| Siege of Wukan | |||||
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| Villagers confront riot police in Wukan, 11 December 2011 | |||||
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| Parties to the civil conflict | |||||
| Lufeng local Government | Villagers of Wukan | ||||
| Casualties | |||||
| Sep: at least 2 serious injuries[1] One death in police custody on or around 10 Dec.[2][3] |
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The Protests of Wukan or Siege of Wukan is an anti-corruption movement with noticeable protests in September 2011, escalating into a local uprising in December 2011[4] in the southern Chinese village of Wukan (simplified Chinese: 乌坎; traditional Chinese: 烏坎; Mandarin Pinyin: Wūkǎn; Jyutping: Wu1 Ham2), Lufeng city. Wukan has a population of 12,000.
The protests began on 21–23 September 2011 after officials sold land to real estate developers without properly compensating the villagers. Several hundred to several thousand people protested in front of and then attacked a Chinese Communist Party building, a police station and an industrial park. Protesters held signs saying "give us back our farmland" and "let us continue farming." Rumours that the police had killed a child further inflamed the protesters and provoked rioting. Residents of Wukan had previously petitioned the national government in 2009 and 2010 over the land disputes. In an apparent attempt to ease tensions, authorities allowed villagers to select 13 representatives to engage in negotiations.
Security agents abducted five of the representatives and took them into custody in early December. The protests strengthened after one of the village representatives, Xue Jinbo, died in police custody in suspicious circumstances.[2][3] The villagers forced all Communist Party officials and police to flee the village.[5] As of 14 December 2011[update], a thousand police laid siege to the village, preventing food and goods from entering the village.[4][6] Government authorities set up internet censorship against information about Wukan, Lufeng and Shanwei.[7]
Wukan is a village that had often been described as being especially harmonious.[8] International newspapers described the December uprising as being exceptional[5][4][9][10] compared to other "mass incidents" in the People's Republic of China which numbered approximately 180,000 in 2010.[11]
The village representatives and provincial officials reached a peaceful agreement, satisfying the villagers immediate requests.[12] Local Communist Party secretary of Shanwei City said that the authority of the city has been "overridden" by provincial intervention.[13]
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Since the abolition of agricultural taxes in 2006, local government has been increasingly raising money through land sales to the extent that this is now a primary revenue stream. Conflicts between farmers and local officials have risen throughout China, often because of land seizures (or "land grabs").[14] There are in excess of 90,000 civil disturbances in China each year,[15] and an estimated 180,000 mass protests occurred in the country in 2010;[16] grievances are often corruption or illegal land seizures. To that end, the Central Government has announced a policy of "zero-tolerance" of illegal land grabs, and pledged to investigate any that are brought to light.[17]
Wukan village (population 20,000) is located in Lufeng county-level city of Guangdong province, some 5 km south ()[18] of Lufeng's central urban area. The village is near the shore of the Wukan Harbor (乌坎港), which is part of the Jieshi Bay (碣石湾) of the South China Sea.[19] The village has enjoyed the reputation on the mainland for many years as a model village for its harmoniousness, civility and prosperity. Villagers alleged local officials had grabbed hundreds of hectares of cooperative land and were "secretly selling" it to a real estate developer.[8] Farmland in Lufeng city has been progressively giving way to new developments. Projects in recent years have included a palatial new government building and a sumptuous holiday hotel resort that contained a row of 60 luxury villas. A glitzy new "Golden Sands" nightclub is a new attraction that brings rich visitors from out of town.[14]
Residents in several villages near Wukan alleged that village officials had confiscated their farm land and sold it to for development.[8][20] Thus, the livelihoods of many were at stake: many were facing severe hardship with no land to till, and needing to buy food on their meagre urban incomes.[8] Wukan villagers said that they were unaware of the sale until developers began construction work, and allege that local Communist party officials had profited from the sale of communal land for RMB1 billion (US$156m) to Country Garden.[1] Villagers assert that 400 hectares of farmland have been appropriated without compensation since 1998.[21] They petitioned various levels of government in vain over the years, accused local cadres of "pocketing more than 700 million yuan" ($110 million) of money destined for compensating them since 2006; local officials blamed "troublemakers" who were manipulating villagers "unaware of the truth".[8]
