Village in China fights back forced land acquisition
17 Dec 2011
Wukan, a village in China is well on the way to gaining a reputation as the village that fought back.
Villagers barricaded their fishing village of 20,000 people for a week protesting land take over by Chinese government authorities.
According to observers, the protest is likely to take on a violent turn during the weekend, when a memorial service has been scheduled for a protest leader who, villagers allege, was beaten to death in custody.
Xue Jinbo, 42, died Sunday after two days in custody and though Chinese authorities maintain he died of a heart attack, according to family members the body bore signs of blows and torture.
Although the body has not been released as yet, family members would nevertheless begin services for him this weekend.
Wukan is not different from many other villages in rural China which, in the last decade, saw collectively owned village land sold to real estate developers, enriching local governments and officials but left residents poor.
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