Des violences liées à des expropriations dans un village du sud de la Chine

www.aujourdhuilachine.com

21/1/2010

Des heurts ont opposé la police à des villageois dans le sud de la Chine, faisant une dizaine de blessés à la suite d’un conflit lié à des expropriations, selon la presse officielle de jeudi. Les violences ont opposé mardi plus de 100 policiers à une quarantaine d’habitants qui redoutaient des expropriations dans la province méridionale du Guangdong, selon le quotidien local Qingyuan Daily. Les forces de l’ordre ont fait usage de gaz lacrymogènes et d’armes anti-émeutes non létales face aux protestataires qui ont lancé des cocktails Molotov, selon le journal qui n’a pas précisé la nature des armes non létales.

Les troubles étaient liés à la décision des autorités locales du canton de Yangshan d’expulser 108 familles dans le cadre d’un « projet public ». Les habitants ont refusé en invoquant la faiblesse des indemnités proposées, affirme le Global Times.

Selon le journal, les violences ont éclaté alors que la police s’apprêtait à interpeller un homme, Huang, soupçonné de stocker du carburant pour fabriquer des engins incendiaires. « Huang et d’autres personnes soupçonnant la police de venir procéder à des démolitions et à des expulsions ont incité la foule à affronter la police », a rapporté le Qingyuan Daily.

Un policier et un villagois ont été blessés et deux véhicules de police ont également été détruits, selon cette source. Le Global Times avance un bilan d’au moins 10 villageois blessés. Les autorités de Yangshan et la police, contactées jeudi par l’AFP ont refusé de s’exprimer.

Selon les médias officiels et un responsable local, 5 manifestants ont été blessés par balles par la police la semaine dernière dans la province voisine du Guanxi après un différend foncier. Onze membres des forces de l’ordre ont également reçu des blessures.

Les conflits liés à la terre, qui appartient en Chine à l’Etat, provoquent d’innombrables mouvements de protestation, parfois violents. La Chine recense chaque année des dizaines de milliers « d’incidents de masse », la dénomination officielle pour les conflits sociaux, émeutes, manifestations souvent déclenchés par des affaires présumées de corruption, ou d’abus de la part de responsables locaux.

Villagers, police clash over land dispute

China Daily

By Zheng Caixiong and Mo Xuan

2010-01-21

GUANGZHOU: At least a dozen people were injured in a clash between villagers and police in northern Guangdong province, in the latest case in the region linked to land disputes.

More than 200 police officers in Yangshan county of Qingyuan, led by Yangcheng township Party secretary Lin Guangqiang, arrived in Huangwu village at about 9:30 am Tuesday to investigate a dispute, a statement from the Yangshan county government said.

Police were reportedly tipped off that villager Huang Qiusheng illegally owned and hid gasoline to make bombs, as well as guns and knives, at home.

But villagers blocked police from carrying out their inspections, the statement said.

However, villagers told local reporters a different story.

Villager Huang Huosheng said the clash broke out after police officers threatened to forcefully clear villagers’ homes to make way for the construction of a key project for Yangshan county.

Only one of the 108 families in the village had agreed to move, and signed a contract to allow the construction of the project, villagers said.

Most of the villagers were dissatisfied with the compensation offered by the relevant government departments.

Police officers sealed off the village at 7 am, Huang said.

At least 10 villagers and several officers were injured in the hour-long conflict, Huang said.

Lin Guangqiang was injured in the conflict also, villagers said.

Two police cars were also reportedly destroyed in the clash.

Police officers used anti-riot weapons and tear gas to disperse the crowd, while villagers used stones and bamboo poles to fight back and defend themselves during the clash, local villagers said.

The conflict was brought under control at about 11 am and police lifted the blockade at about 4 pm.

Chen Tianxiang, a professor from the management school of politics and public affairs under the Guangzhou-based Sun Yat-sen University, told China Daily yesterday that conflicts between farmers and local government departments usually take place only when farmers’ legal interests are compromised, or when the farmers don’t have a channel to express their concerns.

