01/16/2012, 00.00
CHINA
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Wukan celebrates: protest leader appointed Communist secretary

Guangdong villagers succeed in having local leaders, elected by fraud, deposed and an investigation into the theft of their land. Now the leader of the protesters is head of the local section.
Guangzhou (AsiaNews) - The villagers of Wukan, who fought and won against corruption and theft of land at the hands of the local Communist Party, are today celebrating the appointment of Lin Zulian (pictured) - who led the revolt - to the head of the local Communist party. After obtaining the removal of local leadership and the promise of an investigation into the theft of land, therefore, see also their efforts for the direct election of their representatives recognized.

Several analysts point out, however, that the case of Wukan is an anomaly, not a new course of the communist regime. In an article published by AsiaNews, Willy Wo-Lap Lam explains how the Beijing government can not distance itself from the theft of land to the detriment of the people and violent repression used as a weapon of social stabilization [see AsiaNews 01/12/2012 Wukan is only one case: China still oppresses people’s rights]

However, for now the village is celebrating: "The decision to put Lin at the head of the party - said one of the residents - is very important, and represents a major step forward in the fight against corruption and for the resolution of disputes concerning our lands. " According to reports from the state Xinhua news agency, "the new local leadership of the party will be primarily responsible for organizing local elections, after the local authorities, following an investigation, canceled those of February 2011 which have violated many rules.”

The Wukan protests began in September and reached their peak after the death of one of the demonstrators while in police custody. The people of Wukan argue that local authorities are corrupt and have sold their land to unscrupulous manufacturers without fair compensation. The situation was only normalized in December, when the deputy secretary of the provincial Communist Party Mingguo Zhu met with representatives of the demonstrators and reached an agreement with them to end the protests.

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