CHINA: Seven farmers from a Chinese agricultural province have committed suicide by poisoning after being driven to despair and revolt over high taxes being demanded by local government officials, reports Miriam Donohoe from Beijing.
Details of the suicides in Hubei last year were revealed in a rare report hinting at the desperate plight of farmers in China published in the state media this weekend.
The report, in the Xinhua news agency, said all seven were forced into suicide because of exorbitant fees and taxes being demanded by officials, despite warnings from central government that levies be kept down.
The party secretary of Jianli county in Hubei, Mr Du Zaixin, was quoted as saying all 300 families in a local township owed between €1,200 and €1,500 in taxes, or the equivalent of three years' wages.