Wu Huaiyun, a farmer in Huoshan, Anhui province, returns to the Luoyanghe village weizi team to take a picture of the rubble all over the ground on Jan. 29, 2021.
A number of informed sources told the station that last August, when China’s local economy was gradually recovering from the New Crown Epidemic, the government of Hengshan Township in Huoshan County, Anhui Province, forcibly expropriated nearly 1,000 mu of good land in three local villages and eight villagers’ groups without higher-level approval, and demolished the villagers’ original houses after the forced relocation. The government has been tight-lipped about the purpose of the expropriation, and the plots of land are still deserted. Radio Free Asia reporter Jia Ao wrote two episodes of the feature story, listen to the previous episode today.
“Hundreds of acres, just abandoned”
“The provincial party committee, the central government and other leaders at all levels, take a look, this is the water from the luxuriant source canal coming from the Fuziling reservoir. So many people, look, all demolished, followed by abandoned ……”
This is a villager in Luoyanghe Village, Hengshan Town, Huoshan County, Liuan City, Anhui Province. He walked in the village Mo Family list team between the countryside paths, repeatedly lamented a glimpse of fertile land on this desolate.
“Look at how much good land down there, a few hundred acres, just abandoned. The people are heartbroken, just like this deserted.”
In the video uploaded by the netizen, the villager also filmed patches of ruins, littered with untidy bricks and tiles, steel and garbage of various colors.
The reporter investigated and found that the video was uploaded by Wu Huaiyun, a freelance Writer with the pseudonym “Xingyue Baiyun”, who posted the video through her personal WeChat public number titled “Huoshan County without the approval of the State Council, the project was not approved by the triad means illegal forced expropriation of four villages thousand acres of good land abandoned for what? The video was published in the article The article. The station interviewed the online writer in 2019 about her current affairs commentary articles being blocked one after another and being detained for retweeting sensitive tweets.
This reporter recently reached out to Wu Huaiyun. She said the article was published by her last September, just after the government had carried out a forced eviction and forced land acquisition against them the month before, and that she had already had several confrontations with government officials as a result.
“This eviction has made me even more desperate for this government, and I think outsiders simply can’t imagine how dark China has become. Now the people go to defend their rights before they can even say anything, and the authorities come and arrest you.”
The government forcibly expropriated nearly 1,000 mu of good land
In her article, Wu Huaiyun writes that last August, the Hengshan Township government illegally and forcibly expropriated nearly 1,000 mu of good land from three villages and eight villager groups, including the Weizi, Yaofang, Mojiabang and Dazhuyuan teams in Luoyanghe Village, the Shenjia Weizi and Tsuboshidian teams in Manluqiao Village, and the Phoenix and Dujiafan teams in Niujiaochong Village.
She pointed out that the local government forced the villagers to hand over the keys to their houses and completed the forced demolition within a few days in the district without any assessment, hearing, announcement, compensation money not in place, and resettlement and pension plan not yet formulated.
“The demolition took only five days, with police cars driving the road. If the villagers did not sign (on the relevant documents), the local officials said, if you do not sign, you will be arrested.”
This reporter was unable to independently verify the events described in the article, but several other villagers affected by this incident confirmed some important details to the station.
Several Luoyanghe villagers said that three local officials led the demolition, namely Wu Changle, secretary of Luoyanghe village; Yu Jinzhao, then director of the Hengshan Town health and Planning Bureau and now director of Hengshan Town rural Work Bureau; and Wang Steady, deputy director of Hengshan Town Social Administration. The reporter called Wu Changle several times, but the phone was always unanswered. The reporter dialed Yu Jinzhao’s phone number, but the other party hung up immediately after being asked about his identity. The reporter contacted Wang Steady, but he refused to be interviewed.
“Interviews with us need the approval of the leadership of the propaganda department, you can come to Huoshan and ask.”
The station also contacted a staff member surnamed Wu at the Huoshan County government office, but he said he did not know anything about the matter and needed to report to the leadership. The reporter then called the Hengshan town party office, but no one answered.
The incident is close to the main traffic road
The station noted that the incident occurred in the village of Luoyang River and the village of Manluqiao adjacent to each other, are located in the eastern part of Hengshan Town. Jigang Expressway six submerged section and 105 national highway through the territory, luxuriant source canal through it. Public information shows that Luoyang River village last year’s arable land area of nearly seven thousand acres, rice cultivation is the leading industry. Niujiaochong village is located in the southeast of Hengshan town, is one of the key poverty-stricken villages in Huoshan County.
Several villagers have said that the village of Luoyang River land acquisition has been nearly half a year, and now these fields are overgrown, but there is no movement of any development projects. Wu Huaiyun said, Huoshan County is located in the remote, and last year by the epidemic, the real estate industry is depressed, basically no one to invest and develop here, there is no project to speak of.
“Think about it, the authorities have neither a project nor approval, how can these compensation payments be approved? They can only force the villagers to sign at all costs within five days, and then take these documents to the top to cheat money.”
Wu Huaiyun said an official in charge of Hengshan Town had said that the land acquisition was for the development of Huoshan’s economy and tourism. But the Chinese Land Management Law clearly states that no unit or individual can change the use of permanent basic agricultural land without permission. National energy, transportation, water conservancy and other key projects must be approved by the State Council if it is really difficult to avoid these farmlands and involve land acquisition. The law also expressly prohibits local governments from circumventing the approval of land expropriation by, for example, making unauthorized adjustments to the township’s overall land use plan.
“The government did not issue a demolition notice, only an agreement, and the agreement only had the official seal of the village committee, not even at the town level, but town officials were stationed in the village to direct the demolition work.”
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