China - Scores detained for alleged rioting and violence during taxi strikes (2010)

In October, a billionaire legislator went on trial with 27 associates and three high ranking transport and petition officials from Chongqing municipality over allegations of being the masterminds of the taxi strike in Chongqing. It was alleged that Li Qiang, an ex-deputy to the Chongqing Municipal People’s Congress ordered drivers in his taxi company to go on strike and also sent dozens of gangsters into the streets to smash working taxis and beat their drivers, triggering similar protests in cities all over China. Observers state that the trial is punishment from the local government for the businessman supporting the strike.