China: Clashes with the chengguan in two cities

RFA/Mandarin — Monday, Feb. 25, 2008. From Hong Kong-based reporter Qiao Long:
Last week in southern China’s Nanning city, a vegetable peddler was beaten up by urban management officers, triggering confrontation between angry bystanders and the officers for about two hours.
According to China’s Nanguo Zaobao newspaper, on the afternoon of Feb. 23, urban management officers, also [...]

China: Govt promises to up land compensation

China says it will set up efforts to educate farmers on their property rights and encourage them to resolve land disputes through legal means, RFA’s Mandarin service (ZH) reports.
Whether this will include having locally elected officials recalled if they don’t meet requirements, isn’t yet clear.
In the meantime, China plans to raise the compensation it offers [...]

China: Mass incidents vs. the sound of empty clapping

Video shows a rally by “ant farmers” in Liaoning.
From RFA’s Mandarin service(ZH):
A researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences says 35 percent of “mass incidents” in China are sparked by rural communities fighting for their rights, 30 percent by workers, 15 percent by ordinary citizens, 10 percent from other disputes, [...]

China: Protests in Guangxi and Jiangxi

I also went up on the machine to try to get him off. I didn’t want there to be a fight. There were only a few of us, and so many government officials. As soon as I went up there I tugged on the sleeve of Court Official Chen. He grabbed hold of me and [...]

Cantonese: Guangdong detentions over land protest

Hundreds of officials and security personnel were patrolling Shibixia village in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong Monday following demonstrations by local residents. The uneasy state of calm descended following demonstrations early Monday when dozens of local residents protested the detention of several of their number at the weekend who had been planning to lodge [...]

Cantonese: 30 injured, 100 detained in Yunnan land clash

More than 30 people were injured, 10 of whom were hospitalized, after clashes in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan last Saturday, local residents told RFA’s Cantonese service.
“They sent armed police and police down here because they have offered the villagers compensation of just 83 yuan (U.S.$11) per square metre of land, and this [...]

Cantonese: Two land protests

Six villagers’ representatives from Wanglou village, Funing County in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu were detained on the night of Oct. 28 over a land compensation dispute, sources told RFA’s Cantonese service(ZH).
The wife of one detained man, Yang Jiaren, said: “About 7 or 8 policemen intruded into our house and brought Yang away saying [...]

Qingdao: Eviction on National Day holiday?

This rather shaky video was taken on Danxian Road, and appears to show the authorities removing banners attached to the roof of the apartment building.
More than 200 residents of an apartment block in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao have begun a protest after being ordered to vacate their homes, RFA’s [...]

MANDARIN: Hubei Villagers Protest Forced Demolition

MANDARIN: Villagers Protest Forced Demolition (07-09-07)
Reporter: Ding Xiao
Length: 4:25
MC: Last Saturday morning, a forced demolition took place in Miao’erzui County, Huangshigang District, Huangshi City of Hubei Province. Two houses were dismantled. One of the two house owners who resisted the dismantlement – the couple of Zhang Sishen and Wu Xirong – were beaten with iron [...]

Mandarin: The Internet and civil rights in China

RFA Mandarin service reporter Wu Jing is currently airing an eight-part feature series on the Internet in China (ZH), and its role in the country’s civil rights movement. Here, she summarizes her programs in English, beginning with Part 1:
A magazine editor in Fujian province for example confesses that, staying online 12 hours everyday, he is [...]