On January 5th, more than a hundred social idlers wearing camouflage clothes and carrying shields forcefully took over land in Xijin Village, Shuitou Town, Nan’an City, Quanzhou, Fujian Province without the consent of the villagers. During the process, two villagers were injured.
Mr. Li, a villager, revealed to reporters that around 9 a.m. on the 5th, a “riot police team” of about 200 unidentified individuals entered the village to forcefully take over the land. Dozens of villagers rushed to the scene upon hearing the news.
According to Mr. Li, in order to harvest vegetables from the land, villagers tried to stop the intrusion. An elderly woman was shoved and beaten by unidentified individuals, resulting in cuts on her hands. When Mr. Li’s grandfather tried to intervene, he was also beaten, and the elderly man was pushed to the ground by the use of shields. As most of the villagers are elderly, they were unable to prevent the forced takeover, leading to several acres of land being flattened.
This land acquisition process began in June last year, according to Mr. Li. The village chief colluded with officials to sign leasing contracts with enterprises without the knowledge of the villagers, secretly selling off their land to build an industrial park.
Mr. Li mentioned that there are about a dozen households in the village who have not signed any land acquisition agreements, totaling around 49 acres. The remaining villagers who signed agreements were also coerced to do so – some because they needed to build houses and feared the village chief would not allow it, while others became shareholders of the enterprise.
The main reasons for the villagers’ opposition to the land acquisition are the low compensation offered and the unfair dealings by the village chief. The land in their village is in a prime location, yet they were compensated only 40,000 yuan per acre, while other villages received 90,000 yuan per acre. Furthermore, the village chief leased the land to enterprises at high prices, with villagers receiving minimal benefits only through annual payments for social insurance.
“The village chief forcibly reclaims land from villagers at low prices, then sells it to enterprises at high prices. However, the members of these enterprises are wealthy and influential individuals from our village, with familial relations to the chief. Villagers are unaware of the benefit schemes behind this arrangement,” Mr. Li explained.
When villagers requested approval documents from the provincial government, the village chief claimed they did not exist, only possessing leasing contracts with enterprises. As a result, villagers have not received any compensation and have not undergone any approval procedures from higher authorities. Outraged by this, villagers are preparing to petition in Beijing.
Mr. Li emphasized that the land is a heritage passed down from generation to generation. Elderly villagers rely on the land for sustenance, as rural pension plans are insufficient. With their own land, the elderly are ensured of food security. Therefore, villagers are determined to continue fighting for their rights.
Efforts to contact the village committee by the Epoch Times reporters proved unsuccessful.