Police clashed with protesters in a May Day demonstration in the Chinese territory of
Macau .
The protesters numbered at around 2000 demonstrated against state corruption and illegal
workers. Local workers are angry that cheap illegal workers, mainly from Mainland China, are entering the territory to take jobs in Macau’s lucrative casino industry and undermine the local work laws. Local workers are angry that the boom in the industry is benefiting few and leaving many behind.
"The government is rich, the casinos are rich, but nobody is looking out for the Macau
people," one marcher told the AFP news agency
Protesters held signs asking for employers to be severely punished and for state officials to be stood down.
Police lashed out with water cannons, fired live “warning” shots into the crowd and used pepper spray as on demonstrators as protesters changed the official route of the march.
The protests and increased militancy of unions has signaled that all is not well in Macau despite the seemingly happy governmental relationship with the Chinese administration, in comparison with other territories like Hong Kong.
