Power cut protest blocks street

Local residents and landlords blocked the street for several hours in a peaceful protest along Xingfucun Zhonglu, not far from Sanlitun, Chaoyang District, on Monday evening, to draw to draw attention to a power and water outage at their apartments.

The protest started between 7 and 8 pm when landlords from the nearby Jiezuo Dasha apartment complex parked cars in the center of the street and put tables and chairs in the middle of the road. They held up a banner reading "Give us back our water and electricity, we want a normal life."

Power was also cut to many of the local restaurants and businesses on the ground floor of the compound.　

"We don't have any electricity; everything has gone out, the electric locks, the lights in the stairwells, elevators and the pumps for the water. It happened at about 10 am this morning," said one foreign resident of the area, who gave his name only as Kenneth.

A notice was posted in Chinese on the walls of the compound to notify residents about the power outage around one week in advance. It is allegedly because some residents have not paid their management fees, but according to Kenneth, around 65 percent of the tenants have paid.　

Several police cars and vans were at the scene, with officers talking to local residents. Police were checking the identities of foreigners on the street around 8:30 pm, said a witness, who declined to be named.

Sanlitun police station Monday evening denied any knowledge of the incident.

"I knew something was going to happen today; people have been making noises," said long-term resident Eric Kung.

The story of who is to blame is convoluted, according to Kung.

The previous property management company still owe money to the electricity commission. Owners have tried to pay outstanding fees directly to the commission, but because they do not hold the contract, they were unable to pay, said Kung.

The current property managers, Quanshun, could not be contacted Monday.

An employee of the previous property company, Nanyang Property Management Company, surnamed Zhang, said Monday that they no longer have responsibility for Jiezuo Dasha since June 2010, and the company is not connected to this incident.

But according to a Beijing Times report in October 2011, Nanyang left water bills unpaid from June and July 2011. Water was shut off to the local area. Management of the apartments changed hands from Nanyang to Quanshun in July, the report said.

The road was unblocked by around 9:30 pm Monday, although around 40 of the protesters were still conversing with police.

"There's been a meeting with the commission and we're expecting the power back tonight some time," Kung remarked.