8 killed in Yunnan land dispute ( 6 burned alive )

[BoQ77]

8 killed in Yunnan land dispute
Author： Source：Agencies Update Time：2014-10-16

Villagers carry police shields injured during clashes at Fuyou village in Jinning county, Kunming, Yunnan province, October 15, 2014. Photo: Reuters

Eight people have died in a clash between workers and villagers in southwestern China over a land dispute, local government said on Wednesday.

The government of Jinning county near Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, said on its official microblog that a fight broke out between workers building a trading and logistics center and the residents of a village.The conflict was triggered by a long-running dispute over the acquisition of land for the center in the village of Fuyou, Jinning County.

Six workers from the company building the Jincheng Pan Asia Industrial and Trade Logistics Center and two villagers were killed, the Jinning government said.

Violent clashes over property are common in China's countryside, where cash-strapped local governments depend on selling land to developers to raise funds, and generally offer low compensation to locals.

The violence began when a construction firm sent in men with riot shields and helmets to fend off locals who were opposed to the building of a logistics centre, financial news outlet Caixin cited locals as saying.

Villagers told Caixin the riot was over a land dispute and those involved were not construction workers but a group of unknown people.

Villagers said a number of people in black uniforms attacked locals late on October 14. Some of the attackers had shields bearing police symbols. The attackers used knives and tear gas, villagers said. One person said villagers fought back by lighting gas on fire, but it is unclear how that worked.

The conflict between the construction firm and villagers dates back to 2011, when 200 hectares of lands were “forcibly acquired” for the development of the logistics center, thepaper.cn said.

Villagers protested against the development, but when they asked to see its official approval documents they were turned away, the report said.

Residents were angry that the development blocked Fuyou’s only access road and destroyed three of the village’s four drainage ditches, which in July of this year resulted in huge flooding and the destruction of a vegetable crop, local newspaper Spring City Evening News reported.

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China Says Some Victims of Yunnan Land Clash Burned Alive
By BEN BLANCHARD / REUTERS| Thursday, October 16, 2014 |


A villager holds a pitchfork and a police shield, which fellow villagers took from injured police during clashes at Fuyou village in Kunming, Yunnan province October 15, 2014. (Photo: Wong Campion / Reuters)

BEIJING — Chinese villagers kidnapped construction workers, tied them up, doused them in gasoline and set it ablaze when a land dispute turned violent, the government said on Thursday, providing grisly details of the latest bout of rural unrest.

Eight people died in Tuesday’s unrest when tension over a new trading and logistics center boiled over in Jinning, a suburb of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province in China’s southwest.

Six of the dead were workers and the other two villagers, while 18 people were injured, one of them seriously.

The Kunming government’s propaganda department said on its official microblog that residents of Fuyou village had been upset for many months over compensation for the land being used in the project, and had already forced building to stop in May.

But on Tuesday, thousands of workers flooded back to the site to resume construction, it added.

“On that day, eight workers who were having breakfast in Fuyou village were illegally detained by villagers, their hands and legs tied up, they were beaten, had gasoline poured on them and were then taken to a road near the building site,” the government said.

Later, hundreds of villagers raided the construction site and fought with workers.

“During the clash, villagers threw home-made explosives into the crowd and set the kidnapped workers alight, while the workers fought the villagers with their tools, causing serious injuries and loss of life,” the government said in a brief statement.

Police will severely punish those who “organized, carried out and proactively participated in illegal criminal activities, no matter who they are”, the government added, without giving details.

Land disputes are one of the main causes of the tens of thousands of protests across China each year. Most go unreported, though some, such as a revolt in the southern village of Wukan in 2011, have attained a high profile and spurred Beijing to promise action.

China’s slowing economy has reduced tax revenues for local governments at a time when the cooling property market has also dampened land sales, an important source of government income.

The unrest in Yunnan comes as the ruling Communist Party meets next week for a conclave to discuss how to strengthen the rule of law, in hopes of damping instability that is greatly feared by the party.

 

[BoQ77]

similar case last year
-----------------------------

Police Fire Teargas on China Village After Land Grab Protest
By JAMES POMFRET / REUTERS WRITER| Monday, March 11, 2013 |

An overturned jeep is seen at the entrance of Shangpu village in China’s southern Guangdong province on March 5, 2013. (Photo: Reuters/James Pomfret)

HONG KONG – Chinese security forces fired tear gas and beat protesters in a village in southern China on Sunday to quell a grassroots protest movement over a land dispute, residents said.

