Mayor vows crackdown on China village protesters

Residents of Wukan, a fishing village in the southern province of Guangdong, rally to demand the government take action over illegal land grabs and the death in custody of a local leader on December

December 16, 2011

"We must have no fear and we must stand up for our rights. I am not afraid."

WUKAN, China (AFP) - Authorities in southern China have vowed to crack down on the instigators of a rare revolt against local Communist leaders by villagers who say corrupt officials stole their land.

Wukan, a village in the wealthy southern province of Guangdong with about 13,000 inhabitants, has been under police blockade for more than a week after local leaders fled under pressure from furious residents.

Anger at authorities boiled over on Sunday when Xue Jinbo, a villager held on charges of instigating September riots that saw a police station attacked, died in police custody. Villagers say they believe he was beaten to death.

Wukan has been the scene of repeated and at times violent protests over land seizures, a hugely contentious issue in China, where authorities are accused of colluding with developers in lucrative real estate deals.

The villagers have become a thorn in the side of the Communist party in Guangdong, located on the border with Hong Kong and one of China's most prosperous provinces.

Despite attempts to censor the web and a virtual black-out in China's state-run media, weibos -- Chinese microblogs similar to Twitter -- have buzzed with news of the Wukan protest.

This week, as thousands of villagers held daily rallies to demand justice over the land seizures and Xue's death, the mayor of Shanwei city -- who also oversees Wukan -- vowed to crack down on the instigators of the unrest.

But Wu Zili said those who surrendered could be shown leniency and announced the suspension of the property development that sparked the September riots, in an apparent attempt to placate the protesters.

"The government is determined to crack down on those who committed the crime of inciting villagers to make trouble, smash things, destroy public property and obstruct official business," the state-run China News Service quoted him as saying.

"If they surrender honestly, the government will consider leniency."

On Thursday thousands of villagers, many of them crying, gathered in the main square to attend a memorial for Xue, who was arrested last Friday along with four other villagers on accusations of inciting the September riots.

Authorities say the 42-year-old suffered a heart attack while in custody, but relatives who were allowed to see the body say it showed signs of torture and accuse police of beating him to death.

The man's son, Xue Jiandi, said the family was still waiting for his father's body to be returned.

"Our father was not afraid to stand up for our rights. Now all we want is his body. It does not belong to the government," he told AFP.

Wukan spokesman Lin Zulian -- who authorities have named as one of the ringleaders of the September riots -- addressed the crowd and said the villagers would continue to make a stand.

"We must have no fear and we must stand up for our rights," he said. "I am not afraid."