Property Dispute Holds Up Rail Work In S. China

From Reuters:

A number of rural residents in southern China are refusing to budge from their homes to make way for a railway, forcing more than 1,000 workers to stand down and sparking violence between residents and demolition workers.

Land and property disputes between rural dwellers and state-sponsored projects are rife across China’s countryside.

Railway officials complain that increasing troubles acquiring land cheaply are holding back the expansion of the country’s railway network.

Police had arrested five “trouble-makers” after a scuffle broke out in Liwan district, near southern Guangdong province’s capital, Guangzhou, over a dispute over compensation, the Beijing News said, citing a local media report.