For four consecutive days, farmers whose lands were illegally seized have been protesting in front of the Maqiao Town Hall in Minxing District in Shanghai. (The Epoch Times)

Beginning December 15, hundreds of farmers who were forced to give up their lands to local government officials, gathered in front of the Maqiao Town Hall in Minxing District, Shanghai. They protested asking the government to compensate them for their loss. After four days the farmers continue their protest at town hall. The police mobilized hundreds of officers to the scene to guard against protesters. On December 15, residents in the town of Huacao and Minpuer Bridge of the same district in Shanghai also held demonstrations.

It is learned that Gao Fengchi, Party Chief of Qizhong Village in Maqioa Town, and Chen Liangyu, former Shanghai Party Chief, illegally took title and control of 5,000 acres of land in the town of Maqiao for the Liangyu Construction Project. The land encompassed eight villages and 1600 acres of farm land. The illegal land takeover resulted in the farm lands being wasted for five years and over 3,000 houses forcibly demolished. The government officials threatened and detained farmers who refused to cooperate and even set fire to their properties.

Mr. Dong from Maqiao told the Epoch Times on December 18, “About 1,000 people went to the town hall to protest yesterday. Over 2,000 acres of our land were sold and we did not get a penny. That is why we go to the government to ask for compensation. It’s been four days. I just got back from today’s protest. We got there at 8 a.m. and the police were there before us. There were about 200 officers today and 300 yesterday.”

The Shanghai authorities mobilized all kinds of police units and sent a dozen police vehicles to the scene to guard against protesters. In the process, there were small conflicts. Some took pictures of police beating up peasants but their camera was taken away.

Farmers whose lands were illegally taken have been protesting in front of the Maqiao Town Hall in Minxing District in Shanghai. (The Epoch Times)

Dong said that most of the farmers refused to relocate because of the ridiculous compensation. The local regime wrote threatening letters to those who refused to leave their properties, beat them, cut off their power and water, or even prevented them from going to work. For those who fought back, the regime sent thugs to set their houses on fire.

Deng said, “How do I make a living without a farmland? (The government) did not arrange work for us and we were on our own. For those of us who are not highly educated, what can we do? The corrupt officials are making all the money. We will not allow them to do this and will continue to protect our rights. We will leave when we get our compensation.”

During the morning of December 15, residents from Huacao in the same district of Shanghai also held a peaceful demonstration. They protested the regime failing to supervise construction vehicles that polluted the environment with dust and brought harm to residents’ health.

A witness confirmed that the authorities mobilized many police officers, restricting access zones and deploying various riot vehicles. There was traffic control for miles away from the protest scene.

When being asked why there were so many protests in the Minxing District in Shanghai, Mr. Chen from Huacao said it was because the Shanghai City government started new construction projects and tore down houses in the district. “If the government follows every procedure legally, there wouldn’t be such problems. Now the government robs our land and doesn’t even care! We know the laws and there is no way we will swallow it. More and more people are standing up for their rights.”

Read this article in the original Chinese: http://epochtimes.com/gb/8/12/18/n2367060.htm