Police deployed tear gas to dispel protesters, arresting dozens and injuring several people in Taiyun City, in China’s Shanxi Province. The violent protests allegedly errupted over confiscated properties amid government corruption.
Residents of Di Village in Taiyuan City say that Ma Jincai, the local Communist Party chief and head of their village, is corrupt, and although they often report problems to higher departments, authorities take no action to resolve any issues.
According to the villagers, Ma expropriated their land with the promise of building houses for them. But after the buildings were completed Ma refused to give them to the villagers. Some residents were left without a place to live and had to rent or buy elsewhere, in addition to having lost their source of income because their farmland was also taken away.
According to an online statement from one villager, or someone close to him, a group of about 20 men from the village gathered in front of Ma’s property on the morning of May 26. A group of men with face masks and helmets soon arrived, proceeding to beat the protesters with clubs and forcing them away.