Dozens of villagers were taken to hospitals in Mianhu town and Jieyang city and five people were arrested, witnesses said.

A large contingent of riot police and other security personnel moved into Shangpu village in southern Guangdong province early on Sunday morning, said several residents contacted by Reuters by telephone and on microblogging sites.

“They didn’t say a thing and started firing teargas and beating villagers with truncheons,” said a young villager who witnessed the incident.

“They had torches on their helmets, like miners, and were hitting some old people with truncheons who were sleeping in tents. They gave no warning.”

Gongs were sounded and hundreds of villagers charged out to help those being beaten but were forced back by some 3,000 security personnel and volleys of teargas, villagers said.

The unrest in Shangpu was triggered over a land deal involving some 33 hectares of rice paddies on the outskirts of the village that were leased cheaply to a firm called Wan Feng for 50 years to build an electric cable factory.

The deal, made without majority village consent, was brokered by Shangpu’s village committee chief Li Baoyu, according to a signed contract seen by Reuters.

The villagers want the contract scrapped, their land returned and Li fired.

In late February several hundred men, armed with steel pipes and spades, threatened the 3000-strong village to accept the land deal. Villagers, however, retaliated, chasing the men away and destroyed over 20 of their jeeps and cars.

The villagers refused to allow authorities to clear away the gutted vehicles, demanding the land deal be scrapped first.

But early on Sunday, however, tow trucks cleared away most of the vehicles from a highway outside the village. A small number remained on the main street.

“We tried to stop them from doing this…If they tow away the cars, they won’t do anything anymore,” said a villager.

A senior villager, who delivered a written indictment against the land sale to provincial leaders including Guangdong governor Zhu Xiaodan, said he was shocked and disappointed with Communist Party authorities for cracking down in this manner.

Authorities in nearby Jieyang City have verbally agreed to scrap the land deal, senior villagers say, but they have not yet been offered written proof of this.

The situation in Shangpu is similar to that of another high-profile standoff over land seizures in Wukan village, about an hour’s drive away, that openly revolted for several months over murky land sales in 2011. Like Wukan, Shangpu villagers are also calling for elections to vote in a new village leader.

 

[BoQ77]

Same scenario to later known Hongkong democracy protest, villagers ask for truthful election to vote their real leader.
An assigned leader would put citizens to bad situation, and use criminal gang and police as violence acts to CONTROL the citizens.

There's 180,000 protests similar to this, annually in China.

Hongkongers just learn from them, and was applied the same acts of anti-protest ( by criminal gang, polices, tear gas ... ). Hope the next protest would not end with some deaths like before.

 

[Kyle Sun]

Nice Work!

 

[xesy]

Hongkongers' protest might not be the biggest clash between the citizen and the govt, but it is the most noticable to the world. Before China picks fight with outsiders, it should settle the dispute inside first. For example, I believe that the Xinjang terrorists become much more active when China focused on the despute in SCS last summer.

 

[Soryu]

Well, don't see Chinese cheerleader around here now !? LOL

 

[BoQ77]

For decades: Wukan : the first victory of democracy protest for honesty election, avoid corrupted officials. Every other villagers from other region visit Wukan to learn about how to protest for democracy.

Let visit the links and hear the true voices from Chinese mainland peoples and make a comparison to what happening in Hongkong.

For videos and narrator, visit :
Wukan: After the Uprising - Special series - Al Jazeera English

Wukan: After the Uprising
After ousting its corrupt leadership, one Chinese village grapples with the challenges of democracy.

Special series Last Modified: 26 Jul 2013 08:30

China is no stranger to rural uprisings. Tens of thousands of protests erupt across the country each year, many over the illegal sale of communal village land by corrupt local officials. Few demonstrations lead to real change, but in 2011, one community defied the odds.

Wukan, a village in China’s southern Guangdong province, captured the world’s attention when it achieved a rare victory.

After weeks of noisy protests, a crackdown by local authorities and the death of a leading activist, demonstrators succeeded in ousting the village committee, which had held power for more than four decades. Democratic elections were announced and Wukan made international headlines.

Wukan: After the Uprising tells the story of the village’s journey following its extraordinary victory. This four-part observational documentary series looks at the challenges of a community’s transition to democracy, through the eyes of former rebels now entrusted with the task of leading the village and regaining lost land.

As the international press left Wukan after its historic vote, Al Jazeera stayed on to follow the newly elected village committee in action. Over the course of more than a year, filmmakers Lynn Lee and James Leong documented Wukan’s unique experience with democracy.

