Real Estate Development, People's Republic of China-style

[roo_ster]

http://www.unz.com/isteve/real-estate-development-chinese-style/

8 killed, 18 injured in China land dispute

During World War II, Gao Shangpei fought Japanese soldiers invading his hometown. This week, the 85-year-old said he found himself taking up arms again as men wielding steel pipes and knives invaded his village over a land dispute, sparking clashes that left eight people dead and 18 others injured.

The incident in southwest Yunnan province appears to be one of the bloodiest confrontations in recent years between property developers and local villagers...

    when staff from a local project developer clashed with villagers. But locals said “thugs” hired by the developer stormed the village and tried to beat up residents who had vowed to protect their land till death.

    “Around 2:30 p.m. [Tuesday], a group of over 1,000 thugs hired by the developer came to our village carrying steel pipes and long knives,” Gao said in a phone interview. “When we tried to stop them, they started to beat local villagers, including women and old people, indiscriminately.”

    According to Gao, more than 2,000 of his fellow residents joined in the fray. After two villagers were killed, locals got so angry that they captured and killed some of the attackers, he said.

Four of the developers’ staff were burned alive by villagers.

As far as I can tell, the central government owns all the land in the People’s Republic of China, but the current tenants and the local governments assume they have various customary rights to it. So, every so often a property dispute arises. And then it’s: You get your lads together and we’ll get our lads together and then we’ll find out who holds proper title, Seven Samurai / Three Amigos-style.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/16/china-construction-workers-burn-to-death-land-dispute

Over here the developers would pay off the policritters and get the land eminent domained.  Mayhap we can learn something from China's villagers.

[SADShooter]

Hmm. Interesting. Self-interest and property rights survive millennia of authoritarian central government of various flavors.

[MechAg94]

Burning them alive seems extreme, but likely effective.

I am assuming none of the villiagers had guns.

[MechAg94]

I was thinking that this is also a good reason to know some of your neighbors and in the event things go South, work with them to set up a watch of some kind.

[makattak]

Burning them alive seems extreme, but likely effective.

I am assuming none of the villiagers had guns.

How do you say "pour encourager les autres" in Chinese?

[Viking]

I can understand burning people alive if that's what's necessary to protect your home and your land.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

How do you say "pour encourager les autres" in Chinese?

Woosh


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[makattak]

I can understand burning people alive if that's what's necessary to protect your home and your land.

Pretty clearly the developers hired these thugs to terrorize and cow the villagers.  That's the only way a few hundred will prevail over a few thousand.

The villagers either recognized this or acted on instinct, but turned the tables on the developers. Now their potential errr... employees know that an excruciating death is a significantly possible outcome. This raises the cost of employees and makes pursuing this village much less profitable.

[cordex]

I can understand burning people alive if that's what's necessary to protect your home and your land.

Dude, you're a Viking. You can understand burning people alive because Tuesday.

[MechAg94]

Tuesday or Thursday?

According to Wiki, you are probably right.  Also odd that Tuesday the 13th is an unlucky day to Greeks and Spanish.  

[cordex]

Thor's day too. And Odin's day.

[AJ Dual]

http://youtu.be/jhUkGIsKvn0