China villagers warned against protest march

BEIJING (AFP) -- Villagers in southern China in a rare stand-off with local Communist authorities said Monday they were being bombarded with calls from officials to warn them not to take part in a planned protest march.

The residents of Wukan, which has been under police blockade for over a week, say they will march on local government offices in a nearby town on Wednesday if their demands are not met.

They want authorities to release three villagers detained on Dec. 9 for allegedly inciting riots in September, and to hand over the body of a fourth, Xue Jinbo, who died in police custody.

A fifth villager detained at the same time has been accused of unrelated crimes, and the villagers have dropped their demand that he too be released.

But they also want a full investigation into what they say are years of illegal land grabs that has cost many local farmers their livelihood.

Addressing a rally in Wukan on Monday afternoon, villager Yang Semao said the government was bombarding families with telephone calls warning them not to petition, a commonly used term for complaining to the government.

“They even called Xue Jinbo’s family and threatened them with arrest if this continues,” Yang told the rally, referring to the 42-year-old father of three, who villagers suspect was beaten to death. Authorities say he died of a heart attack.

Wukan, in the wealthy southern province of Guangdong, has been under police blockade for more than a week after residents drove out local Communist leaders in September.

Officials in Guangdong have refused to comment to AFP, but there are recent signs they may be trying to engage with the villagers to persuade them to end their stand-off.

On Monday Lin Zulian, an unofficial spokesman for the village who along with Yang is wanted by police over the September riots, said authorities sent an envoy to his home on Sunday in an apparent attempt to defuse the situation.

Lin said the envoy had urged him to turn himself in, saying he would be treated leniently if he did so, and to end the village protests.

But he said villagers would not back down from their demands.

“I told (the envoy) if they do not release the three detainees and return the body, then we would march to Lufeng on Wednesday and petition again,” Lin, 65, told AFP, referring to town near Wukan where the local government is based.

“I also said that the village wants a full investigation into the land requisition and into those responsible.”

Lin, who has taken charge of briefing the large numbers of foreign journalists who have flocked to Wukan, denied that he had broken any laws, saying he was actually trying to uphold the law.

“All that I have been trying to do is to see that the laws and regulations on land acquisitions are implemented fairly and the central government policies on land are implemented in accordance with law,” he said.

“For this they call me a criminal, it is unacceptable.”