From Chinese Press

Disturbing trend in resistance

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-11 08:17

A farmer in Hubei province used self-made firearms to defend his land against demolishers. His desperation and what forced him into that state should draw the attention of the authorities, for it shows that some people have lost their trust in the law and the government, says an article in Zhujiang Evening News. Excerpts:

Yang Youde, a farmer in Hubei, may have broken the law for using self-made firearms to defend his cultivated field from demolishers. But it should be asked what forced him to take up arms.

If police had protected his rights and property, he wouldn't have had to sleep on his field with guns to guard it against demolishers, who he feared would sneak in at the dead of night and destroy his standing crop and occupy his land. The truth is, he was driven to desperation because he didn't get justice from law enforcers or the local government.

Though no one was injured, the incident should be a lesson for local governments. They should not treat it as an isolated or one-off incident because more people like Yang could resort to similar methods to defend their houses and land against forcible demolition that could lead to unnecessary violence and bloodshed. Local governments and police have to swing into action and restore people's faith in the law by stopping forcible demolition of houses and land-grabbings.

(China Daily 06/11/2010 page9)