On the morning of 21 September 2011, hundreds of villagers participated in a sit-in protest against local officials outside government offices in Lufeng.[15] According to official statements, initially about 50 people shouting slogans and holding banners protested peacefully.[22] Protesters hoisted banners and carried placards with slogans like "give us back our farmland" and "let us continue farming".[23] Then as the crowd grew in strength, protesters became restless and started damaging buildings and equipment in an industrial park in the village and blocking roads.[22] Policemen were dispatched, and one villager said that they severely beat some teenagers who were banging on a gong to alert fellow villagers of the protest.[8] Three villagers were arrested during the first day's violence. The next day, the police station was besieged by more than 100 villagers demanding the release of the detained villagers, and the violence escalated.[22]
The news that several youngsters had been seriously injured after being set upon by 'thugs' caused hundreds of irate villagers armed with makeshift weapons to besiege a local police station where 30 to 40 officials were sheltering. Hundreds of well-equipped riot police were dispatched; they engaged in a stand-off with the peasants. Video footage shot by villagers in Wukan showed people of all ages being chased and beaten with truncheons by riot police.[8] One Wukan villager described the police and other security staff as "like mad dogs, beating everyone they saw".[14] The Financial Times reported that two children, aged nine and 13, were "badly injured", and that one may have died.[1] Villagers said elderly and children protesting peacefully were harassed and assaulted by "hired thugs", provoking an angry reaction from villagers. The attacks on civilians by 400 police officers were described by the Financial Times as "indiscriminate".[1]
One of the 'hired guns' bragged that he had been brought in by an influential businessman, who paid him RMB3,000 and who promised immunity from reprisals for any assaults.[1] Officials blame the escalation into violence on "rumours" that police officers had beat a child to death. The official statement denied any civilians had died.[15] Internet news of the riots, including photos and videos, were quickly deleted by CCP censors.[24] Press reported that searches on Sina Weibo (microblog) for terms such as "Lufeng" were blocked a short time after the protests began.[8]
On the third day of unrest, the municipality of Shanwei, which has the responsibility for Lufeng, issued a statement saying that 'hundreds of villagers attacked government buildings'. It said 'more than a dozen' police officers had been injured and '6 police vehicles had suffered damage'.[15] In what appeared to analysts as a change of tack, and instead of stepping up police presence and coming down hard on protesters, observers noted that the authorities withdrew visible police presence for several days. Guangdong party chief Wang Yang also reassured by declaring that he was prepared to accept lower economic growth in Guangdong in exchange for an increase harmony within the province.[14] Jean Pierre Cabestan, a politics professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, suspected that the policing change was due to the political aspirations of Guangdong party chief Wang Yang, who wants to "survive and protect his image until next year". Wang, a strongly-touted candidate for the politburo when the Hu / Wen generation retires, had been projecting a "Happy Guangdong" model of development to level the wealth gap and emphasise social harmony. Police only returned on the fourth day after the riots.[14]
On the subject of the land underlying the dispute, a senior official admitted that a sale of the land was envisaged, and interested property developers had already surveyed the site with local officials, but officials said no contract had yet been signed.[8] Guangdong media published reports that suggested protesters acted as mobs that assaulted and injured dozens of riot policemen. Villagers accused the press of blatant bias.[8]
Shanwei city government offered to appoint an interagency committee to delve into the land seizure allegations in exchange for an immediate end to the protests.[25] Officials also said they would consider a fresh village election for a clean and fair representative for in future land negotiations; villagers temporarily suspended their protests.[14]
Thirteen village representatives were elected following the conflict in September 2011, including Xue Jinbo (薛錦波).[9] After Xue Jinbo died in police custody[4] in suspicious circumstances,[9] villagers evicted Communist Party officials and police from the village, leading to a blockade by police.[5]
Xue Jinbo was detained without a warrant in front of a restaurant just before noon (local time) on 9 December 2011 by plainclothes police. He was taken away in a minibus without licence plates.[2] Four other village representatives were also detained on 9 December 2011.
At 11 pm in the evening of 11 December, a Lufeng City official, Huang, called Xue's daughter asking about Xue's full medical history, stating that Xue had been admitted to hospital in critical condition.[2] Xue's daughter and wife went to the hospital at Shanwei in the following few hours, and were made to wait without having access to Xue. Officials told the Xue family that Xue Jinbo had arrived at a local prison at 7 am on 10 December and died at 10 am on 11 December. Other family members were contacted and arrived in Shanwei. Ten family members, including Xue's daughter and wife, were permitted to see Xue's body, but were prevented by police from using cameras and telephones.
