Inside Wukan: the Chinese village that fought back
29 replies, posted
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[IMG]http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02083/wu_2083640b.jpg[/IMG]
[i]Thousands of Wukan's residents gathered for a second day in front of a triple-roofed pagoda that serves as the village hall[/i]
For the first time on record, the Chinese Communist party has lost all control, with the population of 20,000 in this southern fishing village now in open revolt.
The last of Wukan’s dozen party officials fled on Monday after thousands of people blocked armed police from retaking the village, standing firm against tear gas and water cannons.
Since then, the police have retreated to a roadblock, some three miles away, in order to prevent food and water from entering, and villagers from leaving. Wukan’s fishing fleet, its main source of income, has also been stopped from leaving harbour.
The plan appears to be to lay siege to Wukan and choke a rebellion which began three months ago when an angry mob, incensed at having the village’s land sold off, rampaged through the streets and overturned cars.
Although China suffers an estimated 180,000 “mass incidents” a year, it is unheard of for the Party to sound a retreat.
But on Tuesday The Daily Telegraph managed to gain access through a tight security cordon and witnessed the new reality in this coastal village.
Thousands of Wukan’s residents, incensed at the death of one of their leaders in police custody, gathered for a second day in front of a triple-roofed pagoda that serves as the village hall.
For five hours they sat on long benches, chanting, punching the air in unison and working themselves into a fury.
At the end of the day, a fifteen minute period of mourning for their fallen villager saw the crowd convulsed in sobs and wailing for revenge against the local government.
“Return the body! Return our brother! Return our farmland! Wukan has been wronged! Blood debt must be paid! Where is justice?” the crowd screamed out.
Wukan’s troubles began in September, when the villagers’ collective patience snapped at an attempt to take away their land and sell it to property developers.
“Almost all of our land has been taken away from us since the 1990s but we were relaxed about it before because we made our money from fishing,” said Yang Semao, one of the village elders. “Now, with inflation rising, we realise we should grow more food and that the land has a high value.”
Thousands of villagers stormed the local government offices, chasing out the party secretary who had governed Wukan for three decades. In response, riot police flooded the village, beating men, women and children indiscriminately, according to the villagers.
In the aftermath, the local government tried to soothe the bruised villagers, asking them to appoint 13 of their own to mediate between the two sides – a move which was praised. But after anger bubbled over again local officials hatched another plan to bring the rebellious village back under control. Last Friday, at 11.45 in the morning, four minibuses without license plates drove into Wukan and a team of men in plain clothes seized five of the village’s 13 representatives from a roadside restaurant.
A second attack came at 4am on Sunday morning, when a thousand armed police approached the entrance to the village.
“We had a team of 20 people watching out, and they saw the police searchlights. We had blocked the road with fallen trees to buy us time,” said Chen Xidong, a 23 year old. “They banged the warning drum and the entire village ran to block the police.”
After a tense two-hour standoff, during which the villagers were hit with tear gas and water cannons, the police retreated, instead setting up the ring of steel around Wukan that is in force today. The village’s only source of food, at present, are the baskets of rice, fruit and vegetables carried across the fields on the shoulder poles of friendly neighbours.
Then, on Monday, came the news that Xue Jinbo, one of the snatched representatives, had died in police custody, at the age of 43, from a heart attack. His family believe he was murdered.
“There were cuts and bruises on the corners of his mouth and on his forehead, and both his nostrils were full of blood,” said Xue Jianwan, his 21-year-old daughter. “His chest was grazed and his thumbs looked like they had been broken backwards. Both his knees were black,” she added. “They refused to release the body to us.”
Mr Xue’s death has galvanised his supporters and brought the explosive situation in the village to the brink. “We are not sleeping. A hundred men are keeping watch. We do not know what the government’s next move will be, but we know we cannot trust them ever again,” said Mr Chen. “I think they will try to prolong the situation, to sweat us out.”
