Chinese Authorities Lose Control as Village Revolts

As we've been telling you this week, tens of thousands of villagers are protesting in Wukan, in Guangdong Province. Now the situation has become a standoff as villagers have kicked out both local officials and police. That came after the suspicious death of one villager in police custody. Here's the latest.

The over twenty-thousand residents of the village of Wukan in south China's Guangdong Province have expelled all local Communist Party authorities, including police, and blocked road access to the village.

The British newspaper The Telegraph was able to get a journalist on the ground in Wukan on Tuesday. Malcom Moore called the current incident the first time on record that the Party has "lost all control" in a situation of "open revolt." This marks the latest escalation in an ongoing confrontation between villagers and local Communist Party officials they've called corrupt and abusive.

For three months, Wukan residents have been staging occasional large-scale protests against a longstanding series of abuses committed by local Party officials. The villagers' biggest grievance was corrupt officials profiting from illegally selling the villagers' land.

The current intensified protest, including the expelling of all police and officials, came after the death in Party custody of Xue Jinbo. He was a Wukan resident who had served as a negotiator with authorities. Party officials claim Xue died of "cardiac failure." But Xue's family say there was evidence of torture on his body, including broken thumbs and bruises.

By Monday, locals had stopped an attempt by hundreds of police and security personnel to enter Wukan. Those forces retreated to a backup location three miles distant, and are now blocking all food and water from entering the town.

As of now, at the fifth day of what some are calling a rebellion, police remain blocked from entering, and some townspeople are making comments suggesting that the confrontation has become about more than just land seizures.

The Telegraph quoted one villager as saying "We are not sleeping. A hundred men are keeping watch. We do not know what the government's next move will be, but we know we cannot trust them ever again."

The situation in Wukan remains uncertain. Other media have managed to enter the village. But anything about Wukan is being quickly censored on the Chinese internet.


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  News & Politics

[Yves Marineau]

When 1 billion chinese will get down in the street, it will be no more slavery for 1 dictator master in China.

That day will be a great day for China and all chinese population.

[OverlordOfEcchi]

communism =/= shackles

corrupted government officials = shackles

[ganaa dany]

Careful they gonna bring tanks, yall seen what happens If you protest in China. fucking scary government.

[zhq1995]

As a Chinese , we dont afraid POLICE. 

[bhitt99]

What do you know about China? 

[Belinda Benson]

Capitalism=thievery 

[sauroman1]

It's beautiful to see rioting civilians - people are awakening to realizing that they live in tyranny.

[Steven Wu]

Falun Gong trash

[galaxymode]

United states of America is the largest propaganda factory on Earth.

[240SSONLY]

do you really believe that?

any group that speaks out against government or against their political thinking, is categorized as an organizations "as such" like you would say... this is USA thinking 101

[MegaTechnology2012]

When the people overcome fear then there will be change. the Chinese government is just a bully .it's more ;like a dictatorship and the Chinese will never really be free until they have free and open democratic voting where the people have a proper choice of government. a single party or dictatorship has never worked for a nation and never will it only serves the ones that wield the power. they fool the people with false hope and promises.

[Lachausis]

Easy to speak. Who will control that mass of anarchy afterwards?