Hundreds of protesters gathered Oct. 26-27 in the streets of Zhili, a township in Huzhou, northern Zhejiang Province, to demand an end to tax hikes and various local “fees.” One such tax includes a “machinery head tax” on factories. Many turned violent, smashing windows and setting fire to cars. Rioters attacked an Audi while it drove by, forcing the driver off the road and leading him to hit ten bystanders. Riot police were called in to quell the protests.

Hu Xijin, Chief Editor of the party newspaper Global Times, posted on his Sina Weibo account about an editorial on Oct. 28 titled “Whatever the reason, perpetrators of violence must be harshly punished.” Readers left angry comments about Hu’s “double standard” for protesters and government officials. Many compare the Huzhou riots to the assault on ordinary citizens attempting to visit Chen Guangcheng, an activist who has remained under house arrest since he finished serving a four-year prison sentence in September 2010.

Below are the comments on Sina Weibo responding to Hu.

XuwuSky99: I didn’t dare to comment before learning the truth of the incident, so I tried to search “Huzhou Tax Riot” on Sina Weibo, and… [“Huzhou Tax Riot” (湖州抗税) became a banned Sina Weibo search term soon after the riot.]
虚无天空99：在未了解事实真相之前我不敢妄加评论，于是我在微博上搜索“湖州抗税”，结果…… [“湖州抗税” is a banned Sina Weibo search keyword!]

Langligelang: I can’t even find the right word to describe you.
啷晲咯啷：找不到合适的形容来形容你

WallYiyuan: No taxation without representation? Not to mention that we have no rights and are still forced to pay more taxes? If we don’t cooperate, we’re just compelled [to pay]?
烦墙一员：无权利不纳税？何况没权利，还被逼涨税？不配合，就强制？

DandingdeBiange: There’ll only be fewer and fewer people who believe in “Fifty Cents“. What a pity, just like the man in a case…
淡定的变革：相信五毛的人只会越来越少，真可怜，活在套子里的人

Papillonn: Are you afraid?
Papillonn：怕了？

Kaqiushadehongqiuku: I support the protests against heavy taxation.
喀秋莎的红秋裤：支持反抗重赋税

M—–O: It’s the right thing to say, but the order is reversed!!! Government officials should take responsibility first. You can’t chop off the heads of ordinary citizens at the first sign of a mistake… Is “serving the people” just a load of crap?
M—–O：话是对的，顺序错了！！！先对官员追责才是正理，不能一出错就拿老百姓开刀…………为人民服务是用来当屁放的吗？

Amen’s Disciple: “The law is not a shield.”
阿门的信徒：“法律不是挡箭牌”

Fan-tian: It seems that you’re punishing the guilty and the innocent indiscriminately while putting on an objective face. You know exactly where your butt is parked: who’s winning with whom?
范-昀：貌似各打五十大板，装出客观的面目。你的屁股坐在哪里其实你很淸楚：谁赢跟谁.

ShuishouxingbadaRhp: rpReply to @CaoJiansheng: It’s as if a man was bitten by a tiger and a group of people then attack the tiger, only for those people to be punished instead of the tiger! What’s going on? And why?
水手辛巴达Rhp：回复@曹健生:犹如老虎咬伤了人，人们把它给打了，最后竟然抓打虎的人，而不对老虎进行严惩！那是什么？又是为什么？

Ziyou-SH: By the looks of these comments, the public’s praise for Editor Hu is not so good.
子由-SH：看了下评论，胡主编的口碑可不太好

PunishGuangcheng: The major and minor issues here are getting confused. The government hasn’t been held accountable and officials haven’t been punished. Even killing all the troublemakers wouldn’t solve anything. Before talking to the people about the law, shouldn’t the government abide by the law first?
刑光誠：主次不分，政府不被問責，官員不遭懲處，把鬧事者殺光也無濟於事。在跟人民談法律之前，政府是否應該自己守法先？

YeXiaoting: How have the two officials mentioned in the last two sentences been penalized?
叶潇亭：对后两句提到的官员做何惩罚？

ZhongweiLuowen: On July 23 I didn’t hear you call for accountability, I only heard you call for everyone to continue supporting the high-speed rail.
中尉罗文：7.23也没见你这么强烈的呼吁追责，当时我可是只看到你呼吁大家要继续支持高铁

CoffeeAddictLife: Editor Hu, let’s see if you can gather a crowd of hundreds.
咖啡上瘾的日子：胡编，看看你有本事聚集几百人吗

BlackClothesClerk (黑大衣总书记)：go fuck yourself, asshole

HumbleThoughts: Editor Hu has turned a blind eye to the violent crackdown of Chen Guangcheng’s visitors!!!! Do you mean to say the violence here shouldn’t be investigated? Go back to your shitty Global Times.
淡泊相思：胡编对于探望陈光诚者受的暴力却视而不见！！！！难道在这里暴力不应该受到追究吗？去你的环球屎报

ShaLao’er: You’ve blocked every route. There’s nowhere left to go! And under these circumstances you add such heavy taxes. I support the protesters.
沙老贰：你们把路都占了，让别人无路可走！！这种环境下还加这么重的税，支持这些抗税者

MaiErsi: Are you scared? Though you may jump for joy today, tomorrow you’ll have bills to pay. Isn’t violent revolution the most effective tool of the proletariat? [Do you remember] who said that? You’re from the propertied class, aren’t you?
卖饵丝：你怕了吧？别看今天跳得欢，小心日后拉清单。无产阶级解放自己的最有效手段不是暴力革命么？这是谁说的？难道你是有产阶级？

vBabylonv: People curse Chief Hu’s words most of the time. For the minority, does Chief Hu command the truth? Over more than half a year of examination, Chief Hu’s thinking still seems to be nothing special…
v巴比伦v：胡总的话，绝大多数时候大家都骂，是不是真理掌握在少数人你胡总手里？半年多的观察，胡总心智确实一般……

