Power Plant Construction Continues After Government Suppresses Villager Protests in Shanwei

The construction of a controversial power plant in Shanwei city, Guangdong province, has continued on schedule after provincial authorities promised full support and "conditions of social stability" for the continued construction, based on a December 22 news update on the Web site of the Guangdong Red Bay Generation Company, which is building the plant. The update followed a Washington Post report on December 21 that concluded that local opposition to the power plant had been "reduced to submission." Following violent confrontations with the People's Armed Police (PAP) on December 6 and 7, authorities sealed off Dongzhoukeng village in Shanwei and placed it under heavy police surveillance.

The December 6 incident resulted in three deaths, eight injuries, and nine arrests, according to a December 11 statement by the Shanwei municipal government (via Southern Daily, a publication sponsored by the Guangdong Communist Party). A December 13 Ta Kung Pao report noted that Shanwei authorities also detained Deputy Director Wu Sheng of the Shanwei Public Security Bureau for mishandling the situation. Numerous international reports, however, said that as many as 20 villagers died in the incident, and noted that a news blackout made it difficult to obtain more accurate information. In a statement condemning the government's use of violence, the U.S. NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) commented: "Because of the lack of transparency, we don't know whether [Deputy Director Wu Sheng] is a scapegoat, or if he is only one of many who should be arrested." Both HRW and London based Amnesty International have called for an independent investigation into the incident. On December 20, a U.N. spokesperson told Reuters that Philip Alston, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, wrote to the Chinese government to request additional information regarding the underlying dispute and government's response.

Events in Shanwei have also drawn criticism from scholars and activists inside China. Activist and retired Beijing University professor Ding Zilin and Independent Chinese PEN Center president Liu Xiaobo are among the 14 scholars and activists who issued an open statement dated December 10 that condemns the failure of the Chinese government and domestic media to investigate and clarify what transpired. The statement highlights similar instances of unrest over property seizures throughout 2004 and 2005 and references bloodshed in Henan province (July 2004), Shaanxi province (October 2004), Sichuan province (November 2004), and Taishi village, Guangdong province (July through October 2005). It warns that the central government's failure to take appropriate action will undermine efforts to establish a "harmonious society" and to fulfill constitutional promises to respect and safeguard human rights. Beijing constitutional scholar Zhang Zuhua expressed skepticism that a single municipal public security chief could authorize violence of the kind seen on December 6, according to a December 13 Voice of America report (in Chinese). Zhang insisted that only Communist Party officials could authorize paramilitary forces to shoot civilians, and noted that the maneuvering of PAP units would have required provincial or higher level approval. A December 29 article by the government sponsored Beijing Review also included critical commentary from several mainland and Hong Kong scholars, including Xu Youyu of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who cautioned that "the government should develop a new approach to social discontent before the public loses faith and patience."

The dispute with Dongzhoukeng villagers began in 2002, when the Honghai Bay Economic Development Experimental Zone in Shanwei requisitioned large tracts of arable land, hillside, and Baisha Lake to construct a coal-fired power plant. The December 10 statement notes that property seizures for the new plant led to the displacement of 40,000 residents in Dongzhoukeng village, and the government's failure to provide adequate compensation and resettlement has fueled opposition to continued construction. The New York Times (subscription required), South China Morning Post (subscription required), and Washington Post (registration required) also attribute local opposition to allegations that the power plant would pollute the surrounding area and destroy the livelihoods of Baisha Lake fishermen. The conflict escalated in 2005, amid accusations of embezzled compensation funds and after the failure of attempts to launch citizen petitions and a lawsuit. According to the official government account on December 11, confrontation with PAP officers resulted when villagers from Dongzhoukeng joined those from neighboring Shigongliang village to seize control of a wind farm unrelated to the Dongzhoukeng dispute. A total of three electricity generating projects are under construction in the Honghai Bay area, including the coal-fired power plant, a wind farm, and a wave power plant, according to a December 10 Associated Press report (via Forbes).

For additional background and a chronology of events leading to the December 6 incident, see reports on October 6 by the Epoch Times (in Chinese) and on December 21 by the Washington Post. See also a series of reports by Radio Free Asia (RFA) on October 6, 11, 13, and 25 (in Chinese), and December 7, 8, 9, and 19 (in English).

Compensation for evictions and requisitions remains a contentious issue in China. In March 2004, the National People's Congress amended Article 10 of the Constitution to require that the government pay compensation when it expropriates land. The CECC noted in its analysis of the 2004 Amendments to the Constitution, however, that the new language fails to provide a standard for determining compensation. Experts at a June 21, 2004, CECC Roundtable on Property Seizure in China: Politics, Law, and Protest confirmed that the rapid pace of development and the high value of land throughout China have continued to fuel corruption and abuse in land deals. This corruption has reached the highest levels of Chinese leadership and resulted in the conviction and sentencing to life imprisonment of Tian Fengshan, former Minister of Land and Resources, on December 27.

Guangdong province has drawn attention as a particularly significant testing ground for China's industrial and real estate boom because of its prosperity and proximity to Hong Kong. In addition to accusations of corruption in Dongzhoukeng and Taishi villages, media sources have also reported on the following conflicts in recent months:
 

• Village representatives in Yatou village, in the Shunde district of Foshan city, received threats after charging that village officials illegally seized basic farmland in October 2003 to construct the Huahui World Orchid Science and Technology Park, according to an October 20 report (in Chinese) by RFA. Villager attempts to initiate lawsuits in the Shunde District People's Court and Foshan Municipal Intermediate People's Court failed.
• Officials took into custody six villagers who challenged illegal seizure of basic farmland in neighboring Bijiao village, in the Shunde district of Foshan city, according to the October 20 report by RFA.
• About 500 villagers in Shenxiang village, Dongguan city, charged that village officials illegally seized their land for personal profit, according to an October 20 report by the South China Morning Post (subscription required). Villager attempts to initiate an investigation failed. A clash between villagers and 200 riot police on October 17 led to at least one injury.
• About 1,000 villagers in Sanshan village, in the Nanhai district of Foshan city, clashed with public security officials on July 1 and 25 over disputed farmland, according to a November 12 report by the Washington Post. Officials have held protest leader Chen Huiying in detention since December 1, according to the Washington Post's December 23 follow-up article.