protest - Official condones violent farmers' fight for rights

Howard French picked up this article in the unlinkable South China Morning Post where Chen Xiwen, vice-minister of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs, explaining why the spate of violent protests at the country side are actually a good sign:

“On the one hand, riots like the one in Dongyang are a tragedy and show that local authoritiesfailed to do a proper job,” Mr Chen said. “But on the other hand, they show that our farmers knowto protect their rights, which is a good thing.
“It shows farmers’ democratic awareness is improving, but unfortunately their sense of law andorder has not improved as quickly.”

Mr. Chen is a key policy maker for the central government on agriculture.