Government officials in a rural area near Beijing have backed off plans to seize land in a dispute with local farmers that resulted in a violent confrontation last month, state media reported Thursday. The clash, involving hundreds of armed thugs, left six villagers dead, and part of it was captured on video and broadcast around the world.
The official New China News Agency announced the government’s about-face, saying authorities in Hebei province had decided to give up plans to take the farmland from the residents of Shengyou village, about 100 miles southwest of Beijing, after concluding that local officials had not paid the villagers proper compensation.