The 47 mu peach garden of the Liansheng Village Group in Ronggui has already been enclosed by a brick wall hundreds of meters long. Photo by Hu Yazhu.
◎ Confiscation of 47+ mu of farmland, officials from the Shunde District Land Resources Bureau admitted "no approval." Investigations revealed that within Longchongkou Village, at least 950+ mu of land was illegally confiscated from other groups such as Longxi Village.
◎ After being exposed seven times on television, the Ronggui district instead accelerated the speed of illegal land confiscation. Several villagers from Liansheng told reporters: "Some street and village cadres said, even if this matter is exposed by CCTV's 'Focus Talk,' what can be done?"
□ Southern Daily reporter Hu Yazhu, Fan Chen
Rural Southern China reporter Wang Hongwang
Interns Chen Yajuan, Yang Runqun
For the confiscation of more than 47 mu of farmland, the deputy director of the Legal Affairs Department of the District Land Resources Bureau calmly admitted "no permit;" hundreds of meters long and 1.6 meters high brick walls forcibly enclosed the collective peach garden, the head of the Street Land Resources Bureau claimed it was "not within the scope of collective land," not affecting villagers' work; mysterious officials wore masks for interviews, district, street, and village cadres repeatedly played "hide and seek" with reporters collectively; after being exposed seven times and repeatedly rebroadcasted by Guangdong TV, an elderly man living alone in his sixties was discovered dead days after hanging himself, and illegal land confiscation intensified instead, increasing to at least 1000 mu.
Such shocking events occurred in the Ronggui Subdistrict of Shunde District, Foshan City. During this period, the Shunde government announced news stating that due to illegal land use increasing more than double compared to the previous year in 2010, relevant departments will increase efforts to crack down on illegal land use.
Land confiscation without permits, villagers vote first
On the afternoon of December 29 last year, the villagers of the Liansheng Group in Longchongkou Village received notice requiring all villagers to attend a voting meeting regarding land confiscation and reserved development land transfer at 2:30 PM the next day.
The over 300-person villager group suddenly erupted in chaos. "Previously, we basically didn't know about the land confiscation, never saw any confiscation announcements, and there were no hearings held," villager Li Kangqiang reflected to the Southern Daily. This young businessman who travels outside for business had strong opinions and keenly realized there must be some underhanded dealings, so he discussed with his father that they must not vote in favor during the meeting.
The next day, over 100 villagers arrived at the meeting site where a document was posted in the most inconspicuous corner - "Explanation of the Situation Regarding the Expropriation (Use) of Land for Team One in Longchongkou." Li Kangqiang's father, Li Chengqiu, found that the explanation did not indicate the date or bear an official seal. It only stated the area of this expropriation, the area of reserved land, compensation prices, and "the current distributable amount is 14,423,215.70 yuan, with approximately 325 people in our team sharing, each person receiving around 44,000 yuan." Multiple villagers informed reporters: "At the meeting, the village cadres said this expropriation covered more than 47 mu, fully approved by the Foshan Municipal People's Congress, with legitimate permits."
After the villagers voted, the village cadres finally announced that the expropriation received agreement from more than two-thirds of the villagers. Soon after, the expropriation compensation funds were distributed sequentially. Those agreeing to the expropriation successively received their money, including the cost of expropriation and three years of collective dividends, totaling 50,000 yuan per person. However, no one bought social security for the expropriated villagers.
Some villagers insisted that even if the villagers agreed, it does not mean this expropriation was legal because according to normal procedures, the government must post announcements before expropriation, hold hearings, and have clear permits. They complained to the media. In January this year, Guangdong TV's "Today's Focus" program exposed this illegal expropriation incident. Thereafter, Liu Baitao, deputy director of the Legal Affairs Department of the Shunde District Land Resources, Urban Construction, and Water Conservancy Bureau, also openly admitted "(this expropriation) was not approved."
News spread quickly, and many villagers began to "wake up": "No wonder notices were sent out one day, followed by a vote the next day. This did not allow us time to consider. Clearly, we were misled." Before the exposure by the television station, most villagers did not understand the normal expropriation process.
Chen Peiqiang, over fifty years old, was one of many villagers who signed "agreeing to sell the land." When asked why he agreed, he regretfully said: "I thought since Foshan approved it, I cannot oppose it. If I knew there was no permit for expropriation, I definitely would not agree." Other villagers also expressed similar helplessness: "We all thought there was a legitimate permit. Even if we disagreed, what could we do? According to the village cadres, those who disagree wouldn't even receive the year-end collective dividends."
