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More than 200 factory workers attacked police officers outside a court in Foshan, Guangdong province on Monday in protest over the compensation they received during the factory's bankruptcy proceedings.

The workers had been employed with the state-owned Lingnan Machinery Factory, which filed for bankruptcy with the city's Nanhai district court in 2001, Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily reported yesterday.

Around 8:30 am on Monday, the workers gathered outside the district court and set up banners in the middle of the road near the court.

Local police, as well as officials of the district emergency office and politics and law committee, rushed to the court and advised the workers to return home.

But some of the workers, reluctant to leave, attacked and injured several policemen with stools and umbrellas. The police later apprehended 17 of the protesters while others eventually left the vicinity of the court.

"Citizens should express their demands in a legitimate way," according to a court statement.

Those who attack state offices and disturb the social order will be investigated according to the law, it said.

The Guangdong provincial department of finance had allocated nearly 25 million yuan ($3.6 million) in compensation to the workers before the factory's bankruptcy petition, Guangzhou Daily reported yesterday.

To solve the housing problem for the factory's 70 households of workers, Nanhai district court had asked the factory's land buyer to set aside 1,700 sq m of land for housing.

In 2007, workers received another nearly 10 million yuan of allowance from authorities.

But these workers have continued to demand more bankruptcy compensation from relevant government departments since 2008.

Questions:

1. Why did 200 factory workers storm a local court in Guangdong Monday?

2. How did several protestors hurt the police?

Answers:

1. Because they were unhappy about compensation after the company went bankrupt.

2. By hitting them with stools and umbrellas.

（英语点津 Helen 编辑）

Brendan joined The China Daily in 2007 as a language polisher in the Language Tips Department, where he writes a regular column for Chinese English Language learners, reads audio news for listeners and anchors the weekly video news in addition to assisting with on location stories. Elsewhere he writes Op’Ed pieces with a China focus that feature in the Daily’s Website opinion section.

He received his B.A. and Post Grad Dip from Curtin University in 1997 and his Masters in Community Development and Management from Charles Darwin University in 2003. He has taught in Japan, England, Australia and most recently China. His articles have featured in the