Taxi drivers in Louhe, Henan Province went on strike on Nov. 1. Around 500 taxis from Louhe gathered in the Louhe sports stadium, protesting the proliferation of illegal taxis which have affected the normal operations of taxis. A number of illegal taxis were smashed and flipped over.
Epoch Times reporter interviewed Mr. Sun who drives a taxi. He said there are more and more “black market taxis” in Louhe in recent years, taking business from licensed taxi drivers and seriously affecting the operations of the licensed taxi business. Licensed drivers have tried to communicate with the related state department, but doing so was fruitless, Sun said. Out of desperation, they choose to go on strike, and the state’s inaction forced them to crack down the illegal taxis themselves.
A taxi driver named Mr. Li said during an interview on Nov. 2 that illegal taxis account for 1/6 of the licensed taxi business.
Another taxi driver complained during an interview with Radio Free Asia that the state not only didn’t enforce the law regarding black market taxis, it tried to make money from them: each black market car pays the officials 1200 yuan a month!
A netizen uploaded videos showing angry taxi drivers flipping over two sedans. The scene was chaotic, causing a large traffic jam. A few of the taxi drivers who smashed and flipped over cars were arrested by police.
When The Epoch Times reporter contacted the Yancheng branch of the Luohe Police Department to ask about the arrested taxi drivers, the staff there said they didn’t know anything.
Read the original Chinese article.
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