The standoff in Wukan between villagers and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities, which began on Dec. 14 and left one man dead, has come to a conclusion. But while three captive village representatives have been conditionally released, the verbal agreements between the two sides leave questions as to whether authorities will honor their promises.
Residents in the embattled Wukan Village, in the southern province of Guangdong, have scored some remarkable successes in their standoff over illegal land expropriations by corrupt local officials. But their fight may not be over.
Since the arrest of five village representatives on Dec. 9, the Lufeng TV Station continuously aired a bulletin urging two key village representatives, Lin Zuluan and Yang Semao, to surrender to authorities. At the same time, paramilitary police repeatedly threatened to arrest the two men, and authorities sent two “special envoys,” one being Lin’s oldest son, who is an employee of the Dongguan municipal government, to try to persuade Lin to excuse himself from village affairs, according to Hong Kong-based Asia Weekly reports.
Matters took a turn on Dec. 21, when the deputy party secretary of Guangdong Province, Zhu Mingguo, met with Lin and verbally agreed to the villagers’ three demands: release the captive villagers; return the body of Xue Jinbo, the village representative who died in police custody; and acknowledge the newly formed village committee as legal.
Shortly after the negotiating began, villagers started removing the blockades they had set up when the paramilitary police attempted to besiege the village, and around the same time the police began withdrawing troops from Wukan.
Discrepancies and Distrust
According to China News Service, a provincial working group started investigating the [illegal] land sales in Wukan on Dec. 23, saying the entire village responded “very enthusiastically” and people were quick to provide key information and evidence.
However, villagers told The Epoch Times that the village committee had advised them not to casually sign any papers, even if the authorities prompted them to do so. One villager said they no longer trusted the authorities. “Who knows if the signature is for the land sales or to be used for future retaliation,” he said.
