China officials freed in village
By William Foreman The Associated Press
HONG KONG - Police on Saturday reportedly rescued eight officials taken hostage by residents angry over the detention of a local activist in a restive southern Chinese village, the latest sign of growing tensions between the government and the rural poor.
Police fired warning shots and tear gas as they entered Dongzhou to rescue the captive officials, the Hong Kong broadcaster Commercial Radio quoted unidentified villagers as saying on its Web site. The report could not be immediately confirmed by The Associated Press.
Dongzhou, a coastal village in Guangdong province northeast of Hong Kong, was the site of a bloody clash in December between local authorities and farmers angry about land seized for the power plant that called attention to rural unrest in China. Three people were killed.
Authorities have said police opened fire after they were attacked by demonstrators armed with knives, spears and explosives.
In the latest unrest, the eight officials were grabbed to secure the release of Chen Qian, a local activist who has worked on compensation cases for the villagers, said a villager who gave only her surname, Zhan.
"Chen Qian has helped us in dealing with land disputes and asking for compensation for the construction of a power plant," the villager said.
Violent clashes have erupted throughout China's vast, poor countryside in recent years over land seizures for factories and other projects. The disputes are a key concern for communist leaders, who worry about unrest among the 800 million rural Chinese.
Public announcements posted in Dongzhou said Chen was detained last week for assaulting a street committee official, according to the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. Angry villagers went to their street committee office and took the eight officials hostage after their demands for Chen's release were rejected. The officials were held in a temple.
Zhan, the villager, said the streets of Dongzhou were calm earlier Saturday. The newspaper quoted residents as saying that hundreds of armed police officers were guarding the village from a post on its outskirts.
Calls to the Dongzhou city offices were not answered earlier Saturday. A man who answered the phone at the Dongzhou police station hung up when he was asked about the hostage situation.
2006 The Associated Press
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