CHINA: Thousands of villagers march in protest to demand action after local officials fail to address discontent over land grab disputes in south

Record ID: 872930

  • Title: CHINA: Thousands of villagers march in protest to demand action after local officials fail to address discontent over land grab disputes in south
  • Date: 24th November 2011
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (NOVEMBER 23, 2011) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) BEIJING INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND CHINA ISSUES, HU XINGDOU SAYING: "One aspect that makes this a matter of high priority for the central government is that China has entered into a very risky period, not just one of an average risk level. I'm afraid that if the central government doesn't put some measures in place in the next five years or so, the whole of China could go out of control."
  • Embargoed: 9th December 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China, China
  • City:
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAIQX445QJ8L18PO5FXHPXVGL1
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  • Story Text: Thousands of villagers angry that officials had failed to address their grievances following riots two months ago marched to a government office in southern China on Tuesday (November 22) to demand the return of land they say was illegally seized, witnesses and media said.
    The latest protest against illegal land grabs came after a series of strikes in factories in Guangdong province, China's economic powerhouse.
    More than 4,000 Wukan residents on Monday (November 21) surrounded the government headquarters in nearby Lufeng City, witnesses said.
    Protesters waved banners and shouted slogans denouncing local officials as greedy and corrupt. They dispersed about an hour later without incident.
    Hu Xingdou, a professor of China issues at the Beijing Institute of Technology, said that land grabs in the southern provinces could be aggravated because of the higher prices attached to the land.
    "It (corruption) is quite serious all over China. But of course, in the south the land grab problem is bigger. Its industrial sector is developing at a faster rate, so land grabbing in the industrial and agricultural sectors is more serious, that's why corruption in the south is probably worse. The amount of money involved is also greater, because its land is worth more money," he said.
    Hundreds of Lufeng residents ransacked government offices in Wukan two months ago in a flare-up over the same issue.
    Hu said he believed that unrest in China could get worse if the central authorities do not take concrete measures to address the people's discontent.
    "One aspect that makes this a matter of high priority for the central government is that China has entered into a very risky period, not just one of an average risk level. I'm afraid that if the central government doesn't put some measures in place in the next five years or so, the whole of China could go out of control," he said.
    Rural land grab disputes are hitting new highs in China and spreading to the undeveloped west of the country, according to a country-wide poll published in the Outlook Weekly at the end of October, a magazine run by China's Xinhua news agency.
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