OPINION> Commentary
Despicable abuse of power
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-07 07:45

When residents refuse a resettlement plan, local governments should improve their plan rather than use threatening tricks to force them out, says an article in the Beijing News. The following is an excerpt:

Not long after a property developer used vipers to force residents to agree with the resettlement of their homes, a township government resorted to a more horrible trick - it demanded young students entreat their parents to move out.

In an attempt to fulfill the task of pulling down old houses and relocating the residents, the government of Gucheng township in Luoyang city, Henan province, required students in a local school to deliver home a letter of relocation agreement and convince their parents to sign it.

Some young and timid students were reported to have forced parents to sign the agreement with tears.

Such conduct is even more despicable than the use of snakes as it greatly harmed the mental health of students and tarnished the image of the school.

In fact, the difficulty faced by Gucheng township in the resettlement work derived not from the residents, but from the government itself. It has failed to provide housing for households that were relocated before. They have waited for about three years but still can't move in the new houses promised by the government.

So this time, when more families were told to move out for a new relocation project, it aroused strong opposition.

Instead of stepping up efforts to build more resettlement houses, the local government regrettably slid further along the wrong road.

They should mend their ways immediately and apologize to the students and their parents.

(China Daily 11/07/2008 page8)