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NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Chinese Communists steal land - farmers riot


Farmers riot in Southern China as their land is stolen by the Communist Party
and sold to developers.

Property Rights:  Communist Party headquarters and a police station attacked . . . "Return my ancestral farmland”


Media reports say that a peaceful protest by thousands of villagers in China over a land dispute turned violent while residents had clashes with police. Villagers in Southern China smashed buildings and damaged vehicles.

On Wednesday about 50 residents of Wukan village in Guangdong province of China held a peaceful protest after rumor spread that local village officials will sell their farm land without their consent.

It was known to media sources that villagers were angry by the seizure of hectares of land and their sale to property developer Country Garden for 1 billion yuan ($156.6 million). They shouted slogans and held up banners, according to a statement issued by the government of Lufeng city, which oversees the village.

Gradually the number grew and hundreds the residents began smashing buildings and equipments in an industrial park and blocked roads.

Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reported that witnesses in Lufeng city said that around a dozen residents were hurt. Violent protesters even attacked local Communist Party headquarters and a police station, reported Post.

In an another report by AP, police arrested 3 villagers for planning the protest. On Thursday, more than 1000 villagers showed up outside a police station to seek the release of the villagers, and again clash broke out. Villagers smashed the windows of the police station and overturned vehicles as more villagers joined them. Police released the three villagers after that. The Lufeng government statement said more than 10 police officers were injured and six police vehicles were damaged in Thursday’s violence.

In China, all land is owned by the government.

"We are very angry because we have no land for our livelihood anymore," one farmer was quoted as saying.

Photos of the unrest circulating on the popular microblogging site Sina Weibo showed villagers marching with a large banner saying “Return my ancestral farmland,” a young man smashing an overturned police van with a stick, as well as riot police with shields and helmets huddling together.

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