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A week-long siege of a Chinese village, whose 20,000 residents were protesting land acquisition and had driven out local officials, appeared to end on Wednesday after the Chinese government conceded to their demands in a rare climb-down.
For more than a week, the village of Wukan in southern Guangdong province has been under the control of rebelling villagers, who had earlier this month clashed with police and driven out local Communist Party officials after months of tension following the sale of their land to a private developer.
Recent protests were triggered by the death of a village leader, who had been representing farmers in talks with the government, while he was in police custody.
The Communist Party, which has in the past taken a tough stance on instability and given little leeway to protesters to discourage dissent, on Wednesday took the unusual position of dispatching high-level provincial leaders to settle the dispute, also promising it would forgive protesters who had earlier rioted and driven out local Party cadres.
Zhu Mingguo, deputy Communist Party secretary of Guangdong and the second most important politician in China's most prosperous province, led the delegation to Wukan. Over the past week, Wukan's villagers had barricaded themselves into the village, while thousands of riot police had them surrounded, leading to a tense stand-off that had showed no signs of easing.
Dividends
Villagers had earlier refused calls from local officials in the town of Shanwei, which oversees Wukan, to negotiate, demanding that they first return the body of Xue Jinbo, the village representative who died in police custody.
The decision to dispatch high-level officials appeared to pay dividends. The villagers welcomed Mr. Zhu, who adopted a conciliatory tone and promised to protect the farmers' interests, in a marked departure from the position taken by Shanwei officials in recent weeks.
Mr. Zhu went as far saying the villagers' basic demands were reasonable, the Southern Daily reported. Their extreme behaviour, he was quoted as telling local officials, could be understood and forgiven. He said the Party and government would not hold them responsible for the events of recent days.
The Southern Daily said Mr. Zhu pledged to not punish any rioters who showed sincerity to work with the government to address issues. He also said the local government would suspend the sale of farmers' land to developers or buy back land that had already been sold, as well as return Xue's body and release three other detained village leaders.
Yang Semao, one of the village leaders, said the villagers would stop their protests following the favourable government response. They've agreed to our initial requests, he told Reuters. If the government doesn't meet its commitments, he added, we'll protest again.
Wang Yang, Guangdong's Communist Party chief, who has been widely tipped as a candidate for a seat on the Party's powerful nine-member Politburo Standing Committee following next year's leadership transition, also appeared to empathise with Wukan's villagers.
There was something accidental about the Wukan incident but it was also inevitable, he was quoted as saying by a Guangdong newspaper. This is the outcome of conflicts that have accumulated over a long time in the course of economic and social development.
He said it was the inevitable result of the government adopting an approach of having one hard hand and one soft hand when dealing with social and economic issues respectively.
Yu Jianrong, a leading scholar on social instability and rural development at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, disagreed with
Mr. Wang's verdict. The one tight hand is to deal with villagers, he wrote on the Chinese Twitter equivalent, Sina Weibo. And the hand is soft on corruption.
Even as the Wukan protests subsided, thousands of residents in the nearby town of Haimen gathered in front of government buildings on Tuesday to object to plans to build a power plant.
Behind these conflicts, Mr. Yu said, was a growing tension between an increasing awareness of rights among Chinese citizens on the one hand, and the government's persisting emphasis on stability on the other.
The Hindu : News / International : Chinese officials concede villagers' demands
For more than a week, the village of Wukan in southern Guangdong province has been under the control of rebelling villagers, who had earlier this month clashed with police and driven out local Communist Party officials after months of tension following the sale of their land to a private developer.
Recent protests were triggered by the death of a village leader, who had been representing farmers in talks with the government, while he was in police custody.
The Communist Party, which has in the past taken a tough stance on instability and given little leeway to protesters to discourage dissent, on Wednesday took the unusual position of dispatching high-level provincial leaders to settle the dispute, also promising it would forgive protesters who had earlier rioted and driven out local Party cadres.
Zhu Mingguo, deputy Communist Party secretary of Guangdong and the second most important politician in China's most prosperous province, led the delegation to Wukan. Over the past week, Wukan's villagers had barricaded themselves into the village, while thousands of riot police had them surrounded, leading to a tense stand-off that had showed no signs of easing.
Dividends
Villagers had earlier refused calls from local officials in the town of Shanwei, which oversees Wukan, to negotiate, demanding that they first return the body of Xue Jinbo, the village representative who died in police custody.
The decision to dispatch high-level officials appeared to pay dividends. The villagers welcomed Mr. Zhu, who adopted a conciliatory tone and promised to protect the farmers' interests, in a marked departure from the position taken by Shanwei officials in recent weeks.
Mr. Zhu went as far saying the villagers' basic demands were reasonable, the Southern Daily reported. Their extreme behaviour, he was quoted as telling local officials, could be understood and forgiven. He said the Party and government would not hold them responsible for the events of recent days.
The Southern Daily said Mr. Zhu pledged to not punish any rioters who showed sincerity to work with the government to address issues. He also said the local government would suspend the sale of farmers' land to developers or buy back land that had already been sold, as well as return Xue's body and release three other detained village leaders.
Yang Semao, one of the village leaders, said the villagers would stop their protests following the favourable government response. They've agreed to our initial requests, he told Reuters. If the government doesn't meet its commitments, he added, we'll protest again.
Wang Yang, Guangdong's Communist Party chief, who has been widely tipped as a candidate for a seat on the Party's powerful nine-member Politburo Standing Committee following next year's leadership transition, also appeared to empathise with Wukan's villagers.
There was something accidental about the Wukan incident but it was also inevitable, he was quoted as saying by a Guangdong newspaper. This is the outcome of conflicts that have accumulated over a long time in the course of economic and social development.
He said it was the inevitable result of the government adopting an approach of having one hard hand and one soft hand when dealing with social and economic issues respectively.
Yu Jianrong, a leading scholar on social instability and rural development at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, disagreed with
Mr. Wang's verdict. The one tight hand is to deal with villagers, he wrote on the Chinese Twitter equivalent, Sina Weibo. And the hand is soft on corruption.
Even as the Wukan protests subsided, thousands of residents in the nearby town of Haimen gathered in front of government buildings on Tuesday to object to plans to build a power plant.
Behind these conflicts, Mr. Yu said, was a growing tension between an increasing awareness of rights among Chinese citizens on the one hand, and the government's persisting emphasis on stability on the other.
The Hindu : News / International : Chinese officials concede villagers' demands
