Chinese Riot in Milan

[Scowl]

Apparently a large group of Chinese people in Milan, Italy staged a protest over something which turned into a riot. Or something. I don't really know.

Here are some links to different articles:

Shanghai Daily (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2007/200704/20070413/article_312546.htm)

The Australian (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21554083-2703,00.html)

International Herald Tribune (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/12/europe/EU-GEN-Italy-Immigrants-Clash.php)

BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6550725.stm)

Now, what really sticks out to me is the shitty-ass reporting done by these bozos. The numbers of Chinese protesters/rioters ranges from a hundred to a thousand; none of these fuckers can agree on why Chinese people in Italy were protesting and/or rioting. It was because Italian police beat a pregnant Chinese woman. It was because some Chinese man got a parking ticket. It was because some Chinese woman got a traffic ticket. Who the fuck knows? Certainly not I.

I mean, come on... when they say shit like this:

In Rome and Milan wholesale distributors of goods made in China occupy entire quarters of the two cities. It was the noise and traffic caused by these businesses which sparked off the rioting in Milan.

....how the hell is anyone supposed to take them seriously? I thought BBC was a reputable news agency. The noise and traffic caused by businesses sparked off the rioting in Milan? What? That's like saying, "There was a riot because sometimes bad things happen."

From what I've heard from non-news sources, it would seem that there was a protest due to a series of laws specifically targeting Milan's Chinatown being passed. The protest turned into a riot, perhaps because a pregnant Chinese woman at the protest was beaten/manhandled by police. It sounds plausible to me. I'm certain we all know how easily a protest can turn into a riot. But this is all hearsay.

Does anyone have any idea what actually happened there and why?

[Dialectic]

(Sidebar: haven't looked into this, but once again, there's race riots everywhere except Canada. We're such a happy place.)

[blockthebox]

Also: Note well that only the Shanghai Daily article mentions the pregnant Chinese woman beating as a possible cause and that the mayor of Milan held a press conference about the riot inviting only Italian media. The rest of the articles were xenophobic bullshit.

Why are you canucks so smug ;)

[Scowl]

Another article:

People's Daily Online (http://english.people.com.cn/200704/13/eng20070413_366343.html)

And footage of the protest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kheXMmdGLhg

Edit: Duh. Had the wrong fucking link up. This one should work.

[Dialectic]

Well, we have the occasional native roadblock, but those are to be expected :P

Couldn't see the footage; I wonder how often China talks to governments about the situation of overseas Chinese? I'm guessing it might happen more often outside of North America because there's already so many of us here.