Villager sues government over rare ebony

A villager will file a lawsuit against the local government after they removed seven huge ebony trunks, worth 15 million yuan ($2.36 million), he found on his contracted land, Chengdu Business Daily reported on Monday.

Wu Gaoliang, a villager in Tongji township of Pengzhou city in Southwest China's Sichuan province, dug up the rare wood, one heavier than 60 metric tons, from his contracted land in February. However, the local town government latter stopped Wu digging and transported the unearthed precious ebony away. 

The state-owned assets supervision and administration office on Pengzhou city released an official response on July 3 claiming the ebony trunks were owned by the State and rewarded the discoverer, Wu Gaoliang with 70,000 yuan. 

But Wu refused to accept reward, claiming he should get at least 20 percent of the value as a reward.

To get more pay, Wu decided to file a lawsuit against the township government. He will sue the local government for misuse of authority and illegal administration, said Wu. Meanwhile a civil action will be launched by Wu to fight for the ownership of the ebony. 

This incident has caused a heated online debate. Many people accused the local government of swindling the villager out of profit. Others believe that because the ebony formed naturally underground and is neither a mineral nor a relic, the State has no right to claim it.

Chen Bin, deputy director of the Finance Bureau in Pengzhou city, said the ebony has been underground for thousands of years and that there is no evidence to prove whether or not it was hidden or simply the cause of geologic forces, meaning that it has no owner. 

"Civil Law states that all buried or concealed objects with an unknown owner belong to the State and that the receiving department shall reward the individual who turns it in," Chen said.