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China: Thousands of Residents Clash with Police over Land Appropriation (another riot)
Yonhap News ^ | 07/04/05 | Kwon Young-suk

Posted on 07/04/2005 5:58:45 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster

/begin my translation

China: Thousands of Residents Clash with Police over Land Appropriation

 (Hong Kong, Yonhap News) correspondent Kwon Young-suk --  In China, 2,000 residents clashed with thousands of policemen over land appropriation. About 20 residents were hurt due to police beatings and many were detained.

Hong Kong's Ming-bao reported on its July 4th issue that 2,000 or so residents clashed with police over land appropriation in Nanhai District, Foshan City, Guangdong Province, China.

Residents complained, "The local government did not consult with residents at all in appropriating land, and the compensation for the appropriated land was too little, which was paid afterwards." 

 They said, "200 residents have stood watch over the land after having heard on June 30th that it will be appropriated, but 4-5,000 cops (came and) blocked the neighborhood and forcibly pulled people out."

They claimed, "Cops brought in about 60 heavy equipment, including excavator(s,) and plowed over flower and banana field, with resulting crop damage running up to 8 million yuan($967,000.)

2,000 or so residents gathered at the land to be appropriated on the next day, July 1st, to stop the government's forced appropriation, but police put it down, leading to many injuries and detained four.

On July 2nd, Chinese reporters coming from Beijing and one American reporter were detained while trying to cover the clash, and cameras of some reporters were confiscated.

On the same day, 1,000 residents flocked in front of a police substation near Sanshan harbor, demanding the release of detained residents, mounting angry protest. They are on a standoff against 600 cops.

Residents say, "The local government appropriated the land without our consent. We plan to do our protest again in front of government offices in charge."  

/end my translation


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cameraconfiscation; china; compensation; corruption; detention; injury; journalist; landappropriation; riot
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/59498.asp

Thousands of Chinese farmers protest government-backed land grab

Weekend ?July 3, 2005

Thousands of farmers demonstrated against a government-backed land grab in China's southern Guangdong province, with clashes erupting after police detained some protestors, a rights group said.

The protests were the latest in a series of incidents that have turned violent throughout China in recent months over government land requisition polices or abuse of power.

Four villagers were rounded up by police Thursday evening after the farmers tried to stop bulldozers from levelling about 670 hectares (1,656 acres) of land near Sanshangang village, the Empowerment and Rights Institute said.

On Saturday, the third consecutive day of protests, demonstrators surrounded Sanshangang's public security bureau demanding the release of the arrested farmers, said Maggie Hou, an official with the independent institute.

"Some 200 demonstrators began the protest on Saturday, but by the evening several thousand protesters had arrived, with farmers from other areas also joining in," Hou told AFP.

Around 600 police watched as the protesters shouted slogans and carried banners that said "give our land back" and "the land law should be implemented equally", Hou said.

Police in Sanshangang refused to comment on the incident, only saying inquiries should be made to higher officials. Higher police officials in Nanhai county, which administers Sanshangang, also refused to comment.

According to Hou, at least one person, identified as Shao Shuntian, was arrested after clashes broke out with the law enforcement officers on Saturday.

"Police clubbed her with a baton and began kicking her after she fell down. She tried to fight back and so they took her away," Hou said.

An independent American photographer, Scott Gorman, was also detained Saturday by local police but was released later in the day.

Up to 7,000 farmers are being evicted from the land, in a murky process that began when several of the village leaders were bribed into signing blank contracts with the local land administrative office in 1992, the institute said.

Land prices in Guangdong, the shop floor of China's booming export-oriented industry, have sky-rocketed in the past two decades as thousands of factories have sprung up to take advantage of the region's cheap labor resources.

Farmer's protests are becoming increasingly frequent in China, with most of the unrest stemming to heavy-handed government land requisition polices or the abuse of power by officials.

A waning gap between rich and poor that has appeared following 20 years of robust economic growth has also led to widespread dissatisfaction among China's low-income earners, social scientists said.

Last month, the National Bureau of Statistics said the top 10 percentile of the nation's richest people enjoyed 45 percent of the country's wealth, while the poorest 10 percent had only 1.4 percent of the wealth.

Last week, police arrested 10 people after thousands rioted in the eastern Chinese city of Chizhou in Anhui province, after a car owner and his accomplices beat up a man who scratched the car with his bicycle.

The riot erupted after locals came to the conclusion the owner of the car was a government or police official.

On Thursday, hundreds of Chinese villagers in eastern Zhejiang province marched on a battery factory which they say was poisoning their children and held 1,000 workers hostage.

