BBC, VOA Reports on Wukan & Haimen

choi

(1) 乌坎村民证实与政府达成协议暂停抗议. BBC Chinese, Dec 21, 2011
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/si ... 221_wukan_wed.shtml
("BBC中文网记者电话采访了乌坎村民阿金 * * * 阿金还告诉BBC中文网记者，同政府谈判所达成的协议中没有提到关于土地的事")

My comment: The report cites
(a) Sui-Lee Wee, China Village Ends Protests After Government Compromise. Reuters, Dec 21, 2011.
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7BK06720111221?irpc=932

(i) Quote:

"The concessions showed how eager higher leaders were to avoid the risk of fresh violence and bloodshed, said Ting Wai, political science professor at Hong Kong Baptist University. 'I think the local government did not want to make concessions, and then of course when time goes on, the people became more and more frustrated, and now it is really like a bomb, so in order to prevent the bomb from exploding the provincial government has to do something,' he said.

"Under a hot afternoon sun, a thousand villagers gathered to hear an organizer, Lin Zuluan, explain the concessions from the government, which they greeted with loud clapping. He later told reporters that villagers would not suffer retribution for taking part in the protests. * * * Lin Zuluan, the Wukan organizer, told reporters that officials also agreed that the village can hold democratic elections.

(ii) Note:
(A) Prof. TING Wai - Hong Kong Baptist University  丁 偉 教授
http://www.hkbu.edu.hk/~gis02/staff/ting.html
(B) Reuters in turn cites Southern Daily, whose link I will supply in (2) below.

(b) Robert Saiget, China Strives to Defuse Unrest in Wealthy South. AFP, Dec 21, 2011.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/china-r ... sman-053224987.html

Quote:

"Oriental TV, a Hong Kong-based television station, said six residents had died [in Haimen clash] and nearly 200 were injured in the violent confrontation. Online searches for Haimen were blocked on Wednesday * * * State media reported last month that a 7.4-billion-yuan ($1.17-billion) expansion of the power plant had failed environmental tests and toxic metals found in local waterways 'exceeded the standard level.'

"there was a mood of relief in Wukan, where villagers were starting to take down protest banners put up when the protest leaders were detained.

(2) 洪继宇, 省工作组进驻陆丰解决乌坎事件 倾听村民诉求. 南方都市报, Dec 21, 2011.
http://nf.nfdaily.cn/nfdsb/conte ... ontent_35324798.htm

(3) Latst first: (a) was later by one minute, but there is no need to read it.
(a) 乌坎村民与广东省政府对峙赢得罕见妥协. VOA Chinese, Dec 21, 2011.
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/n ... ESTS-135985623.html
(b) 乌坎村民与官员对话，当局答应部分要求. VOA Chinese, Dec 21, 2011
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/n ... ions-135985543.html
("乌坎村的村民告诉美国之音，村外的武警已经撤走，村民也拆除了部分自行设置的路障。他说：'那个路呢，昨天晚上有大批记者去看过。警察已经全部跑掉了，就这样'”)

(4) 海门群体抗议后官方暂停新电厂上马. VOA Chinese, Dec 21, 2011
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/n ... TEST-135989593.html
("星期三下午两点多，美国之音记者联系到汕头市公安局的杜科长，他当时正在开会。这位负责公安局外宣事务的官员说海门事件中没有人员死亡，同时他没有否认警民双方都有人受伤。他说：'肯定没有人死亡。(记者：两边都有人受伤是吧？) 哎，这，这，我现在正在开会，好吗？没人死亡，真的。可以跟你保证'”)