Guangzhou (AsiaNews) - Chinese authorities have expelled two leaders from
the Wukan Communist Party. They were the heads of the village which has struggled
for months against their corruption and manipulation of elections.
Xinhua
reported late yesterday, that Xue Chang, party secretary, and Chen Shunyi, head
of the committee, will be forced to return their illegal profits of 189,200
yuan and 86 thousand yuan respectively (a total of about 45 thousand dollars).
In
2011 the village of Wukan was under the media spotlight because of the popular
protests against the leaders accused of selling land and pocketing the
proceeds, only to give below cost compensation to citizens.
At
first the government responded to the demonstrations of thousands of
inhabitants with repression, one of the arrested protesters, Xue Jinbo, died in prison in a suspicious way, the police
laid siege to the village and imposed a blackout on reporting. But
thanks to its proximity to Hong Kong, the news of Wukan spread, and inflamed other
villages in Guangdong and Jiangxi. The
fear of seeing the revolt spread throughout China prompted authorities to come
to terms with the inhabitants allowing new elections and an investigation into
the wrongdoing of the leaders.
The
Wukan solution is also due to the ambitions of the party chief of Guangdong,
Wang Yang, who seeks a place in the Politburo Standing Committee for next
October.
The
Chinese government greatly fears social protests (so-called "mass
incidents"), which are increasing from year to year: in 2010, according to
some estimates, they exceeded 180 thousand units.
The
expulsion from the Party, the investigation and the return of money does not
fully satisfy the people of Wukan. Some
of them argue that because their leaders remained in power for decades, the
stolen money is much more than the amount they are called upon to return. Others
say that there are many more governmental representatives who participated in
the sales and profits from corruption, who should be pursued.
Among
analysts, no one dares to speak of a "Wukan model " that the central
government would like to see spread. For
some, the victory of the villagers is an exception to the unchanged rule that
sees corruption fester in the rest of the country (see 12/01/2012 Wukan
is only one case: China still oppresses people's rights).