Chinese villagers protest after police detain elected leader

BEIJING – Residents in a village in southern China where police have been deployed took to the streets Sunday to protest the detention of the village’s democratically elected leader and historic seizures of land.

The protests in Wukan come nearly five years after an uprising there made the fishing village in Guangdong province, next to Hong Kong, an internationally known symbol of grass-roots defiance against China’s ruling Communist Party.

Residents say police swooped in late Friday to surround government buildings and take away Wukan’s leader, Lin Zuluan, who had planned to hold a meeting with residents on Tuesday to discuss illegal land grabs. Prosecutors in the city of Lufeng, which administers Wukan, said he was being investigated on suspicion of taking bribes.

On Sunday, residents contacted by phone said that thousands of people in Wukan spontaneously marched to call for Lin’s release and the return of land sold by past leaders.

One resident estimated that up to 2,000 people took part in the demonstration in the village of 20,000. The resident, who wanted to be identified by only his surname, Peng, because of the sensitivity of the issue, said they chanted slogans such as “Release the village chief” and “Return our land.”

In 2011, Wukan became the centre of international attention when residents engaged in mass protests, accusing leaders at the time of selling farmland without paying compensation. In an unusual move, the Guangdong provincial government agreed to hold an election in which Lin, a protest leader, was elected village chief.