Official response to outcry over video raises more questions than answers

AFTER A VIDEO was posted online showing people in uniforms beating women and children in Haikou, southern China's Hainan province, as they were evicted from their homes, the local government has apologized and detained some suspects. But there are more questions to be answered, says Bi Yantao, a professor at Hainan Tropical Ocean University:

The local government said in a statement that they were demolishing illegal buildings and the residents resorted to violence first. But that explanation is rather weak: When did the residents build their illegal buildings? Why did the government not enforce the law until now? Did they send any notice before they evicted the residents and tore down their make-shift homes?

The local government said residents "attacked" those sent to demolish the illegal constructions. In this digital age everyone carries a camera; the government has hundreds of "legal enforcers" but they show no video as evidence.