From the high of the elections, to the grind of everyday work, to the dilemmas of leadership, this is a rare and intimate portrait of rural China in the midst of remarkable change.

Episode 1: Rebels to Politicians



In China's village of Wukan, an unprecedented election is underway. Wukan hit international news headlines in late 2011 when villagers protested against illegal land grabs by corrupt local officials. The uprising ended with promises of a free and fair election plus the return of Wukan’s land.

Jiancheng, 27, who was arrested during the uprising, now stands as a popular candidate for the election. Lin Zuluan, 68, is another former rebel leader who stands as the primary candidate for village chief. Jiancheng’s younger brother, Jianxing, is the citizen journalist who kept the world informed of the uprising and is now covering the election as it unfolds.

We follow these characters through the days of this extraordinary vote to discover that nothing is straightforward when it comes to democracy. Even on voting day, Jiancheng has to deal with an unexpected event. From the vote to the first meeting of the newly elected village committee, watch the former rebel leaders become politicians as an extraordinary experiment with democracy in China begins.

Rebels to Politicians can be seen from July 4, 2013.

Episode 2: Democracy is complicated



Three months after the elections, village committee Chief Lin Zuluan makes headway with their plans to reclaim the land and new committee member, Jiancheng, is busy dealing with the mundane infrastructure problems of leaking pipes and rubbish disposal. Despite the promising start for the committee, things soon turn sour.

Jianxing discovers a conspiracy against the newly elected chief, and the villagers are impatient for the return of their land. Six months after the election the committee members are losing faith in democracy. On the anniversary of the 2011 uprising the villagers descend upon their newly elected committee and hold a shambolic protest demanding their land back. Committee members try to defend their positions but the chief is left furious.

Democracy is complicated can be seen from July 11, 2013.

Episode 3: Fractures



With the village divided after the latest protests, committee members Jiancheng and Suzhuan try valiantly to continue their work for the unhappy villagers. For one committee member, Zhuang Liehong, life as an official is not what he expected and, in a surprise move, he resigns from the village committee.

The chief is struggling and refuses to accept visitors as he works from home. In an attempt to bring the village together the resigned committee member Zhuang Liehong and village chronicler Jianxing Zhang hold a memorial for Xue Jinbo who died in police custody during the uprising. The event is not sanctioned by the village committee and the divide in Wukan deepens.

Fractures can be seen from July 18, 2013.

Episode 4: The Full Circle



The final episode starts with Chinese New Year celebrations and hopes for a fresh beginning in Wukan. It is not long before another committee member resigns in frustration. The chief refuses to give up on the village and democracy when he discovers some extraordinary news about the borders of Wukan and the stolen land.

One year after the election, the first piece of land is returned but when villagers arrive to inspect the land, their joy quickly turns to anger. Roadblocks, a police stand off and protests against the village committee bring the series, and this first year of democracy in a Chinese village, to a fiery end.

The Full Circle can be seen from July 25, 2013.

Key Characters

• Lin Zuluan , a 68-year-old, retired Communist Party cadre, emerged as the leader of the uprising in 2011 and is the primary candidate for the new chief of Wukan’s Village Committee.

• Jiancheng Zhang , 27-years-old, was arrested with three others at the height of the protests in 2011. Inspired into action following the death of his friend, Xue Jinbo, who died mysteriously in police custody, Jiancheng stands as a candidate for the Village Committee.

• Jianxing Zhang , 21-years-old, is Jiancheng’s younger brother and the village chronicler. Throughout the uprising and the first year of the new village committee, Jianxing uses social media to keep the world informed of developments in Wukan.

Other former activists standing for election who feature in the series include Zhuang Liehong, Chen Suzhuan and Yang Semao.

 

[RPK]

when talking about land protest in china these images comes to mind

 

[BoQ77]

when talking about land protest in china these images comes to mind

In brief, election without democracy assigned corrupt offcials into leaders.
These leaders only focus on making money : get orders to buy land at higher price from investors and force villagers to sell lands at cheap price.
Any protest would be controlled by criminal gang, or police with weapon and tear gas.

In a rare victory in Wukan, the villagers get their democracy in election and get the lands back. By mass protest, violence if needed.
Several village coming to learn from them.

Wukan protest

protest leader become local authority leader

 

[BoQ77]

Zhejiang

 

[key-CN]

BoQ77 Should be in Hong Kong，Just do not know that you are not illegal immigrants.Hong Kong is not your home，None of your business！Although your internationalism people moved.See you so concerned about Chinese affairs it is better to emigrate to China.