From behind the roadblock, a propaganda war has broken out. Banners slung by the side of the main road to Wukan urge drivers to “Safeguard stability against anarchy – Support the government!” Nearby, someone has scrawled, simply: “Give us back our land.”
The news of Wukan’s loss has been censored inside China. But a blue screen, which interrupts television programmes every few minutes inside the village, insists that the “incidents” are the work of a seditious minority, and have now been calmed. “It is all lies,” said Ms Xue.
Her brother, meanwhile, said life had improved since the first officials were driven out three months ago. “We found we were better at administration. The old officials turned out not to have had any accounts in their office, so they must have been swindling us. And we have a nightwatch now, to keep the village safe. We have all bonded together,” said Xue Jiandi, 19.
With enough food to keep going in the short-term and a pharmacy to tend to the sick, the leaders of Wukan are confident about their situation.
But it is difficult to imagine that it will be long before the Communist Party returns, and there are still four villagers in police custody.
“I have just been to see my 25-year-old son,” Shen Shaorong, the mother of Zhang Jianding, one of the four, said as she cried on her knees. “He has been beaten to a pulp and his clothes were ripped. Please tell the government in Beijing to help us before they kill us all,”[/quote]
Source: [url]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8954315/Inside-Wukan-the-Chinese-village-that-fought-back.html[/url]
I have a feeling this is going to be crushed.
[QUOTE=Mr. N;33717115]I have a feeling this is going to be crushed.[/QUOTE]
Just like anything else that happened in China... Sad really
China could be brutal enough to their own people to make Stalin blush but no one will do anything either because of their military or the influence they have in the world economy.
[QUOTE=Hidole555;33717199][B]China could be brutal enough to their own people to make Stalin blush[/B] but no one will do anything either because of their military or the influence they have in the world economy.[/QUOTE]
The Chinese Communist Party is heavy-handed and dictatorial, but they're not killing people indiscriminately for kicks. They are fucking with people economically to a great extent though, because of how tight they want their grip on their economy to be.
I'm sure once the unrest becomes widespread enough shit will really go down but the chinese are so damn stubborn.
[QUOTE=MIPS;33717362]I'm sure once the unrest becomes widespread enough shit will really go down but the chinese are so damn stubborn.[/QUOTE]
If China collapses the rest of the world is going down with it.
I can't help but think of Wu Tang Clan.
[QUOTE]Since then, the police have retreated to a roadblock, some three miles away, in order to prevent food and water from entering, and villagers from leaving. Wukan’s fishing fleet, its main source of income, has also been stopped from leaving harbour.[/QUOTE]
Aren't they basically denying a human right?
[QUOTE=Sobotnik;33717645]If China collapses the rest of the world is going down with it.[/QUOTE]
No, not really. Yeah, it would be a heavy hit, but most countries will recover within a few years as America, and many other heavily industrialized countries start exporting and producing their own goods.
Napalm incoming.
[QUOTE=Haxxer;33717663]Aren't they basically denying a human right?[/QUOTE]
Since when has China cared about that?
[quote]
Since then, the police have retreated to a roadblock, some three miles away, in order to prevent food and water from entering, and villagers from leaving. Wukan’s fishing fleet, its main source of income, has also been stopped from leaving harbour. [/quote]
You're castle-siege style starving out a city full of civilians? thats messed up china, thats messed up.
Taiwan should rule China
[QUOTE=Glorbo;33717133]Just like anything else that happened in China... Sad really[/QUOTE]
And everywhere else in the world regardless of the type of government.
This is going to end in a bloodbath. 20.000 people, china has dealed with more then this in the past.
I have a bad feeling about this...
I support this, by all means, but this is hugely different from the rebellions of small backwater dictatorships such as was Gaddafi's. They're standing up against a world superpower which probably wouldn't give much of a shit about death when it came to solidifying power.
[QUOTE]"I have just been to see my 25-year-old son,” Shen Shaorong, the mother of Zhang Jianding, one of the four, said as she cried on her knees. “He has been beaten to a pulp and his clothes were ripped. Please tell the government in Beijing to help us before they kill us all,” [/QUOTE]
This makes me a bit sad. Doesn't whatever happen come [B]from[/B] the higher-ups? A.K.A. the Government in Beijing?
