Police fire tear gas on Chinese villagers in land dispute
By Associated Press
Friday, November 10, 2006 - Updated: 06:30 AM EST
Police armed with shields, clubs and attack dogs fired tear gas on thousands of villagers protesting what they called a land grab by officials in southern China, Hong Kong media reported today.
Hong Kong Cable TV showed footage of protesters in Sanzhou village in Guangdong province throwing rocks and sticks at the riot police yesterday as clouds of tear gas blew through the crowd. An unspecified number of villagers were injured, the Ming Pao Daily News reported.
The reports highlight the growing discontent in China’s poor countryside, where land disputes between farmers and local authorities often spark violent protests.
Many rural residents say they have lost their land and livelihoods to make way for factories and malls, and have not been given the compensation promised by officials.
Calls to both the Sanzhou village government were not answered, while a local Public Safety Bureau official, who refused to give his name, said he had no information about the situation.
The villagers, who have been protesting corruption for months, on Wednesday surrounded a warehouse they said was built on land that was illegally seized and sold to developers, the South China Morning Post reported, quoting unidentified villagers.
The protesters blocked off the building as dozens of officials and foreign guests from Thailand, Germany and Britain were inside the structure attending an inauguration ceremony, the paper reported. The protesters let the foreigners but held the officials, demanding they investigate the alleged land grab and punish village chiefs, the English-language paper said.
About 1,000 riot police arrived on Thursday and began firing tear gas before escorting the trapped officials out of the building, reported the Post and the Chinese-language Ming Pao.
After the villagers dispersed, the riot police stayed in the area until late Thursday night, Ming Pao said.
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