Some villagers questioned the authenticity of the claim that "more than two-thirds of the villagers agreed." A village woman reported to the journalist: "At the time, some people signed multiple names, representing many shareholders. The village cadres said signing one name would earn 10 yuan."
TV station exposes seven times, illegal expropriation intensifies
Indeed, there was no permit, anger rapidly spread. A petition purportedly signed by more than two-thirds of the villagers and stamped with fingerprints indicating disagreement with the expropriation was handed to the journalist.
But bizarrely, the subdistrict office sent people to start building fences around the disputed land. Anxious villagers continuously visited higher authorities, and Guangdong TV tracked the incident, subsequently exposing it seven times under titles like "Who Moved the Farmers' Lifeline Fields" and "Respect Public Opinion in Land Expropriation" in programs such as "Today's Focus," "Social Review," and "Guangdong Report," repeating broadcasts in both Mandarin and Cantonese.
On one side, numerous villagers continued to visit higher authorities, while on the other side, the media repeatedly exposed the issue, but the Ronggui Town Subdistrict Office remained unmoved. Multiple villagers from Liansheng told reporters: "Some street and village cadres said, even if this matter is exposed by CCTV's 'Focus Talk,' what can be done?"
More strangely, the Ronggui side was accelerating the pace of illegal land confiscation. According to investigations by the Southern Daily, merely within Longchongkou Village, other groups such as Longxi Village had at least 950+ mu of land illegally confiscated.
On May 10, a notice bearing the official seal of the Ronggui Land Development Center appeared in the Liansheng Village Group. The notice stated that the center had already confiscated the land and settled the compensation for land confiscation and green seedlings, attachments, etc. On June 15 this year, the land would be transferred, "if overdue clearance is not made, the resulting losses will be borne by (the villagers) themselves."
On May 17, the reporter came to the scene and found that this more than 47 mu of land had already been enclosed by a brick wall hundreds of meters long and 1.6 meters high, leaving only two openings for passage. Villagers responded: "The land hasn't even been confiscated yet, but it's already enclosed. What kind of logic is this? This is a peach garden, everyone's land is connected together, previously very spacious and convenient for passage. But once it's enclosed, it's not only inconvenient, but also risks stepping on or brushing against others' peach blossoms." Zhou Jianzhong, head of the Land Expropriation Reserve Division of the Ronggui Subdistrict Land Resources, Urban Construction, and Water Conservancy Bureau, explained: "The wall was built along the roadside, not within the scope of collective land," "Enclosing it does not affect them (villagers) working."
Officials play "hide and seek" with the media
In the Longchongkou land expropriation incident, what shocked the reporter was the attitude of the Shunde District, Ronggui Subdistrict Office, and the Village Committee towards the media. Provincial media, including the Southern Daily, repeatedly requested interviews but were not accepted, except for one instance where relevant department officials reluctantly accepted the interview, otherwise playing "hide and seek" collectively. Villagers also said that they had previously approached district, subdistrict, and village cadres multiple times, with results identical to the journalists' experiences, "officials all said they were out."
On May 17, the Southern Daily reporter came to the Longchongkou Village Committee for the fifth time. In the first-floor office hall, the reporter expressed wanting to interview the village branch secretary, Zhou Jiantao. A staff member asked the reporter to wait, saying they needed to make a phone call first. A few minutes later, the staff member told the reporter: Secretary Zhou was in a meeting and couldn't return. The reporter asked if they could provide Zhou Secretary's mobile phone number but was refused.
At the Ronggui Subdistrict Office, a responsible person said this matter should be directed to the Land Resources and Urban Construction Department. At the Ronggui Subdistrict Land Resources, Urban Construction, and Water Conservancy Bureau, the relevant responsible person indicated that the head of the Land Expropriation Reserve Division, Zhou Jianzhong, was in a meeting with no end time known. The responsible person required the reporter to prepare a written interview outline to be able to conduct the interview. However, when the reporter faxed the interview outline the next day, there was no reply for a week.
Interestingly, on the afternoon of March 24, a self-identified Ronggui Subdistrict Office cadre still accepted the reporter's interview wearing a blue disposable mask and repeatedly claimed the "right to not appear on camera." After identification by the villagers, this person was indeed Zhou Jianzhong, the head of the Land Expropriation Reserve Division of the Ronggui Subdistrict Land Resources, Urban Construction, and Water Conservancy Bureau.
For more than half a century, the villagers of Longchongkou have worked on collective land, mostly making a living by growing peach blossoms, "before last year's Spring Festival, each peach blossom could sell for hundreds of yuan." However, the final deadline of June 15 is fast approaching, and the future remains unknown. Even if they knew, they would be helpless.
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