Harassed resident remains defiant
Source: Xinhua |
November 3, 2010, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ZHAO Xing, a 58-year-old man fighting against the demolition of his property in southwestern China's Kunming City, Yunnan Province, said yesterday that he will continue his fight, even after demolition authorities apologized for their "harassment" of him and his wife and mother.
"Demolition officials have given me fruit and dairy products along with a verbal apology for digging a trench around my house," Zhao said, adding that they asked him to calm down in further negotiations.
Zhao, living with his wife and 83-year-old mother in the five-story house in Zhaojiadui Village, has refused to accept the government's compensation offers for the demolition of his house, even though the rest of the village's residents have moved out.
Electricity and water supplies to his house were cut on October 18 and demolition authorities dug a 4-meter-deep, 7-meter-wide trench around his house. They explained the trench was needed for construction purposes.
Demolition workers filled in the trench on Sunday after media reports on Zhao's plight sparked public outrage on the Internet.
Zhao's village is among several besieged by the urbanization of Kunming.
Authorities plan to turn the area that had 1,438 households into a commercial district with high-rise buildings.
Demolition work was supposed to have been completed by June. It was delayed because five households including Zhao's refused to move.
Zhao declined the government compensation offer of 2,900 yuan (US$434) per square meter, which he said undervalued his property as a "rural house."
"I am not a farmer and I don't have an allocated farm-field. My property is not a village-owned house either. The compensation should be on par with that for an urban property, which is 5,500 yuan per square meter," he said.
He said his family had been repeatedly harassed by demolition workers since October. His mother was traumatized after several men shot at their windows with pellet guns last Wednesday.
The old woman said she gets out of bed at night to peek through the windows to see if demolition workers are sneaking into their house.
Zhao has strengthened his house's front door with gravel, bricks and wooden blocks.
"I will fight back if there is another attack to evict me," he said.
The police confirmed yesterday they have questioned a senior manager involved in the demolition project as part of an investigation into the harassment of the family.
The government in the city's Wuhua District has set up a working group to investigate the incident.
A source with the demolition authorities said Zhao's demand for compensation can hardly be accepted, as most of the other residents have accepted the government-offered compensation.
"We would raise the total compensation paid to everyone if we agreed to Zhao's demand," said the source.
Property demolition and land seizures have led to deaths and serious injuries in China in recent years. In some cases, people set themselves on fire in their clashes with real estate developers and local authorities.
"Demolition officials have given me fruit and dairy products along with a verbal apology for digging a trench around my house," Zhao said, adding that they asked him to calm down in further negotiations.
Zhao, living with his wife and 83-year-old mother in the five-story house in Zhaojiadui Village, has refused to accept the government's compensation offers for the demolition of his house, even though the rest of the village's residents have moved out.
Electricity and water supplies to his house were cut on October 18 and demolition authorities dug a 4-meter-deep, 7-meter-wide trench around his house. They explained the trench was needed for construction purposes.
Demolition workers filled in the trench on Sunday after media reports on Zhao's plight sparked public outrage on the Internet.
Zhao's village is among several besieged by the urbanization of Kunming.
Authorities plan to turn the area that had 1,438 households into a commercial district with high-rise buildings.
Demolition work was supposed to have been completed by June. It was delayed because five households including Zhao's refused to move.
Zhao declined the government compensation offer of 2,900 yuan (US$434) per square meter, which he said undervalued his property as a "rural house."
"I am not a farmer and I don't have an allocated farm-field. My property is not a village-owned house either. The compensation should be on par with that for an urban property, which is 5,500 yuan per square meter," he said.
He said his family had been repeatedly harassed by demolition workers since October. His mother was traumatized after several men shot at their windows with pellet guns last Wednesday.
The old woman said she gets out of bed at night to peek through the windows to see if demolition workers are sneaking into their house.
Zhao has strengthened his house's front door with gravel, bricks and wooden blocks.
"I will fight back if there is another attack to evict me," he said.
The police confirmed yesterday they have questioned a senior manager involved in the demolition project as part of an investigation into the harassment of the family.
The government in the city's Wuhua District has set up a working group to investigate the incident.
A source with the demolition authorities said Zhao's demand for compensation can hardly be accepted, as most of the other residents have accepted the government-offered compensation.
"We would raise the total compensation paid to everyone if we agreed to Zhao's demand," said the source.
Property demolition and land seizures have led to deaths and serious injuries in China in recent years. In some cases, people set themselves on fire in their clashes with real estate developers and local authorities.
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