More Farmland Seized in East China

WONG: Villagers from Chin'as Anhui Province told NTD that local communist authorities began a new round of seizing farm property last May. An estimated 700 farm homes and over ten thousand acres of farmland have been taken by force. With no homes and no means of livelihood, local villagers are angry and desperate. STORY: Since 2004, local authorities in Wangjiang County in Chinas Anhui Province have been taking land away from farmers to build an economic zone. The zone was supposed to take up only a small amount of farmland, but authorities have illegally expanded it to 11 square kilometers—thats 10 times the size set forth in the original allocation. The farmers say only a few business are operating in the economic zone while most of the land is abandoned. Nevertheless, local government authorities started seizing land again last May in order to implement their new plan for the zone. Farmers say the authorities never met with their representatives--they only discussed their decision with the village head and then grabbed the land. [Mr. Wang, Local Villager]: Some of the farmers have no land left. The local government only pays them 20,000 yuan per acre, as compensation... Their old houses are demolished and the money they get is not enough to build a new one... Some of the families have built houses, but have no money left for food. Farmer Shen Chunxius family is one of many families living below the poverty level. They used the money they got from selling the land to build three new iron-roofed houses—but those houses were then demolished by local authorities.