For four years now, land has been taken away from farmers in Huniu Village, Huanxi Township of the Chuanying District in Jilin city, Jilin province. Altogether, 180 households have jointly filed charges against the Traffic Bureau for violating the Land Administration Law by forcibly launching construction on farmlands and illegally detaining the protestors. The court, however, did not place this case on file and it has left over 2,000 people with no means to survive.

Huniu Village is situated in the mountains, and is 3.75 miles (6.03 kms) from Jilin City. In order to construct an expressway for the city, in September 2000, China Railway 13th Office took possession of 296.55 acres (732.80 hectares) of farmland in this village without issuing any compensation. Local security police used batons to forcefully drive away protesters. In addition, one farmer,Yang Daiwu, was detained in the courthouse for a day. Afterwards, the court gave no explanation for Yang Daiwu’s arrest. The villagers appealed several times to the provincial government, Beijing central government and to the Bureau of Land Resources but received no reply. As a result, over 2,000 people cannot make a living and have become beggars. Our local reporter interviewed one of the litigants in this incident, Yu Youguo, by phone.

In the interview, Yu Youguo disclosed the situation of Huniu Village during the past four years. He said, “Without paying a cent to the farmers, bulldozers began arriving on our lands. Two hundred and two households, which equates to over 2,000 people, had their lands taken away. The drivers said they were executing orders from the court. However, they could not present any warrant or provide any compensation. Therefore, the farmers refused to let construction workers on their lands. The judicial police and local police arrested Yang Daiwu in the process.”

Yu said, “Farmers are considered minorities in this country. There are many laws in China, yet the officials choose only to obey the ones that don’t affect their benefits. They believe the law is established to check the people and not the government leaders. Therefore, officials from all levels conspire to obtain maximal profit. According to the Land Administration Law, constructing expressways is in itself illegal. Since bribery is involved in this case, the officials involved are also subject to criminal law.”

Yu continued, “In September 1999, Premier Zhu Rongji authorized and announced in the National People's Congress that the judicial branch has no jurisdiction in land administrative issues. Therefore, according to the Chinese law, we have the right to sue the departments concerned. This case is not a civil action but a criminal prosecution. However, the court refused to place this case on file.”

“Through legal procedures, the farmers wish to obtain a reasonable explanation from the government. This is the responsibility of a government. The Administrative Appeal Law is created to restrain the powers of officials. If this case had been established in court and had gone through a hearing, we will not have to go through these extra steps,” Yu added.

“We are surrounded by mountains and had only a small piece of land available for farming. Each of us had less than an acre to begin with and now they are mostly occupied for road construction. We are now left with hillsides. It has been almost four years and our problems have not yet been resolved. In addition, we have been constantly harassed with nowhere to appeal. With a population of 2,000 and no land to farm, our villagers have no means to make a living. The young people could maybe find work somewhere else, yet the elderly are left to be beggars.”

Yu also exclaimed, “What do you think unemployment means to us farmers? It means suicide. We were trained to become farmers and have no other abilities. They can only make a living from farming. What could be worse than losing our lands? Our rights to live have been taken away.”

In the end, Yu asked the media to appeal on their behalf. He said, “Our life is just way too hard!”