Word: guangdong
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...almost too scared to talk. "I am just a farmer," he whispers, shortly after the police had descended on his village of Panlong in China's southern Guangdong province. "I know I don't matter." But what he has witnessed does. In mid-January, the man joined a remarkable protest against the local government's decision to seize communal farmland and lease it to a foreign investor. For several days, more than 1,000 villagers gathered near the disputed land, brandishing pitchforks and blocking a highway. But the brief exercise in free expression ended in tragedy. As dusk fell...
...Yudui was considered the lucky brother. Like more than 100 million Chinese peasants, he left his rural roots behind for a job in the big city. His younger sibling stayed in the family's hometown, the hamlet of Dongzhou in southern China's Guangdong province. In early December, when Lin returned for a visit, the brothers joined a protest against a nearby power-station project. Locals claim the plant is being built on village rice paddies sold by municipal officials to the power company without proper compensation to the villagers. Moreover, the project involved filling in most of a lake...
...decades, vast swathes of Chinese farmland have been converted into the factories, highways and power plants that are fueling the country's economic growth. But many farmers complain that they have not been adequately compensated for losing land, sometimes because corrupt local officials have pocketed the money. In Guangdong alone, two million farmers have been displaced by development, according to provincial statistics. These land seizures were one of the top causes for the 84,000 "disturbances to public order" that Beijing says broke out nationwide in 2005. "We farmers depend on our mountain and our lake to make a living...
...build cars, it's growing more attractive. Tariffs on parts have declined lately, and logistics costs should decrease as China's transport infrastructure improves. Last year Honda became the first foreign automaker to set up a major export operation, shipping a compact to Europe from a plant in Guangdong's special, duty-free zone. Chrysler plans to build its 300-model sedan in Beijing for domestic sale and possible export (although not to North America, where autoworkers would probably object). GM and Volkswagen export small quantities too, such as Chevy Venture minivans to the Philippines and Polo compact cars...
...Guangdong provincial officials did, however, announce on Sunday that a local police commander had been detained for ?wrongful actions? in connection with the deaths. News of potential disciplinary action against a top official contrasted with Saturday's city-level report, which blamed villagers for instigating the violence. Some villagers now hope that justice is on its way. "I have heard that the central government will send some representatives to investigate," says the villager. "Maybe they will tell the truth about what happened...