I've seen people wear the V for Vendetta mask here in China. It shocks me to see how far the anonymous face has gone out to the world.
They are really worried about OWS because too many people are having a realization of it in China and are beginning to protest.
[QUOTE=MendozaMan;33718278]This is going to end in a bloodbath. 20.000 people, china has dealed with more then this in the past.[/QUOTE]
If the protesters are doing it peacefully I doubt many if any at all would die. And can you please list any case where China has slaughtered 20000 people with the intent to silence their opinions?
The main problem is probably that most of China has no way of knowing this as the media will not report anything about it.
[QUOTE=Haxxer;33717663]Aren't they basically denying a human right?[/QUOTE]
China laughs at human rights and assrapes it in front of the western countries.
[QUOTE=Killuah;33718868]The main problem is probably that most of China has no way of knowing this as the media will not report anything about it.[/QUOTE]
You do know that they still can access websites that are outside mainland?
Telegraph is censored if I'm correct as I couldn't access it. But sites like BBC, CNN, Swedish newspapers were all accessible.
And even if a site is blocked you can easily bypass it with VPN's and proxies. You can't forget that China almost have 500 million internet users. Blogs exists and social networks exists as well.
Once the news catches a few people, no kind of censor will be able to stop the spread.
[QUOTE=Trunk Monkay;33717813]You're castle-siege style starving out a city full of civilians? thats messed up china, thats messed up.[/QUOTE]
Reminds me of Gaza.
[QUOTE=Ignhelper;33717825]Taiwan should rule China[/QUOTE]
People who say this are usually extremely uninformed about the chinese revolution, what lead to it and what the earlier government did during it.
Thousands of people deemed as communists were executed or went missing during "purges" committed by the republic of China.
Much later Mao became the chairman after taking part in the revolution and went through the usual stages of dictatorship. Paranoia -> Madness -> Ruthless reign
I don't think that Taiwan deserves to rule China again even though they are not communist.
[QUOTE=Falchion;33719783]People who say this are usually extremely uninformed about the chinese revolution, what lead to it and what the earlier government did during it.
Thousands of people deemed as communists were executed or went missing during "purges" committed by the republic of China.
Much later Mao became the chairman after taking part in the revolution and went through the usual stages of dictatorship. Paranoia -> Madness -> Ruthless reign
I don't think that Taiwan deserves to rule China again even though they are not communist.[/QUOTE]
There's a difference between the Taiwan then and now.
Now there's bubbletea
I think the Chinese should rule china. Not just the communist party or some guys who got driven away for good reason in the first place.
People should spread this news like wildfire and see how far it goes.
[QUOTE=Swebonny;33718685]If the protesters are doing it peacefully I doubt many if any at all would die. And can you please list any case where China has slaughtered 20000 people with the intent to silence their opinions?[/QUOTE]
[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989]Actual figures unknown, estimated to be minimum hundreds, maximum thousands.[/url] Not quite 20,000, but in the same ballpark.
The current generation of Chinese leadership (or at least, the ones about to be shifted in next year) isn't as much of the assholes that the ones in the 80's and previous had been. I highly doubt the government's going to slaughter 20,000 civilians, because the current powers-at-be do have doubtless international pressure to keep this peaceful anyways.
[QUOTE=Swebonny;33718685]If the protesters are doing it peacefully I doubt many if any at all would die. And can you please list any case where China has slaughtered 20000 people with the intent to silence their opinions?[/QUOTE]
Mao had purges just like Stalin had purges.
here: [url]http://necrometrics.com/20c5m.htm#Mao[/url] is a list of various academic estimates of the deaths caused by the PRC's purges.
for example:
Many of the deaths in The Great Leap Forward--a series of economic reforms by the communist party--were caused by the disastrous famines that followed, but up to 1.5 million people died as a result of state violence
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