13 arrested in China village hit by protests

By Mahmut Atanur

BEIJING (AA) – Police have arrested 13 people in a southern Chinese village at the center of a series of protests against land seizures conducted as part of plans to develop the coastal region.

State news agency Xinhua cited a statement released by Lufeng City’s public security bureau Tuesday as saying the suspects were taken into custody for inciting illegal assemblies among Wukan villagers “to disrupt public order and traffic flows since June 19”.

Last week, the leader of the fishing village who led the protests, Lin Zuluan, was jailed on corruption charges.

According to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, some residents clashed with riot police who entered homes to make the arrests early Tuesday morning.

The daily reported that according to witnesses and video footage, some villagers were injured by rubber bullets, tear gas shells were spread across the ground, and some residents were seen throwing rocks.

“This has become utterly lawless. Using tear gas and rubber bullets against unarmed civilians?” a villager told the Post on condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisals. “The government of China serves the people or itself?”

The official statement said police made the arrests “according to law, in an effort to safeguard the interest of the masses and restore order” since the suspects’ “behaviors have severely affected local life and production and exerted a bad influence”.

It accused the “lawbreakers” of having “continued to fabricate rumors and deploy measures such as threats, insults, force and bribes to instigate, to plan and to launch illegal mass gatherings”.