Zhang Jiancheng was a rebel with a cause. His detention in December, along with that of four other protesters, sparked a standoff in the southern Chinese village of Wukan, where 13,000 people faced down police in an 11-day siege.
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| PETER PARKS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES - A police roadblock is seen on a route into the village of Wukan in Guangdong province in southern China on Dec. 14, 2011. Residents of the village vowed to continue their fight for land rights. |
His committee, seen by some as a blueprint for a gradual move toward democracy in China, is being criticized by local residents who say land sold to developers by a corrupt former village chief — allegations that triggered the original protests — has yet to be returned.
“The difference between their expectations and the reality is very high. Sometimes we feel like slaves,” Zhang said, sitting in the school playground where the vote for the committee was held.
The elections are seen by many as simply a tool to defuse anger rather than a genuine step toward democracy. So, a year after their first major protest, Wukan’s frustrated villagers are again considering action. Even Zhang’s younger brother supports fresh demonstrations, scheduled to start Friday, as a way to prompt the Guangdong government to intervene.
Wang Yang, the Guangdong party chief who is a candidate to join China’s top decision-making body this year, said after last year’s protests that Wukan was an example of what happened when citizens felt ignored by officials. For others, the events in Wukan — when the villagers created their own administration and briefly stood outside the state’s control — became a symbol of what a more democratic China could look like. The protests also sparked copycat action.
Cai Yifeng, a local restaurant owner, says the problem is that the Lufeng city government, which oversees Wukan, has not changed its ways. He says several of its officials are allied with Xue Chang, the former Wukan party chief. Xue was fined and disciplined this year for his role in the illegal land sales but not arrested, which village leaders say has emboldened his supporters.
“The Lufeng government tells lies to the committee,” Cai said. “The dissatisfaction among the villagers will only continue to rise.”
Six months after the new Wukan committee took over, it has been unable to get the Lufeng government to clarify which land belongs to the villagers. The Guangdong government has tried to sweeten the mood in Wukan by promising new roads, a port and a school library.
Hong Ruichao, 27, the vice director of the village committee and former protest leader, concedes that the main issue remains the return of land. A little more than 600 acres have been returned, out of more than 3,200 acres that the villagers allege were sold illegally.
A villager stormed into Hong’s office late one night last week to vent his anger about the stalemate and the Communist Party. “If all the villagers in China did what Wukan did, the party could not afford to compensate farmers for the land,” said the man, who only gives his name as Zhang.
Wukan is just one example of issues that provoke mass protests in China. When the next generation of Chinese leaders takes over this year, they will have to deal with problems from land to environmental protests.
The irate villager says that the new leaders must address the widespread disaffection or find “a way to shift attention by fighting a war in the South China Sea.” He argues that another demonstration in Wukan would be the fastest way to resolve the land dispute.
But Hong, who says he hears these complaints repeatedly, argues for patience, saying the villagers should give their nascent democratic system a chance to work.
“The new village committee has worked for only six months. A demonstration is a gamble,” Hong said. “We could lose everything we have achieved.”
Financial Times
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