Newsstands demolished amid confusion

Beijing's Chaoyang district government said Sunday that it had moved 71 newsstands, denying media reports saying it had "forcibly demolished" the newsstands.

The Chaoyang district government said the decision to move and change the newsstands was in accordance with requirements set by the Beijing Municipal Commission of City Administration and the Environment as well as Beijing municipal regulations on newsstands, China Central Television reported Sunday.

It also added that it never had any plan to forcibly demolish the newsstands.

Some newsstand operators say their stands have been demolished without notice while others claim the move was due to the upcoming APEC meeting.

Since July 31, 72 newsstands have reportedly been demolished. The newsstands received a verbal notification at noon and were removed at midnight without any reasons being provided and no official documents shown to the newsstand operators before demolition, the Beijing Youth Daily reported on Saturday.

Local authorities meanwhile engaged in a blame game among different departments.

The city administration commission said that the demolition of the newsstands was an "operation by the district government," and that the commission just wanted to regulate newsstands that are selling food and drinks, a practice forbidden for newsstands in Beijing, the Beijing Legal Weekly reported Wednesday.

However, the department responsible for the removal has not yet been identified, said an official with Beijing Post under the State Post Bureau, adding that "the one who removed the newsstands should bear the economic losses."

"Police officers, security guards and urban management officers came to my newsstand and tore it down at midnight on July 31 without any official document," a newsstand operator in Chaoyang district told the Global Times on Sunday. Three of his newsstands were removed with a crane on July 31.

"If the operators resisted, they were detained by the police," the operator, surnamed Xu, said, adding that some operators were detained. He added the officers did not give a reason for the removal, nor did they mention compensation.

"The subdistrict administration offices later said that they would give us some compensation, but we do not know when or how much," said Xu, who said he has suffered at least 100,000 yuan ($16,245) worth of losses.

Some newsstands operators were told by urban management officers in July that they should close, but many operators whose newsstands were removed claim to possess a operation permit.

"It might be for the preparation of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference," an owner whose newsstand has not been removed, told the Global Times.

A Beijing Daily commentary published on Friday said that it is true that some newsstands have violated the regulations and occupied the road, bringing difficulties to city management, but the government should not abandon administration measures by resorting to demolitions.

Before 1999, there were 1,000 newsstands in Beijing, which increased to 2,500 during the Olympic Games in 2008.