At 9 a.m. on Aug 24, 2007, a large scale conflict broke out between armed police and 2000 residents in Dongzhou Village, Shanwei City, Guangdong Province.
The authority mobilized almost a thousand armed police and public security personnel. They used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the 2000 residents attempting to stop a construction project. The armed police withdrew at 3 p.m. that afternoon.
Three residents were injured and hospitalized. According to a resident, one of the three hospitalized residents is no longer in mortal danger after emergency rescue.
It is said the authorities planned to arrest the participating residents in Dongzhou. The residents call for attention to this matter from people and media outside of China.
Police and Gangsters Were Waiting
The local regime has not compensated those residents who lost their land to the Shanwei Power Plant’s 500kV power cable construction project. Instead of paying the residents, the regime hired hundreds of gangsters at the construction site to stop the protest. Angry residents protested and demanded that the government provide reasonable compensation and tried to stop the power plant from hanging electrical cables.
To ensure that the construction continued, on Aug 24, 2007, the Shanwei authority mobilized armed police to the construction site, along with the gangsters and the construction workers.
A resident at the scene disclosed that because the authority put in more gangsters to watch the construction site, the residents from Dongzhou Village decided to go to the site to ask for an explanation. Almost 2000 residents went. About 1000 armed police, public security personnel, and gangsters attacked the residents and injured many of them. Three of the residents were hospitalized.
A female resident said that most of those who were injured by the tear gas grenades were seniors, three of them were injured badly and five slightly.
“The police used tear gas grenades and water cannons to hurt the protesters. Many of them couldn’t open their eyes. Ever since the power plant was built here, the land compensation issue was never resolved. Now the government hired gangsters to stop and assault residents, hence many people decided to stop the construction.
“Some protesters were arrested and some were beaten. Still now over 20 demolished private properties were not properly compensated. The residents appealed many times to the government but got nothing. The government then hired gangsters to threaten the residents,” said a resident.
Business as Usual at the Police Station
The reporter called the local police bureau in Shanwei City and asked about the incident, an officer replied that there wasn’t anything to tell. The reporters’ later phone calls were never answered.
Since the bloody massacre in Shanwei on Dec 6, 2005, the residents continue to ask the local regime for reasonable compensation and urge the investigation of local officials’ involved in the compensation related corruption. They also demanded that the government arrest and punish the armed police who shot and killed 70 residents on Dec 6, 2005.
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