Protests erupt in China's Guizhou province over cremation mandate

"Protests have erupted in China's southern Guizhou province, the latest in a string of rural demonstrations that have seen incidents of unrest increase by 70% compared with last year. The protests in Shidong town started over the weekend in response to a directive from local authorities that people should be cremated rather than buried after their death. Guizhou is a poor, rural province away from the urban hubs of Shenzhen and Shanghai."

"In unverified footage from the protests shared on X by the protest-tracking account Yesterday Big Cat, a villager can be heard shouting: If the Communist party is digging up ancestor's graves, go dig up Xi Jinping's ancestral tombs first. Another video collected by China Dissent Monitor (CDM), a project run by Freedom House, which tracks unrest in China, showed dozens of villagers surrounding a police car."

"The local area has a high proportion of people of the Miao ethnicity, an ethnic minority for whom tradition dictates that the deceased should be buried rather than cremated. On Tuesday, as the protests continued, the local government published a notice stating that the directive to promote burial rather than cremation was based on a 2003 law. It said that cremation was necessary to preserve land resources and promote a frugal new funeral style."

Protests erupted in Shidong town, Guizhou province, after local authorities directed that people should be cremated rather than buried. Unverified footage shows villagers confronting police and chanting against the Communist Party, with a villager demanding authorities dig up Xi Jinping's ancestral tombs. The area has a high proportion of Miao people for whom burial is a cultural tradition. Local government cited a 2003 law and said cremation preserves land resources and promotes a frugal funeral style. Many rural families report pressure from officials, including threats of multi-generational consequences, and social media comments expressed support for protesters.

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