News
Protesters killed by police
Police opened fire on villagers protesting the construction of a wind-power plant in Guangdong, leaving at least two people dead, a news report said Wednesday.
December 8, 2005
by Associated Press
in The Standard-China's Business Newspaper
Local police and other officials contacted by telephone in Dongzhou, a village in the southern coastal city of Shanwei, refused to comment.
"That's something between the villagers and local government. We are just doing our project and we're not clear about what's going on there," said a spokeswoman for Guangdong Red Bay Generation, a company building a coal-fired power plant nearby. She gave only her surname, Wang.
US-government supported Radio Free Asia, citing witnesses and hospital staff, said at least two people died and an unknown number of others were injured when police began shooting late Tuesday on a crowd of "thousands" of villagers.
Residents unhappy over the amount of money offered as compensation for land to be used in the project had blocked roads with water pipes, gasoline and detonators, the report said.
Like many cities in China, Shanwei, in Guangdong, has cleared suburban land once used for farming to build industrial zones. According to state media reports, the Shanwei Red Bay industrial zone is slated to have three electrical power plants: a coal-fired plant, a wave- power plant and a wind farm.
Shanwei already has a large wind farm on an offshore island, with 25 turbines. Another 24 are slated for construction.
Earlier reports said construction of the six billion yuan (HK$5.76 billion) coal-fired power plant, a major government-invested project for the province, was also disrupted by a dispute over land compensation.
Officials at Shanwei's city Communist Party Committee's publicity department, the Dongzhou hospital and the provincial police bureau refused comment.
Local police and government officials declined to provide details and either denied or refused to say whether police opened fire.
"The masses caused some obstruction yesterday. We are dealing with it and trying to resolve it," said an official at the neighborhood Red Bay district police station, refusing to say whether police opened fire.
A second spokesman for Guangdong Red Bay Generation said the company had compensated residents according to law. "This project is still going on," the spokesman said.
He said the project is considered a key national level project and is carried out by the Guangdong Yuedian Group, which is under the control of the provincial government.
"The plant will be put in use by the end of next year. It is a big generation plant," he said.
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