Washington D.C.—In Yangzhou City, China, two elderly women locked themselves inside a cage to avoid being driven from their land as a consequence of forced eviction and demolition. According to relatives of the women, both were injured and one suffered second degree burns when they were sprayed with sulfuric acid by thugs hired by the relocation business. They were then harassed by officials from the department of City Administrations.
The Tianbaocheng Silver House in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province is a privately owned three-story building with over 100 years of history. One year ago, before any agreement with the property owners had been signed, a real estate developer forcefully demolished the building in the middle of the night. The property owners Jin Lanying and her sister-in-law Ju Wenzhen are both over 60 years old. When the developer tried to force the two women to leave, they saw no other option but to lock themselves inside a large cage which they had built on their property.
According to Ju’s son Jin Zhen, on November 3, 2008, hired thugs kidnapped his mother and aunt and took them to a location about 300 to 400 meters away from their property. Jin said: “They then used a bulldozer to dig up our land, preparing to lay pipes.”
On December 3, they hired over 100 thugs wearing safety hats and pretending to be construction workers. They all carried spray cans, and without warning sprayed my mother and aunt with sulfuric acid.”
In self-defense, the ladies opened a gas cylinder, which is normally used for cooking and water heating, and flames shot into the sky. People at the scene who had tried to videotape what was happening were attacked and beaten by thugs.
Jin’s aunt Jin Lanying was injured from the attack and was diagnosed with second-degree burns.
After last year’s incident, Jin’s family appealed and complained to the police department and the courts many times. Their complaints and appeals were ignored. Yet Yangzhou City authorities demanded that they remove the banners that they had hung on their cage. The banners contained slogans supporting Hu Jintao’s policy of land acquisition and resettlement.
“We were ordered to remove the banners by 6:00 p.m. on December 15”, said Jin. “This cage is where Jin Lanying now lives, and the banner is demonstrating that we support Hu Jintao’s #62 Chairman’s order, #72 Chairman’s order and the policy of land acquisition and resettlement. It is hung on our own home, and besides, we are supporting Hu Jintao and the law, right? So I think that they have do not have a legal right to ask us to remove the banner.”
In China, along with rapid urban development, violent forceful relocation and demolition of homes and property has become commonplace. Deepening popular grievance over this issue has become a new cause for social instability. Not long ago, farmer Sun Shiban, who lives in Laishan District of Yantai City, and his case had been reported by many media including the Shandong Television Station. After suffering violent relocation and demolition, detainment and beatings from police and developers, his nephew was beaten to death by thugs hired by the relocation businesses. Local police forcefully took away the corpse right off street.
At the same time, the Chinese official media People Forum admitted in editor’s notes that the current real estate industry in China is heavily corrupted with collusion between government officials and business.
The Editor’s note asked why a few officials are so eager to befriend developers, and why illegal land acquisitions have become more and more commonplace despite repeated prohibition. The answer is that as long as there exists room for power and money exchange, corruption will exist.
The People Forum editor pointed out that when city construction officials and developers have shared interests, they often form coalitions, and consequently, land development has become a hot bed for corruption.