About 600 people from Jianxia village in the eastern province of Zhejiang took control of the Zhejiang Tianneng Battery company and barricaded workers inside, locals said.

Late last month, Chinese President Hu Jintao urged the country's paramilitary police, who often respond to riots, to do more to ensure social stability, especially as the country faced more unrest despite the booming economy.

And earlier in June, six people were killed and nearly 50 were injured after a gang of up to 200 thugs were hired to beat up farmers in a village in Hebei province for refusing to comply with government eviction orders. ?AFP

1 posted on 07/04/2005 5:58:49 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
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To: TigerLikesRooster; maui_hawaii; tallhappy; Dr. Marten; Jeff Head; Khurkris; hedgetrimmer; ...

Ping!


2 posted on 07/04/2005 5:59:14 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
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To: TigerLikesRooster

This is a preview of what is going to happen here if the men in black keep up what they are doing.


3 posted on 07/04/2005 6:01:22 AM PDT by Piquaboy (22 year veteran of the Army, Air Force and Navy, Pray for all our military .)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Seems that the Communist Chinese are more willing to fight for their right to private property than we in the USA. What a shameful Independence Day this is as we sit at our computers and let 5 judges take away our right to private property!


4 posted on 07/04/2005 6:02:36 AM PDT by kittymyrib
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To: TigerLikesRooster
The U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of Communist China's own 'eminent domain' case.

"We will take from you for the good of the people"
-Hillary Rodham-

5 posted on 07/04/2005 6:04:38 AM PDT by TexasCajun
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To: TigerLikesRooster

FIRE UP THE TANKS....

I wonder how much longer the Chinese government is going to put up with this stuff.....

but I do hope that this is the beginning of something much much bigger for the Chinese people.


6 posted on 07/04/2005 6:06:25 AM PDT by MikefromOhio (Sleep in peace, comrades dear...)
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To: kittymyrib

I dont know about you but they arent gonna take away my property..... >:-0

And as for the Chinese people, I hope they keep it up, else we may once again face a significantly more powerful communist nation than in past conflicts.


7 posted on 07/04/2005 6:07:16 AM PDT by IronChefSakai (Life, Liberty, and Limited Government!)
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To: Piquaboy
This is a preview of what is going to happen here if the men in black keep up what they are doing.

Think of it as an economic productivity boost...just like outsourcing and exportation of our industrial base.
8 posted on 07/04/2005 6:16:11 AM PDT by ARCADIA (Abuse of power comes as no surprise)
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To: TigerLikesRooster
What is the gripe? This is legal in the U S of A!

The Supreme Court calls it "Eminent Domain"

9 posted on 07/04/2005 6:26:55 AM PDT by albee (A paranoid schizophrenic is somebody who just found out what is going on.)
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To: albee

I call it socialism!


10 posted on 07/04/2005 6:30:25 AM PDT by Piquaboy (22 year veteran of the Army, Air Force and Navy, Pray for all our military .)
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To: kittymyrib

Seems that the Communist Chinese are more willing to fight for their right to private property than we in the USA. What a shameful Independence Day this is as we sit at our computers and let 5 judges take away our right to private property!

Exactly, July 4 would be just another day if our fore fathers acted like we do.


11 posted on 07/04/2005 6:41:56 AM PDT by freedomfiter2
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To: TigerLikesRooster

"They claimed, "Cops brought in about 60 heavy equipment, including excavator(s,) and plowed over flower and banana field, with resulting crop damage running up to 8 million yuan($967,000.)"

Now thats eminent domain.


12 posted on 07/04/2005 6:42:38 AM PDT by dljordan
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To: kittymyrib
Seems that the Communist Chinese are more willing to fight for their right to private property than we in the USA. What a shameful Independence Day this is as we sit at our computers and let 5 judges take away our right to private property!To day I can clearly see how we have lost our liberty, it is a sad day.

Do not blame the Judges alone. The Voters of New London are every bit as much to blame for electing a communist city government, as are the voters in every other city that has abused eminent domain.

The American People who elected the rats are to blame.

Law enforcement thugs who value their government pension over their oath to defend the Constitution are to blame when they actually remove people from their property. They are no different than the cops in China - excepting that the Chinese are more honest - they do not claim to protect natural rights.

13 posted on 07/04/2005 6:45:25 AM PDT by Mark was here (My tag line was about to be censored.)
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To: Piquaboy
"I call it socialism!"

I call it Grand Theft!

14 posted on 07/04/2005 6:56:13 AM PDT by albee (A paranoid schizophrenic is somebody who just found out what is going on.)
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