Homes demolished in bitter property fight

Residents of a village at the center of a bitter property dispute have accused local authorities of using increasingly dirty tactics in their attempts to demolish the remaining houses.

Zhou Jie, from Shiliuzhuang village, Fengtai district, whose house was half-demolished along with five others on Wednesday, witnessed the other half of his house razed to the ground Monday.　

At the heart of the dispute are claims that village officials had not followed proper procedures in allowing construction of seven low-cost housing blocks on village land, an accusation local officials have previously denied to the Global Times.

The village, a former rural area swallowed up by urban development, is one of 50 "urban villages" to be redeveloped in a citywide policy by Beijing government in 2010.

Over 1,000 families have moved, leaving around 90 families behind.

Another villager, surnamed Li, who is still hanging on in Shiliuzhuang, said that he had seen Zhou guarding the ruins of his house, but had not seen the residents of the other five half-demolished properties since Wednesday.

"Residents of the other five homes are still detained by police after they went to Tiananmen to protest," Li alleged.

Xu Wanchao, secretary of the village Party committee, confirmed that about 10 villagers went to Tiananmen on Thursday. They knelt in front of the portrait of Chairman Mao, but were detained by local police.

Zhou claimed that one of the protestors, Sun Shuangyan, is being treated at the PLA 307 Hospital, Fengtai district, after attempting suicide by drinking poison while being detained at Nanyuan township police station, under whose jurisdiction the village falls.

The protest was against violence and theft from a gang last Wednesday, Zhou said, in which his and the other five houses were attacked.

"About 600 people, wearing black clothes and helmets, came into the village around 5 am. They hammered at my door, broke into the house, beat my 62-year-old mother and took 40,000 yuan ($6,284) in cash I wanted to use to retain a lawyer, as well as my camera, iPad and laptop," he said.

Xu denied that violence accompanied the demolition, adding that they have released demolition notices many times before it commenced.　

"We definitely did not do that robbery thing," he said, adding that he would be willing to reveal more details in person.

Li, who also estimated that 600 men stormed the village Wednesday, said that he had gasoline to immolate himself, in case of a sudden forced demolition. He had not moved as he believes the compensation is insufficient.　

The compensation offered is enough, and some villagers will be able to move into the new buildings from next June, Xu said, adding that that there are measures in place to deal with any residents who may resort to desperate actions, such as immolation.

In April, Xu told the Global Times that villagers who had voluntarily left were being temporarily rehomed. When the development is finished, residents could move back, and would have a very well-located house between the South Third and Fourth Ring Roads, which is why the compensation is not as high as that of other nearby villages. Villagers are receiving compensation of 1,500 yuan per month for three years, he said.

Jiang Ming'an, a law professor with Peking University, said that local governments compensate residents according to the market price at the time the property was demolished.

"So it's hard to say whether this sum of money will be enough to buy a house in the following years considering the changing house prices," he said.

In April, over 100 villagers, including Zhou, demonstrated outside Nanyuan township government building, alleging that cars belonging to villagers had been deliberately damaged by gangs hired by developers.

Wang Zhenhua, secretary of the Party committee of Nanyuan township, has refuted claims the redevelopment had not followed proper procedures.

"We are following national procedures for these cases," he told the Global Times in April.