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Home > China > Chinese Officials Blame Self-Immolation Protest On "Emotional Instability" The Epoch Times September 25, 2003 A farmer attempted to set himself aflame on the Gold-Liquid Bridge near Tiananmen Square in Beijing at 8:40 on the morning of September 15. Police on the scene prevented Zhu Zhengliang, from China’s Qingyang County, from completing the act. A government clerk from the area where Zhu resided said his extreme behavior was caused by a relocation dispute. According to a report from the Southern Metropolis News, Qingyang County Commissioner He said Zhu Zhengliang resided in West End Village of Hibiscus Town. His house had to be demolished to make room for new development. Zhu was offered compensation according to standard county policy. Zhu was offered a new plot of land to build a new home. The other households being relocated made no complaint about the compensation plan, but Zhu’s home was brand new, and the compensation offered did not approach the value of his home. Therefore he protested to the government, demanding fair compensation. Because of Zhu’s special situation, the Committee slightly increased the compensation. However, it was still insufficient, and Zhu could not accept the loss. Therefore he decided to set himself on fire to protest the injustice. Commissioner He thought that the Committee had carefully considered the situation, and that Zhu’s actions were the result of Zhu’s insufficient ability to withstand loss. Commissioner He blamed it all on Zhu’s emotional weakness. Relocation disputes due to China’s urban reconstruction policies have become a focal point of public opinion as the government tries to raise money by evicting households, demolishing their homes, and selling the land for profit to development firms. Often the compensation offered is so little that families are rendered homeless. Zhu is not the first to protest forced relocation in such a dramatic way. On August 22, Weng Biao, a 39 year old man from Deng-Fu Xiang in Nanjing poured gasoline over himself and into the Nanjing Relocation Office and ignited himself to protest being evicted and insufficiently compensated. Zhu Ying, an expert from the National Inquiry Bureau, disclosed that during the last few years letters to the NIB about relocation problems have increased year by year. Up to the end of August of this year, the NIB had received 11,641 complaint letters in total. This is a 50% increase over last year. 5,360 people appealed for assistance, which represents a 47% increase. A legal expert who has studied relocation disputes for years expressed that the law stipulates that the relocation agency and the affected household should reach an agreement about the compensation before the relocation can be carried out. However, the reality is that the government Relocation Offices allow no disputes. |
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