China’s state-owned news agency is downplaying the latest clash between villagers and police in the southern province of Guangdong over land compensation. Analysts say Chinese authorities are struggling to keep a tight lid on the growing number of increasingly violent rural protests.
A four-day protest in Zhongshan City’s Sanjiao Township left several police and villagers injured in confrontations over protesters blocking a highway.
The protesters were demanding more compensation for land the government seized to be used for factories.
The official Xinhua report is here. See also “Chinese officials dispute villagers’ version of protest” from IHT and “Girl, 13, Dies as Police Battle Chinese Villagers” from the New York Times. The ESWN blog has also compiled and translated coverage of this event. More on this topic, via Google News.
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