|
China police, farmers clash in land row
2007-08-26
At least two people were injured and two detained when villagers and police clashed over a land dispute in northeastern China, a witness said Sunday. A newspaper reported one person was killed in the incident. Farmers in Yutian, a village in Heilongjiang province, set up roadblocks Saturday to protest a new commercial housing project requiring the razing of their homes, said a villager reached by telephone. Residents were also angry over the meager compensation offered by the developers, said the villager said, who declined to give his name for fear of retaliation by local authorities. "The roads were blocked by many villagers around 7 a.m.," he said. "About three hours later, anti-riot police were called and about 100 of them showed up and there was a clash." Two people were seriously injured, and police took away two others, the villager said. Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper, citing witnesses, said that the developers called in police and hired thugs to seize the land. One person was killed in the ensuing clash, the newspaper said, without providing details. About 300 families could be affected by the development, and demolition work has already begun, the newspaper said. Violent incidents have broken out across China in recent years as citizens vent anger over official corruption, land confiscations and a growing gap between the rich and poor. A man who answered the telephone at the office of the Harbin city government, which oversees the county where Yutian is located, said he had not heard of the case. An operator at the public security bureau said no one was on duty. On Sunday, a few policemen were patrolling Yutian but things were otherwise quiet, said the villager reached by telephone. Zhao Qing, a resident whose home would be demolished because of the project, was quoted by the Hong Kong paper as saying that the $130 per square meter compensation offered by the developers was insufficient and way below market prices. "We either have no place to live or have to settle for a much smaller house," he said.
| 
