For more news and videos visit ☛ http://english.ntdtv.com
Follow us on Twitter ☛ http://twitter.com/NTDTelevision
Add us on Facebook ☛ http://me.lt/9P8MUn
Protests that started in Guangdong Province last week over land seizures continued over the weekend. Villagers smashed down a wall around a plot of land seized by authorities and are demanding it be returned to them. Chinese authorities often force farmers from their land, offering them only a fraction of the money their property is worth.
Over the weekend, hundreds of farmers in southern China's Guangdong Province kept protesting land seizures by local authorities. There were violent clashes in the city of Lufeng earlier last week. Protestors had attacked government buildings and a police station after riot police had allegedly beat up protestors. Villagers in Wukan also vowed to keep protesting until authorities return farmland that had been sold to developers.
On Saturday, no new cases of violence were reported, but villagers are adamant to not let the issue rest.
[Wukan Villager]:
"We want them to return all our land because if we don't have the roots of our farmland, we have nothing to eat. Only with justice, they must give us justice because with justice people have rice to eat."
In Longguang, villagers rented three earthmovers on Friday, smashing down a wall that had surrounded a plot of farmland that had been seized four years ago.
[Li Muxia, Longguang Villager]:
"When we tore down the wall yesterday we were very happy. Everyone was very happy. But even though we were happy we also feel concerned. We're also afraid the government officials won't return the land to us."
Land grabs are common in China, and often result from the collusion of private companies and local officials. Farmers kicked off of their land are often reimbursed far below the market rate or they are re-settled in cities where there's way to make a living.
