Barely more than a month after police massacred protesting villagers at Shanwei village , police in China again attacked a crowd of villagers protesting the government’s theft of their lands.
On January 14, a bloody clash erupted between the police and residents of Sanjiao Town, Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province. The Chinese communist regime sent out thousands of public security and armed police to use electric batons, clubs, and tear-gas to suppress protesting villagers as well as to cover up the assault.
More than thirty people were injured, and one young girl, a middle school student, died in the hospital of injuries sustained in the police assault. The incident outraged the residents of Zhongshan, and villagers have declared that they will continue to resist to safeguard their rights. This conflict has attracted the attention of many overseas media.
The villagers were engaged in a peaceful sit-in protest to seek compensation for their land, which the government seized for development purposes. As at Shanwei and many other regions, the CCP offered the villagers pennies on the dollar as recompense and then sold the land at inflated prices to developers. Many villagers were impoverished and left homeless by the government’s actions.
The Epoch Times interviewed many villagers, many who were in tears as they told the reporter about the course of events of the conflict.
The Latest Developments
According to the villagers, after the conflict, the entrances of Fanlong, Southeast, Aiguo and Heping villages as well as four to five nearby villages of Shanjiao Town were blockaded by masses of public security and armed police. In the evening, the police used high-watt lamps to light the street intersections and blocked all pathways whereby villagers might leave.
After the armed police attacked and beat the protestors, many villagers went to the local Communist Party office to negotiate, but were ignored. The villagers are very dissatisfied with the regime’s suppression. Currently, there are six to seven police cars patrolling daily and three to four military vehicles parked on every block.
At the first sign of villagers congregating, ranks of armed police rush to the scene and disperse the residents.
One out-of-town man who opened a factory in Shanjiao said, “In all my years, this is my first time seeing the Chinese Communist Party creating such a scene. There have been no further sit-in protests by the villagers because the armed police have been too fierce and often use their weapons to wound people.”
History of Events
According to the villagers, starting from January 11, villagers whose land had been unfairly seized began a sit-in protest in front of the town government office, but the local government officials were indifferent. For several days the local public security officers unceasingly shouted over loudspeakers, “We will use high-pressure water hoses and launch tear-gas bombs to disperse you. We need the villagers, bystanders and irrelevant personnel to leave…” Tensions finally came to a head on January 14th, when armed police rushed into the crowd and began beating the sitting villagers. One young schoolgirl was killed and at least thirty others were injured
The villagers told a reporter, “The communist regime sent police cars and ambulances from Shiqi District, Zhongshan City. Over a hundred army vehicles full of armed police arrived, patrolling at the intersections around the area. They were all fully armed and beat whoever they saw. I saw four or five of armed police attack one villager; they beat him viciously until he lay injured on the ground. The injured man was then carried over to an ambulance and driven away. None of the injured were allowed to remain in Sanjiao Town. The communist regime is currently covering up the truth very carefully.”
A worker from a business that was closest to the scene told the correspondent,“ I have sympathy for the villagers. That day one student who was still in her school uniform was beaten to death. Despite being sent to the hospital, she could not be saved. Our phone and Internet have all been blocked. The phone inside our business is cut off. The road outside has also been blocked.”
Officials Embezzled Money Compensating Villagers for Lost Land
According to the villagers, most of the farmland in Sanjiao Town has been seized for development. Currently, the most expensive piece of land is valued at 180,000 yuan ($22,000) per mu (666.7 square meters;) the average price is 130,000 to 180,000 yuan ($15,900 - $22,000) per mu (666.7 square meters.) The compensation the villagers received is only 1000 yuan ($1220) per mu. Over the past ten years, the villagers have been constantly appealing, but the communist regime has been ignoring the farmers’ situation.
Hong Kong Minson Textile Group triggered this event. The villagers said, “On January 13, a car containing chairman of the Minson Group was blocked by villagers. The villagers told the chairman, ‘Simply tell us how much Minson spent to purchase our land, we are not going to give you a hard time.’ The head of the town and the minister used to promise the chairman that no one dared to touch him. At that time, we have driven away the head of the town and the minister.”
Later the chairman of Minson got out of the car and told the villagers, “I have paid the government 130,000 yuan per mu. You may go check the financial record. Please don’t give me a hard time anymore.” Afterwards, the villagers didn’t let him pass freely.
Authorities Have No Intention of Resolving the Issue; Indignant Villagers Afraid to Speak Out
According to reports, the communist regime has no room for negotiation with the villagers. It only relies on weapons to suppress people. The villagers told them, “Whether or not we want to give in, we have to. They simply beat us until we give in. This is our current status.” After a few days of full blockade, the villagers joked tearfully, “Have Japanese ghosts arrived?”
On the night January 14, they villagers screamed, “The Japanese ghosts have arrived. The communist party is truly no different than Japanese ghosts.” According to a local human rights defender, “The village officials swallowed a huge amount of money; they care nothing about villagers’ lives. The attack by the police upon the villagers was mostly caused by corrupt officials. Once it erupted, even the armed police were ordered to suppress the villagers, so as to cover up the real facts, but could the heart of the people be covered up? Eventually someday the eruption will be more severe. Now the villagers have absolutely no protection. The angry villagers dare not to speak out; instead, they have buried their anger inside their hearts.”
Intersections Blocked, Media Not Permitted to Interview
Villagers said, “Every intersection has been blocked by large forces of armed police. They do not allow media to come in for interviews.”
When the Epoch Times correspondent called the local communist government and police department, the response was that they don’t know anything and therefore had no further comments.
The Guangdong communist regime has many times used criminal tactics to deal with farmers whose land has been seized. While the bloody dispute in Dongzhou town, Shanwei City is not yet over, another bloody fight in Zhongshan City has arisen. Everyone is watching closely on how the Guangdong communist regime will handle the problem of Zhongshan farmers who lost their lands.
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