China Geeks has translated part of an introduction to a 30,000 character report about housing demolition in 2010. Chinese media has been banned from writing about the report:
In our analysis of 2010′s demolition events and comparison with previous years’ data, we’ve noticed four special points:
The first is that all people with a conscience admit that nowadays, the harming of the lawful rights of property owners via demolition runs counter to the goal of establishing a harmonious society because demolition is pushed though via public authority but [decisions about whether or not to demolish something] are not made based on whether or not that demolition is for the public good. 2010 was a year in which everyone was waiting and anxiously expecting reform in the demolition system.
The second is that those opening businesses are at the forefront of the group of people who demolishes property. This year there was a change in the pattern of relations between the demolisher and the people whose homes were demolished; because in many places the government has become the demolishing body, relations between the people and the government have become tenser by the minute. Under the banner of their authority to take over land, many local governments have unscrupulously become players [in the demolition game] and numerous demolition “command headquarters” have sprung up as a result. Posters announcing demolition that were placed there by the government are visible all over the country, and public officials are ignoring their jobs and becoming demolition workers. The atmosphere has for some time been even worse than that that surrounded the 2004 Jiahe, Hunan incident. Conflicts between the people who have suffered demolition and local governments or the official body that governs demolition have been constantly increasing.
