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BEIJING-China flew a provincial Communist party boss to a remote rubber-growing area of southwestern Yunnan to investigate a weekend clash between police and residents in which two people were killed, state media said.The clash happened in the final weeks ahead of the Olympics, a time when Beijing is at pains to head off the thousands of riots that break out across the country every year, unrest usually linked to corruption and China's yawning wealth gap.Li Jiheng, deputy party chief of Yunnan, ordered an investigation into the cause of death of the two after the clash, in which about 500 rubber farmers armed with knives attacked police, injuring 41 officers and damaging eight police cars."Li ordered a quick investigation...and publicity of the results," state-run Xinhua news agency reported.The attack was sparked when police tried to arrest five people in the Yunnan county of Menglian for allegedly attacking a local rubber company in a long-running dispute between farmers and the private firm, the report said.The incident was similar to a clash Hong Kong media reported in the same province in April, when police opened fire in a feud between villagers and employees of a gold mining company, killing two and wounding more than 20.Chinese authorities have directed officials to redress local residents' grievances and act on complaints to try to resolve disputes and ensure a "harmonious social atmosphere" in the Olympics period.But the country has struggled to curb unrest.In June, 30,000 residents rioted in the streets of Weng'an, in Guizhou province after allegations spread that police had covered up the rape and murder of a local teenage girl.As in the days of Noah....
