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As homes fall, desperation rises
By Lara Farrar and Wang Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-05 13:12
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In Beijing and beyond, defiant homeowners are taking a toughand very risky stand
It was a scene of chaos and desperation. Six men wearing helmets and military clothing burst into the Haidian district home of Xi Xinzhu on the afternoon of Dec 14, demanding that he and his family of six vacate the flat so it could be demolished.
The men removed Xi's wife, violently dragging her, and carried away his paralyzed, bedridden mother.
Xi poured gasoline onto his clothing, threatening to light himself afire if they did not leave.
"Go ahead and do it," one of the men reportedly told him.
And so he did.
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A bulldozer levels properties in Beiwu village, Haidian district. The village is a hot spot of redevelopment and controversy in Beijing. [CHINA DAILY] |
Less than three months later, Xi still resides in a hospital as he recovers from the burns that cover 10 percent of his body. He has undergone at least three skin-grafting operations on his face and hands.
Racked with pain, he remains defiant to this day: "They are too cruel, and in order to safeguard my house, I would do the same thing again," Xi said.
Xi's is among a growing number of publicized cases of individuals in Beijing and across China standing up to bullies or even resorting to self-immolation to protest the destruction of their homes by development companies, many of them State-affiliated.
As entire villages are being razed to transform massive tracts of land into glittering, modern properties, the heavy-handed tactics of those builders are being drawn into question.
To defend their properties, many people are willing to risk their personal safety.
Wang Zaiying, 46, was beaten to death at 1:30 am July 4, 2008 just 200 m from the site of his demolished flat in Lizhuang village, Miyun county.
In March 2008 he was told to vacate his nine-room flat and on April 30 it was leveled with a tractor shovel. For about two months afterward he had visited the site.
Before his death he had received threatening letters and the windows of his unit had been broken several times.
In November, a 47-year-old business owner in Chengdu, Sichuan province, died after dousing herself with gasoline and igniting it. And on Jan 26, a man in Jiangsu province self-immolated to protest the demolition of his home, People's Daily reported.
Brute violence and the alarming acts of protest that have arisen with redevelopment campaigns and threaten social stability spurred the State Council, China's Cabinet, on Jan 29 to suggest major changes in the way land is seized.
Developers and demolition companies would be banned from using violence and turning off electricity to force residents from their homes, under rules proposed by the State Council Legislative Affairs Office.
The rules also stipulate that the government can only confiscate houses in the public interest and that property owners should be paid the market value of the land and home as compensation.
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"During demolition and relocation, dissatisfaction and distrust toward the government arises among people who are being relocated," said Wang Xixin, a Peking University law professor.
Wang Xixin, along with four other Peking University scholars, issued a set of recommendations last month to the National People's Congress calling for an overhaul of demolition procedures.
"Involuntary relocation may pose a psychological impact on the people being moved, which may become an unstable factor in society," Wang said. "In terms of culture, the concept of community is gradually disappearing. Hutongs, old city towns, a very essential part of our culture, are gone."
