Conflict rises again in Shanwei, Guangdong Province because of the forceful and uncompensated land acquisition for a power plant in 2005.
Since the Shanwei Massacre broke out on December 6, 2005, even under the watchful eyes of the international media, the local regime has never stopped the power plant’s construction or the crackdown on the local villagers.
On August 15 and 16, 2007, over 1000 residents from Dongzhou Village attempted to stop the Shanwei Power Plant from hanging power cables. The authority in Shanwei City never compensated these residents for the land used for the construction of the power plant. The local authority hired gangsters to protect the construction site from the protesting residents.
According to a villager surnamed Liu from Dongyi Village, instead of solving the compensation problem, the authority hired hundreds of gangsters to protect the Shanwei Power Plant’s 500kV electric cable construction site. The residents had tried to initiate a dialogue with the Shanwei authority on many occasions, but their requests went unanswered. Over 1000 residents finally decided to stop the construction.
Gangsters and Police Outnumbered
The power cable construction site is located at the intersection where the brutal massacre took place on December 6, 2005. On August 15, 2007, there were over 100 gangsters and 50 police officers at the site when more than 1000 villagers went to the site during the day. No conflict took place.
Xu from Dongyi Village said, “In the evening on the August 15, a meeting was held in the village. The head of the police station came to warn the villagers, threatening to arrest the villager who rang the copper gong (to call the assembly). The angry villagers drove the police away and decided to continue the protest on August 16.”
