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Local residents sue government over evictions
A Chinese man protesting local governmentattempts to remove local rural residents from their land has died, andseveral more have been arrested after clashes with police in the southernprovince of Guangdong, local residents told Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Sun Zhichai, of Xinxing County, was part of a delegation of farmers who wentto local government offices in an attempt to negotiate with officials, aftertwo villages in the county received eviction papers ordering them to give upland currently used for farming. Sun died on one of these visits as policeswooped on protesters, arresting five people and claiming that his death wascaused by a heart attack.
However, local residents told RFA�s Cantonese service that his death was thedirect result of a police beating.
�The government said he was too excited, so had a heart attack," one mansaid in an interview. �But our peasants saw him struck down by a policestick and pushed down to a pond where he died instantly.�
A second farmer confirmed the dead man�s identity, naming two others placedunder arrest following the incident, Sun Zhimin and Sun Guolin. He also said that the land dispute was the the reason behind Sun Zhichai�s death and the arrests.
No comment was immediately available from local authorities.
According to local sources, the county government served Ding and Daojivillages with eviction notices in August 2003, ordering them to surrender1,600 mu (263 acres) of land for compulsory sale at well below market rates.
The farmers, who rely on this land for their livelihoods, began sittingoutside government offices in nearby Xinxing township in the hope of talkingto officials. Sun�s death and the arrests occurred during this time.
The wife of another protester, Lao Suchan, said her husband was arrestedbecause the protesters refused to go along with the government�s demands,which they had attempted to back up with a set of 1994 regulations. She alsosaid the farmers had filed a lawsuit against county authorities with theYunfu District court, with the hearing scheduled for Nov. 5.
�We did not accept the price they gave us,� Lao�s wife said. �On the openmarket you need 1,000 yuan to buy one square foot of land. Now they want togive us 3,000 yuan for one mu (47,000 square feet).�
Mrs. Lao said the family would have no land and no livelihood left if theycomplied with the government�s request. �I have no job, and can�t find ajob,� she said. �We asked the county officials to show us the legal documentallowing them to take over our land, but they won�t even show us the rightdocument. All my husband did was sit in front of the county buildingpeacefully.�
She said Lao had been detained in the county prison for the past two monthsbut that she had been refused permission to see him.
The requisition of land by local governments and state-owned enterprises hasbecome one of the most controversial topics in both urban and rural areas inChina, as new roads, factories, and housing and office developments havesprung up nationwide.
Local residents evicted from their homes often complain of poor governmentcompensation and forceful removals, while many accuse the government ofcashing in on the real estate market at their expense. Some residents'groups in urban areas have lodged class-action suits against localgovernments and developers.
Chinese attorneys and legal scholars have denounced the now-widespreadaggressive demolition and relocation practices as government-sponsoredthuggery, which China's weak judicial system is failing to check.
RFA broadcasts news and information to Asian listeners who lack regularaccess to full and balanced reporting in their domestic media. Through itsbroadcasts and call-in programs, RFA aims to fill a critical gap in thelives of people across Asia. Created by Congress in 1994 and incorporated in1996, RFA currently broadcasts in Burmese, Cantonese, Khmer, Korean, Lao,Mandarin, the Wu dialect, Vietnamese, Tibetan (Uke, Amdo and Kham) andUyghur. It adheres to the highest standards of journalism and aims toexemplify accuracy, balance and fairness in its editorial content. #####