Guangzhou (AsiaNews/SCMP) Human rights activist Yang Maodong said the authorities are ready to talk about the "Taishi incident" Mr Yang, better known as Guo Feixiong, has been helping the residents of this Guangdong village in their struggle against local officials' corruption. Since July 29, residents have been fighting the head of the village for selling village land without compensating them. More than 20,000 people have joined in the protests which have been front-page news around the world.
Yang is demanding compensation for people beaten by those the authorities call "unknown thugs", who have put the village entrance under surveillance.
"If they [compensate those who were hurt] we will go into the talks with a benign attitude," Mr Yang said.
He further noted that the Guangdong government was under pressure to make peace because the Taishi incident, a similar on in Shanwei and a confrontation between police and villagers in Zhongshan had tarnished the province's international reputation.
All the arrested villagers have been released and they paid 10,000 yuan each to an old woman and a child who were injured.
For all his efforts on behalf of Taishi residents, Yang is now under 24-hour surveillance. Several people, including State Security Ministry and National Administration for the Protection of State Secrets staff, moved into a ground-floor unit in Mr Yang's apartment block on Sunday and have been following him everywhere.
Mr Yang managed to lose his tail and visit Taishi some days ago by changing taxis several times. He became one of the few outsiders to return to the village since thugs assaulted Zhijiang People's Congress representative Lu Banglie on October 8, who wanted to use his legal expertise to help residents.
"Unknown thugs" drove away a French reporter and a Chinese journalist, who were trying to enter the village to cover the story, and a lawyer, Guo Yan, who was beaten on her back and legs.
For Yang, if the authorities offer the right compensation, talks can take place. He was optimistic in fact that something good would result from the Taishi incident because "we have villagers fighting corruption", which the Communist Party calls the great enemy to defeat.