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Death does not stop bulldozers
By Wan Lixin |
March 31, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FARMER Tao and his 92-year-old father set themselves on fire when a 100-strong team led by a township chief set out to tear down their home and their pig farm.
The farmers had found the compensation they were being offered far too low.
The son died and the father was injured - but, according to Beijing Times, that did little to distract the team from their destructive mission.
Yes, the incident caused a two-hour delay, but the home and the farm were pulled down while the remains of the victim were still lying nearby.
The job was certainly carried out in a professional manner.
For instance, prior to the assault, a curfew was announced immediately around the affected area, and other members of the family had been escorted out of harm's way.
This happened on Saturday in Huangchuan Township, Donghai County, Jiangsu, but it can be happening anywhere today.
One report suggests that officials there wanted to have the demolition completed before April 1, when a new relocation law would make forced relocation more difficult. This is likely an exaggeration of their respect for law.
That a villager chose to end his life in such a violent way can only dramatize the futility of any resistance.
When I clicked this report on a Website, the Website contained several related links:
Self-immolation in Yancheng left 3 injured;
Residents imprisoned for trying to prevent forced demolition by threatening fire;
Villagers confronting forced demolition threaten to jump to death, only to be cheered on by government personnel;
Official response to report of elderly woman buried alive in forced demolition: Pure accident;
Anhui relocation company accused of killing a neighbor while trying to deliberately destroy a building set for relocation.
Zhang Xiling, a resident in Tianjin who refused to be relocated, had recorded an official's explanation of the situation.
"Could you go anywhere by pitting against the county government? Whose heaven is this? In the UK, if you do not agree to relocation, they can simply do nothing about it. In China, they can simply do anything. And that's what make China so bullish today!"
Friday's Xinmin Evening News had a story headlined "Trading in fake drugs can be more profitable than drug trafficking."
If the real profit rate of China's property developers - and its contribution to GDP - can be made public, it would probably be easier to understand why governments are increasingly resorting to violent means to pulverize residents' homes for developments.
The farmers had found the compensation they were being offered far too low.
The son died and the father was injured - but, according to Beijing Times, that did little to distract the team from their destructive mission.
Yes, the incident caused a two-hour delay, but the home and the farm were pulled down while the remains of the victim were still lying nearby.
The job was certainly carried out in a professional manner.
For instance, prior to the assault, a curfew was announced immediately around the affected area, and other members of the family had been escorted out of harm's way.
This happened on Saturday in Huangchuan Township, Donghai County, Jiangsu, but it can be happening anywhere today.
One report suggests that officials there wanted to have the demolition completed before April 1, when a new relocation law would make forced relocation more difficult. This is likely an exaggeration of their respect for law.
That a villager chose to end his life in such a violent way can only dramatize the futility of any resistance.
When I clicked this report on a Website, the Website contained several related links:
Self-immolation in Yancheng left 3 injured;
Residents imprisoned for trying to prevent forced demolition by threatening fire;
Villagers confronting forced demolition threaten to jump to death, only to be cheered on by government personnel;
Official response to report of elderly woman buried alive in forced demolition: Pure accident;
Anhui relocation company accused of killing a neighbor while trying to deliberately destroy a building set for relocation.
Zhang Xiling, a resident in Tianjin who refused to be relocated, had recorded an official's explanation of the situation.
"Could you go anywhere by pitting against the county government? Whose heaven is this? In the UK, if you do not agree to relocation, they can simply do nothing about it. In China, they can simply do anything. And that's what make China so bullish today!"
Friday's Xinmin Evening News had a story headlined "Trading in fake drugs can be more profitable than drug trafficking."
If the real profit rate of China's property developers - and its contribution to GDP - can be made public, it would probably be easier to understand why governments are increasingly resorting to violent means to pulverize residents' homes for developments.
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