Authorities blockade Chinese town rebelling over land dispute

Villagers in the Chinese town of Wukan are now in open revolt as, in the fourth month of their land dispute with the government, they expelled all Communist Party officials. Last Sunday they also repelled an attempt by around a thousand police to retake the town using tear gas and water cannons.

Negotiations were previously ongoing over the land dispute with villagers claiming farmland was taken, and sold to private developers Country Garden, with no compensation provided to locals. However, recent remarks over the legality of the initial protests in September by a county-level spokesperson prompted a return to street protests last week in the Guangdong province town.

Mass-protests on economic grounds are frequent in China. An average of around 15,000 protests occur each month. Local officials are frequently accused of requisitioning land, using police and thugs to intimidate rural farmers and complete — often illegal — evictions. Following this, and as seems the case in Wukan, the land is sold on to local developers and entrepreneurs with no compensation paid to the evicted.

When rioting began this September in Wukan, State news agency Xinhua said that eleven investigations into forced evictions which had led to violent protests were underway. A total of 31 local officials were facing potential criminal charges, with the reported cases of land grabs a mix of “illegal” and “badly executed” evictions. In at least one case, a forced eviction resulted in the death of a 48-year-old woman.