府井大街丹耀大廈門前，發現有卅多人躺倒在地，並在現場發現裝有農藥的藥瓶，當即將相關人員送往醫院救治。

昨有目擊的大陸網民稱，現場散發陣陣農藥味、口吐白沫；由於王府井大街鄰近天安門，讓北京警方頗為緊張，甚至有網民稱，「躺倒排成茉莉花形狀」。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/world/asia/chinese-taxi-drivers-drink-pesticide-in-beijing-protest.html

紐約時報中文版翻譯：
http://cn.nytimes.com/china/20150407/c07chinaprotest/zh-hant/

2015-04-05．聯合報．A12．兩岸．記者林克倫