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BEIJING - Taxi drivers in a southwest Chinese city went on strike on Monday, protesting over a series
of gripes from scarcity of fuel to heavy-handed traffic fines, state media said.
Those drivers that did go to work in Chongqing, China's fourth-largest city, "either found their cab windows smashed or their passengers pulled from the vehicles", Xinhua news agency said, quoting a transport official.
Another official blamed "insufficient supplies of compressed natural gas, which powers most taxis in the city, competition from unlicensed cabs, and huge fines for traffic violations".
China's cab drivers have been squeezed in recent years by sharply rising gas prices and rapid inflation, which have not been fully matched by increases in their rates.
Officials are reluctant to let them charge more because taxis are a key means of getting around in a country where car ownership is still relatively limited and public transport is often crammed and slow.
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