Source: The Globe and Mail

Beijing, 19 December 2011 - Protesters in a southern Chinese village who have driven local authorities from the area said Monday they plan to march to a nearby town if four of their representatives are not released by police.



While the residents of Wukan in Guangdong province have held rallies almost daily over the past week, the protests have largely been confined to the village square. A march out of the village could escalate tensions over a land dispute and pose a direct challenge to police who have set up checkpoints on main roads to the village.



“We want the detainees to be released, we want the farmland to be returned, and we want the corrupt officials who took bribes to be fired,” said villager Huang Hancan, one of the representatives of the village of nearly 20,000 people.



Wukan has for months been the site of simmering protests driven by residents who say their farmland was sold by local officials to developers without their consent. The current unrest was sparked by the detention of five villagers by police more than a week ago and the Dec. 11 death of one of them in police custody. Authorities say the man died from cardiac failure but his supporters believe he was beaten.

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