BEIJING—As of July 27, in the heart of the 2008 Olympics site, residents of Datun village, Chaoyang district, Beijing, have maintained a sitting appeal in front of Beijing Huahui Real Estate for twelve consecutive days. They are urging authorities to solve their problems and to respect their property rights and compensations after they were forcibly evicted to make way for the Olympics. Yet in 12 days not one communist cadre has come out to meet with them.
The appeal was triggered by the local regime’s plan for a new construction of a golf course and apartments in Olympics Project. The construction has evicted nearly 1,000 families to make way.
Mr Xiao from Datun village told The Epoch Times the appeal has been running for 12 consecutive days. Everyone comes to this appeal voluntarily and on average, 300 to 400 people take part in the appeal everyday. At peak times, over 700 people participated in the appeal.
The local regime has sent many police vehicles and security teams to keep an eye on the appeal. On July 25 local police stations and neighborhood committees held meetings, and they were ordered to persuade people to give up their appeal. A threatening broadcast message was posted on the appeal site stating, “Hanging banners is disturbing social order and whoever refuses to give up the appeal will be arrested.”
Another resident surnamed Xu told The Epoch Times because of the hot weather, some residents at the appeal site suffered from heat stroke, although there was no loud protesting or conflicts. People started hanging banners on July 25, but very soon afterwards, police and security officials came to seize the banners.
Insiders alleged that the land acquisition involves a conspiracy between the real estate developer and government officials. Beijing Municipal Leaders had visited the appeal site covertly a few days ago and instructed Chaoyangs’ District governor to settle the appeal in three days, or otherwise he would be dismissed automatically.
An appellant named Mr. Li, a retired cadre, told The Epoch Times that according to regulation with a government requisition, they should pay the villagers land compensation and relocation compensation, but the villagers have received none. Moreover, the real estate developer started the forced demolition without proper documentation.
Mr. Li said, “They did not compensate us according to the official regulation, and some of the compensation monies were embezzled by the real estate developer; those regime officials definitely knew that, but nobody cares and without land, we don’t know what we can do.”
According to local residents, the local regime acquired the land under the guise of building a park that was required by the Olympics Project, but in reality, the developer is building a golf course and high-rise apartments now.
Many residents filed lawsuits against the developer, and according to Mr. Li, “Some residents’ cases have been accepted by the court, and some have not, but the chance for us to win is very slim.”
Mr. Li also said that previously, local residents had gone to the central government to appeal, but all had been arrested on the way.
He also said, “Holding the Olympics in Beijing is wasting manpower and money, the country is still poor. The Olympics could only put powder on the false face of the regime. The communist regime stole the land from the villagers by cheating; now it will cheat the foreigners.”
A Mr. Xu said, “Because of the previous long time appeal, many residents have been labeled as ’stubborn households,' and the local regime charges them arbitrarily. They have even lost their basic human rights. They are followed when going out, their telephones are monitored, and they have no freedom in any respect of everyday living. Although people had been cheated by the communist regime before, the forgiving nature of the Chinese people expected the regime to improve its care for the people slowly, yet after this last fraud they were all very disappointed.”
A prominent Beijing democratic activist once commented, “The Beijing Olympics has become a way for the government to exploit people’s interest by any legal means. During the 2008 Olympics project, the communist regime’s rights are getting bigger and bigger, but people’s rights are shrinking. The Olympics have brought the vested interested group satisfaction on both material and status.”
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