[Errigal]

Italy police clash with Chinese merchants in Milan
12 Apr 2007 16:55:04 GMT
Source: Reuters



Witnesses said the protest broke out when traffic police, who want to tighten commercial traffic in the area full of wholesale clothing stores, tried to hand out a fine to a driver.MILAN, April 12 (Reuters) - Italian riot police clashed with more than 100 Chinese merchants in Milan on Thursday, after scuffles broke out over traffic controls in the city's busy Chinatown. At least seven people were injured and one car was overturned in the clash as protesters threw plastic bottles and rubbish bins at police armed with batons, according to witnesses. Waving Chinese flags and placards reading "Stop violence and abuse against the Chinese community", hundreds of merchants and residents later staged a sit-in on the neighbourhood's main street, bringing traffic to a standstill. "You just want to send away the Chinese population," one protester shouted at a police officer. "Where is Italy's humanity?" Police declined to comment. Italian residents have repeatedly complained about the noise and traffic, urging city officials to find a more suitable location for the wholesale distributors.

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