Residents clash with workers over land dispute

Residents of a county in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, on Friday morning clashed with workers at a construction site for a tourism project, reportedly due to land disputes.

Villagers damaged an office, tore down two fences and burned two construction vehicles during the conflict with workers from the Shanghai Huahui Construction Company at around 1:30 am at Shanxia village in Chun'an county.

They also turned over two cars of officials who went to the site to deal with the conflict, the China News Service reported.

One of the two officials, a vice director of the county-level people's congress, is in charge of the project, said deputy chief surnamed Hong with the publicity office of the Chun'an county government.

Chun'an county is home to the famous tourist destination Qiandao Lake, a reservoir that boasts more than 1,000 isles. The site, covering an area of 220 mu (14.6 hectares), is set to become a crocodile breeding base for sightseeing.

By the end of May, among 216 households, 210 had signed contracts to transfer their land. The remaining six households asked for more compensation.

The local government plans to offer other land to the six households, but residents are not satisfied, according to local authorities.

Residents first fought with workers Wednesday. The two sides again became engaged in a physical confrontation after workers began to work at the site Friday morning without informing the residents, according to the Weibo post.

The local government has asked the workers to stop and sent officials to the village to try to calm the angry residents, the report said.