Protests Continue to Escalate in China’s Guangdong Province Over Crematorium

Wukan villagers listen to a speech by village leader Lin Zuluan in Wukan, Guangdong Province, Dec. 21, 2011, prior to democratic elections. Village chief Lin Zuluan has angered other elected village officials with lack of transparency in conducting village committee business, and not informing them that fired Party bosses had been re-appointed. Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

Large-scale protests continue in Guangdong Province, just 60 miles north of Hong Kong, drawing a crowd of 10,000 protesters on Dec. 16.

The protests began last month over the construction of a controversial crematorium in a small town in Maoming City of Guandong. However, the protest has spilled over to nearby Boyang Town over the construction of another crematorium.

Maoming City Protest

Protests initially erupted on Nov. 28 over the construction of a crematorium in Wenlou Town, in Huazhou County of Maoming City. Riot police were deployed and they beat protesters, including students and seniors. Some protesters flipped over a police vehicle in response to police beating an elderly person—the beating was caught on video and circulated online.