He urged officials to seriously take into account farmers’ concerns when dealing with resettlement and land development issues.

« Relevant government departments should open more channels for farmers to lobby the government for additional assistance and to express their views, » Chen said.

Police, rioters clash in China over land: reports

AFP

21 01 2010

BEIJING — Villagers tossed petrol bombs in a clash with police in southern China that left up to 10 injured, the latest in a rash of violent incidents linked to land disputes, state press reports said Thursday.

Up to 40 rioters in Guangdong province, fearing eviction, clashed Tuesday with more than 100 police officers who responded with non-lethal « riot guns » and tear gas, said the Qingyuan Daily, a Guangdong newspaper.

It said police had arrived in the township to arrest a local man surnamed Huang suspected of storing petrol to make bombs.

Tensions were high as the local Yangshan county government had sought for years to evict 108 families from their homes to make way for a « public project », but locals have refused, complaining of insufficient compensation, the Global Times said.

The reports did not specify what sort of project was planned.

« Huang and others suspecting that the police were there to evict them and demolish their homes, incited the crowd into a confrontation with the police, » the Qingyuan Daily report said.

One policeman and a villager were injured in the hour-long battle that left two police cars destroyed and seven other vehicles damaged, it said.

However, the Global Times said at least 10 villagers were injured in the clashes, some when police fired « riot guns » into the crowd and others when police threw a tear gas grenade into a home.

Reports described the guns as non-lethal weapons used to suppress violent crowds but gave no further specifics. No arrests had been made so far, according to the reports.

The Yangshan government and police refused to comment on the incident when contacted by AFP Thursday. But the press reports were posted on the local government website, suggesting it sanctioned those accounts.

China has seen a rash of violent clashes over land, many sparked by forced evictions as officials and property developers seek to cash in on a soaring real estate market.

Last week, police in neighbouring Guangxi province shot and wounded at least five demonstrators in clashes over a land dispute that also left 11 law enforcement officers injured, state media reports and a local official said.

On January 7, one person was killed and scores injured when police clashed with villagers in eastern China’s Jiangsu province after up to 100 thugs — allegedly hired by a local government — tried to forcefully evict farmers from their land, residents and a Hong Kong-based rights group confirmed.

At least a dozen injured in police-villager clash over land dispute

TibetanReview.net

22, 01, 2010

In yet another land dispute in China, at least a dozen people were injured in a clash between villagers and police in Yangshan county of Guangdong province on Jan 19, reported China’s official China Daily newspaper Jan 21. Two police cars were also destroyed in the clash which lasted for an hour and in which police officers used anti-riot weapons and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Villagers defended themselves and fought back by using stones and bamboo poles.

The report cited an injured villager named Huang Huosheng as saying the clash broke out after police officers threatened to forcefully clear villagers’ homes to make way for the construction of a key project for Yangshan county. It said that while 108 families in the village had agreed to move out, the majority refused as they were dissatisfied with the compensation offered by the relevant government departments.

Police then sought to enforce the government’s decision by sealing off the village at 7am and trying to move out the villagers, provoking the clash.

The report cited Chen Tianxiang, a professor from the management school of politics and public affairs under the Guangzhou-based Sun Yat-sen University, as saying conflicts between farmers and local government departments usually take place only when farmers’ legal interests are compromised, or when the farmers don’t have a channel to express their concerns.

« Relevant government departments should open more channels for farmers to lobby the government for additional assistance and to express their views, » Chen was quoted as saying.

The county government has claimed the clash occurred after more than 200 police officers, accompanied by the Yangcheng township Party secretary, arrived at Huangwu village to investigate a dispute.

Informations

Le xian de Yangshan (阳山县 ; pinyin : Yángshān Xiàn) est un district administratif de la province chinoise du Guangdong. Il est placé sous la juridiction de la ville-préfecture de Qingyuan.

~ par Alain Bertho sur 22 janvier 2010.

Publié dans émeutes, riots, 暴防