 

[BoQ77]

Guizhou ongoing protesters fighting with thousands of police.

Of course, same issue. Land disputes

With below video

2014-10-14
【要闻】贵州三穗数万人示威第二天 千警镇压出动装甲车 两死数十伤 (视频/73图)
2014年10月12日，贵州省黔东南苗族侗族自治州三穗县，数万民众继续在县城游行示威，抗议当局反口县升级为市的决定。
政府从外地调派上千特警、武警，并出动装甲车、直升机到场，武力镇压示威群众。警察拿着警棍见人就打，不管男女老幼都不放过，很多人被打得头破血流，最少数十人被打伤入院，许多人被捕。

中国茉莉花革命: 【要闻】贵州三穗数万人示威第二天 千警镇压出动装甲车 两死数十伤 (视频/73图)

 

[BoQ77]

 

[Kolaps]

Democracy = CRAP!

Public Election created a land grabber leadership!


After Wukan, now these!

 

[BoQ77]

That's why China ban BBC News, both Chinese and English
BBC News - China Week: Confrontation, mainland-style

China Week: Confrontation, mainland-style
Convulsions in Hong Kong continue to reverberate through the politics of the mainland this week, even when Hong Kong is not the focus of the story.

Take two episodes in south-west China, for example.

Mass protest, mainland style

The incident at Fuyou village in China's Yunnan province left six workers and two villagers dead
While Hong Kong debated video showing a protester being kicked by police, a much more deadly confrontation exploded in a village in Yunnan. It was triggered by a long-running dispute over government efforts to confiscate land for a development project.

Police used tear gas and batons. Angry villagers then captured eight people involved in the development project, tied their hands and feet and set them on fire.

Authorities confirmed on Thursday that four had burned to death. Two more died from unspecified injuries and two villagers were also killed.

In neighbouring Guizhou, another land dispute, another mass protest, another violent confrontation.

In this case, two people were reported to be killed and hundreds injured after police backed by armoured vehicles and helicopters attempted to disperse thousands of protesters.

Just two huge demonstrations on the mainland which serve as a foil for events in Hong Kong.

Absence of due process, citizens who feel they have no legal recourse, aggressive policing, an explosion of violence.

Episodes like this provide the context for next week's Communist Party Plenum focused on rule of law.

At least in part, it is an attempt by Beijing to shake local government control over the legal system so that the courts become a more effective tool in resolving such disputes.

Beware all talk of colour

Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong have adopted yellow ribbons
As for mainland thinking on Hong Kong itself, there was an intervention this week from an interesting quarter.

Vice-Premier Wang Yang said the protesters (famous of course for their yellow ribbons) were seeking a "colour revolution".

In Beijing's political rulebook, colour revolution is shorthand for the overthrow of a government through street protest with the backing of hostile Western forces.

It's not the first time mainland media have used this expression. But it's interesting coming from Wang Yang. He was the Communist Party Secretary of Guangdong province who managed to defuse the famous 2011 "siege of Wukan" (yet another rural crisis over land expropriation) and to make space there for a very striking experiment in village democracy.

The experiment has not had a happy ending but that's another story.

Wang Yang's handling of the incident was unusual. And some have touted him as a possible behind-the-scenes diffuser of events in Hong Kong.

If so, this week's talk about "colour revolution" is an uncompromising start.

'Respect the aspirations of 1.3 billion'

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou said that democracy should not be a Western monopoly
When Beijing is tempted to lose patience with Hong Kong, it has to remember Taiwan.

So this week saw a careful response to last week's dramatic intervention by Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou.

Mr Ma said democracy was not a Western monopoly but a universal value, and as China was becoming more prosperous, its people would want more democracy.

China should "let some people go democratic first", he advised.

Mr Ma is usually pro-Beijing, which renders his forthright comments all the more striking and makes it hard for Beijing to dismiss him as just another "colour revolutionary".

So after considering and being conscious of the danger of driving the Taiwanese public further from thoughts of reunification, Beijing came up with this:

"China and Taiwan have embarked upon different courses of political development, and China respects Taiwan's choices. But we hope that Taiwan respects the choices and aspirations of the 1.3 billion people on the mainland."

The obvious retort from the streets of Hong Kong was that it was hard to know what the 1.3 billion people on the mainland choose or aspire to because they haven't been asked.