Protest in China flares over land dispute: state media

Nov. 18, 2008

BEIJING (AFP) – Up to 2,000 people attacked a local Communist Party headquarters in northwest China early Tuesday in protest over a land dispute, state media reported.

The protesters smashed windows of the party building and nearby cars in Longnan city, Gansu province, in a dispute over the forced demolition of homes and eviction of tenants, Xinhua news agency reported.

About 30 people protesting the eviction plans gathered at the party
headquarters Monday morning but the crowd swelled to about 2,000
throughout the day and into the evening, it said.

Xinhua gave few other details but an Internet posting from someone
claiming to be a Longnan resident said the crowd was dispersed early on
Tuesday morning after police were called in.

The official state media did not offer further details on the dispute,
but government-backed land grabs, often in collusion with developers,
have become one of China's most sensitive social issues.

According to the Internet posting, locals in Longnan were refusing to
relocate to make way for a new government building that was being
partially funded by earthquake relief funds from a recent quake that
hit southwest China.

Gansu neighbours Sichuan province, which was at the epicentre of the
May 12 earthquake that left up to 88,000 people dead or missing.