Beijing: Protests by thousands of Chinese villagers over the death of their leader heading a movement against indiscriminate land acquisitions in Guangdong province, that forced the local officials to lay a siege of the village, has ended, state media claimed today.
The recent demonstrations in Wukan village ended yesterday, state-run Global Times reported today. This is the first time that the official media reported about the incident which came to light after it was highlighted in microblog networks.
The villagers’ protests, which are increasingly becoming common on China in the recent months with attempts by communities to stand up to authoritarian officials, attracted the attention of the world media. The Times reported today that “hundreds of villagers recently staged a protest against the results of an autopsy on 42-year-old Xue Jinbo, who died in police custody.
Xue was the leader of two protests on September 21 and 22 accusing the local government of rigging elections and illegal land transactions. He was later arrested on charges of damaging property and disturbing the peace. He subsequently died in police custody, which officials claim was due to natural causes. (PTI)