Wu Youmiao Ponders Chinese Higher Education: Fifty-Cent Hu, when injustice becomes the law, resistance becomes an obligation. Get it?
吴有淼思考中国高等教育：胡五毛 当不义成为法律时 抵抗就成为义务 你懂不 ？

QinweiViviXie (沁薇ViviXie)：sure… but the problem is that the Global Times is just full of bullshit, nobody even cares what you guys say seriously dude… full of propaganda bs…

ChenfengShuming: A Global Times editorial published on the 28th said: “Whatever the reason, perpetrators of violence must be harshly punished.” This means that no matter how I bribe, break the law, do violence, or steal… You want a protest dealt with according to the law.
尘封宿命：环球时报28日发社评：无论何因，施暴者都应依法受惩。—–意思就是无论我如何贪赃、枉法、施暴、掠夺。。。你要反抗就都应依法受惩。

Wen-Ruhua: You’re always talking about the present conditions! The people are just a bunch of bums, even individual rights aren’t protected. What present conditions are you talking about?
温-儒华：总是谈大局!老百姓一介P民，连个人利益都没有保障，谈何大局？

Baozoulaohu: Bullshit.
暴走老胡：放屁

MayIBeAngry: I’ll never read your retarded, brain-washed Global Times [again]
可以不可以愤怒: 永远不会看你的弱智洗脑环球时报

ZhangZhihan5028: When the people violate the law you lecture them on the law, but when the country disregards the law and uses violence on the people, you just talk about the state of the nation. (Propaganda bullshit should not be exploited by Western influence.)
张智涵5028：当老百姓违法的时候你给他讲法律，可是当国家带头无法无天的对民众施暴的时候，你却对他讲国情（宣传狗屁的不要被西方势力利用之类）

madewildatheart: Forward this weibo: If you talk to him about the law, he’ll violate you; if you violate him, he’ll talk to you about the law.
madewildatheart：转发此微博:你和他讲法律，他跟你耍流氓；你和他耍流氓，他跟你讲法律

EastSpringWaterggp: The state has not yet established transparency, nor does it allow citizens to restrict the government’s abuse of power or to ensure the impartiality of the courts. What right do you have to invoke the law so sanctimoniously? How can matters proceed according to the law?
东流之春水ggp：国家未建立让政府权力公开透明,没有让公民们用自己的权利制约政府滥用公权力,保证司法公正,有什么资格在这里道貌岸然的口口声的喊法律,依法如何

ResoluteRocknRoll: Whenever anything happens the first thing the authorities do is cut off the information flow. Then they send the Fifty Centers to sway public opinion! It goes like this again and again.
毅起摇滚：每次出事都是官方先封锁消息.再派一些五毛党媒企图扭转舆论！反反复复都是这样的

XiangwangShaolin: Always invoke the rights of the state to violate the rights of the individual, did I get that right?
香王少林：总是以国家权利为借侵犯个人权利，是这意思吗？

Shrew’s Dad Chen Chao: Oh yes, right, “Whatever the reason, perpetrators of violence must be harshly punished.” May I ask when those brutes in “East Skeleton” (Dongshigu) will be punished?
悍妞她爸陈超：嗯，对的，无论何因，施暴者都应依法受惩。请问何时惩罚东尸骨的施暴者？

Zhang Family Circle: You let the officials set a fire, but forbid the people to light a lamp! Everyone’s just venting their dissatisfaction with the government. They haven’t torn down any houses, occupied any land, and they certainly haven’t shut anyone in the insane asylum~The party’s paper really is just the party’s paper. It makes a farce of life, just like CCTV news!
張家大圓子：只准州官放火，不许百姓点灯！大家只是发泄对政府的不满，可没有强拆人家房，强占人家地，更没有把人关进精神病院哦～党报到底是党报，和新闻联播一样全当生活笑料！

IdealWings: You little shit, you say nothing about the government collecting the machinery head tax, nothing about the machinery head tax doubling. That’s what lead to the tax protest. You’ve twisted the story，you dog-banger!
理想之翅：你这个狗屎，不说政府收机头税，不说机头税增加了一倍，才导致了抗税事件，歪曲报道，你个狗日的！

XiaojieziJ: Please find the real thugs.
小杰子J：请找出真正的施暴者

duan003: Forward this weibo: Look at how you treat the cases of Linyi and Huzhou. Is the law a waistband you can relax and tighten?
duan003：转发此微博:看看你就临沂和湖州的两套标准，法律是裤腰带么，可松可紧？

boao_zhong: If you you could look at the violence government-hired gangsters have visited on Chen Guangcheng and say, “Whatever the reason, perpetrators of violence must be harshly punished,” and don’t just say it’s the village environment and the state of the country [that’s to blame], then I would believe you.
boao_zhong：你要是能在陈光诚或去看他的人被政府雇佣的匪徒施暴时，也能说句“无论何因，施暴者都应受严惩”，而不是什么农村环境，国情论，我就信你。

Matt’s Bacon: Why haven’t they punished the people who beat up Chen Guangcheng? Where did you come up with your double standard?
马修腊肉：对陈光诚施暴的为什么可以不受严惩？？？你的双重标准是如何制定的？

IsAnyoneStillNamedLiYaning: Why violence? Because are other routes have dead-ended.
还有人叫李亚宁吗：为什么会发生暴力?因为正常途径堵死了。

PoetKnight: It’s all over. There’s no one left to trust…
诗剑侠：完了, 又没人信了…