According to relatives, Xue's body showed signs of torture:[26] it was covered in bruises and cuts, both his nostrils were caked with blood, his thumbs were bent and twisted backwards. His daughter said her father had "a large bruise on his back suggested he had been kicked from behind."[2] Xue's son-in-law Gao also noted that Xue's knees were bruised. Xue's clothes were clean; his family suggest that he was stripped and then tortured.[9] Xue's family refused official requests for an autopsy to be carried out.[27]
Xinhua News stated that he had a history of asthma and heart disease that forensic investigators had found no evidence of abuse, and that Xue died of cardiac arrest at age 42 / 43.[9] Xue's eldest daughter, Xue Jianwan, categorically denied to a Hong Kong online journal, iSun Affairs, that her father had a history of heart problems.[3] Villagers held a two-hour vigil for him at his home.[28]
Upon news of Xue's death, residents stormed the local police station and clashed with police.[5] Police and Communist Party officials were forced out of the village.[5]
Police cordoned off the area around the village, and blocked the roads leading to the village.[6] The force of 1000 armed officers was unsuccessful in retaking control of the village.[4] The authorities held the village in siege, preventing supplies from entering.[29]
Villagers held daily protest meetings starting on 12 December.[4] As of mid December, the villagers were protesting against the local governments, looking for the intervention of the central government, and hoping that the central government would conduct an investigation.[30][31] Communist Party officials and police were expelled from Wukan by 14 December.[5] Village's representatives were accused of being as ringleaders of the protests. County level official Wu Zili said: "Since December 8, [village representatives] Lin Zulian and Yang Semao organised and incited the villagers to set up barricades around the village. They did this to prevent officials from entering the village and to stop the perpetrators of the earlier riots from leaving the village and turning themselves into the authorities."[32]
On 16 December, provincial Chinese officials "vowed to temporarily halt questionable property sales and to investigate claims that the local government illegally confiscated farmland for private development", according to official news media.[29] The same day, about 7000 people gathered for a ceremony for Xue Jinbo, and the standoff between villagers and authorities continued, with checkpoints from both sides set up around the village. Xue's son, Xue Jiandi, stated: "Right now we have only one demand, and that is that they return the body of my father, he belongs to us, not to the government."[33]
Protesters continued to demonstrate, with their banners pledging loyalty to the Communist Party.[30] A villager reported that the government had offered rice and cooking oil – both of which were in low supply due to the blockade – to villagers who switch sides from the protesters and over to the government, which gained at least a hundred supporters from the effort, although the stall was later shut down.[28]
On 18 December, Lin Zuluan, one of Wukan's representatives, said that "leaders at a higher level of local government summoned [him] for talks" and that they wished to go to the village. Lin Zuluan refused the proposal, saying that there could be no talks until Xue's body is released, the four other village representatives held by police are released, and the villagers' land is returned.[34] In their absence, Wukan was administered, as of 18 December 2011[update], in a temple to the goddess of the sea Mazu.[34]
A breakthrough occurred on 20 December when senior provincial officials intervened in the dispute by acknowledging villagers' basic demands. The officials admitted to mistakes in handling the grievances and vowed to crack down on corruption.[35] On 21 December, after 3 tense days, the village representatives and government representatives reached a peaceful agreement for the villagers to stand down and cancel their march. In return, Xue's corpse would be released, and those detained by police would go free.[36][37] Villagers also secured promises that flaws in electing local officials would be addressed and land that had been confiscated by local government would be redistributed.[38]
A survey conducted on 19 December by the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong indicates strong coverage outside mainland China but none of the 200+ newspapers inside the country published any articles. The story was extensively covered in Ming Pao and Apple Daily in Hong Kong; abroad, articles were published by the Financial Times, Reuters, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and others. 58 articles were surveyed across the region in total, of which 37 were from Hong Kong, 6 from Taiwan, 14 from Malaysia and 1 from Singapore.[39]
Some Sina Weibo microbloggers told the BBC that internet searches related to Wukan and the area were blocked after the December uprising started, and villagers' microblogs were deleted. Web users reacted by using alternative terms to refer to the events.[7]
In an undated video circulated to the national media, Zheng Yanxiong blamed the media for his woes in front of a group of local officials and village representatives, saying that cadres like him were the only ones facing increasing hardship every year: "Our powers decline every day, and fewer and fewer methods are at our disposal. But responsibility becomes bigger and bigger ... Ordinary people have bigger and bigger appetites, and become smarter every day. They are harder and harder to control." This attitude was lampooned in an opinion piece in The Standard.[40]
Xinhua and various state media, which had previously hardly reported the dispute, started publishing articles on 22 December that praised the provincial government for its handling.[38] In a Global Times article, public policy professor at Renmin University praised the provincial government's "evenhanded resolution" of the issue. He said: "The intervention is hard-earned progress, which rebutted previous claims by local authorities that the villagers had organized the protests 'out of malicious attempts'." Lin Zhe, professor at the Party School of the Party Central Committee, criticised local officials for having "poor sense of law and long-term neglect of the public's rights and interests," and said that the escalation of the dispute into violence would not have occurred if local authorities had "properly studied the complaints at the initial stages."[35]
The BBC suggested that the protests were "larger and more intense than many others"[6] and the New York Times described the protests as "unusual for their longevity and for the brazenness of the participants".[9] The Hindu said that Wukan village became "entirely controlled and administered by its residents" and that this was "a likely first in China's modern history."[5] According to The Wall Street Journal, "the Wukan revolt is [2011's] most serious case of mass unrest in China".[10]
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