MCLC: Wukan conflict intensifies

Denton, Kirk denton.2 at osu.edu
Wed Dec 14 09:19:04 EST 2011


MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: Wukan conflict intensifies
***********************************************************

Source: NYT (12/14/11):
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/world/asia/chinese-village-locked-in-rebe
llion-against-authorities.html

Chinese Village Locked in Rebellion Against Authorities
By ANDREW JACOBS

BEIJING ‹ A long-running dispute between farmers and local officials in
southern China exploded into open rebellion this week after villagers
chased away government leaders, set up roadblocks and began arming
themselves with homemade weapons, residents said.

The conflict in Wukan, a coastal settlement in the country¹s booming
industrial heartland in Guangdong Province, escalated on Monday after
residents learned that one of the representatives they had selected to
negotiate with the local Communist Party had died in police custody. The
authorities say a heart attack killed the 42-year-old man, but relatives
say his body bore signs of torture.

Spasms of social unrest in China have become increasingly common, a
reflection of the widening income gap and deepening unhappiness with
official corruption and an unresponsive justice system.

But the clashes in Wukan, which first erupted in September, appear to be
unusual for their longevity ‹ and for the brazenness of the participants.

Reached by phone on Wednesday, residents said throngs of people were
staging noisy rallies by day outside Wukan¹s village hall, while young men
with walkie-talkies employed tree limbs to obstruct roads leading to the
town. Not far away, heavily armed riot police were maintaining their own
roadblocks. The siege has prevented deliveries from reaching the town of
20,000, but residents said they had no problem receiving food from
adjoining villages.

Communist Party officials in Shanwei, the jurisdiction that includes
Wukan, declined to comment on Wednesday evening saying they would hold a
news conference on Thursday.

The unrest began in September, when thousands of people took to the
streets to protest the seizure of agricultural land they said was
illegally taken by government officials. The land was sold to developers,
they said, but the farmers ended up with little or no compensation. After
two days of protests, during which police vehicles were destroyed and
government buildings ransacked, riot police moved in with what residents
described as excessive brutality.

With order restored, local officials vowed to investigate the villager¹s
land-grab claims. Two village party officials were fired and the
authorities made an offer that is rare in China¹s top-down political
system: county party officials would negotiate with a group of village
representatives chosen by popular consensus.

A butcher named Xue Jinbo was among the 13 people chosen.

It is unclear what happened next, but villagers say the goodwill
evaporated earlier this month after a Lufeng County government spokesman
condemned the earlier protests as illegal and accused Wukan¹s ad hoc
leaders of abetting ³overseas forces that want to sow divisions between
the government and villagers.² A few days later, residents took to the
streets again and staged a sit-in. Last Friday, the authorities responded
by sending in a group of plain-clothes policemen who grabbed five of the
representatives, including Mr. Xue.

Two days later, he was dead.

According to a 24-year-old villager who described himself as Mr. Xue¹s
son-in-law, his knees were bruised, his nostrils were caked with blood and
his thumbs appeared to be broken. The man, who spoke by phone and gave his
surname as Gao, declined to fully identify himself. ³We¹ve been to the
funeral home a couple of times but the police won¹t release his body,² he
said.

Although government censors blocked news of the latest unrest, the
state-run Xinhua news agency weighed in on the ³rumors² about Mr. Xue¹s
death, saying he had died of cardiac arrest a day after confessing to his
role in the riots of in September.

The account, published Tuesday, cited public security officials who said
Mr. Xue had a history of asthma and heart disease and it referred to a
report by forensic investigators who found no evidence of abuse. ³We
assume the handcuffs left the marks on his wrists, and his knees were
bruised slightly when he knelt,² Luo Bin, deputy chief of the Zhongshan
University forensics medical center told Xinhua.

The top party official in Shanwei, Zheng Yanxiong, said Mr. Xue¹s death
would nonetheless be investigated, but he warned residents against using
their suspicions to fuel unrest.

³The government will strive to settle all related problems and hopes the
village will not be instigated into staging further riots,² Mr. Zheng said.

Shi Da contributed research.






More information about the MCLC mailing list