Fujian City Warned Over Unrest

HONG KONG—Authorities in the southeastern Chinese city of Fuzhou have warned local officials to take measures to prevent "mass incidents" over a land dispute, as the global economic crisis sparks government fears of growing social unrest, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports.

In a document issued by the Chinese Communist Party propaganda department of Fuzhou city and obtained by RFA's Mandarin service, the government warned officials in Fuqing city, lower down the chain of command, to beware of fallout.

"We recommend that the relevant departments take this very seriously and take immediate steps to ensure that no mass incidents take place," the document, titled "Special Report on Web Opinion" and signed by the "Web news management division," said.

Dated Jan. 21 and seen Thursday, the communiqué was sparked by a Jan. 20 report on a dispute between villagers around Haikou township, near Fuqing, and local officials, over compensation for farmland lost to development.

The communiqué said China's state security police were unable to block online access to the report, carried on RFA's Web site, "for technical reasons."

"As the hostile Web site server is located overseas, we cannot deal with it technically, but our state security department can block this kind of Web site so that netizens in China cannot access the Web site under normal circumstances," the document said.

"We have already informed the Propaganda Department of Fuqing City of this matter," it added.

China, which already sees thousands of "mass incidents" a week, is bracing for further social unrest as the global economic crisis begins to bite and waves of laid-off migrant workers head home from China's once-booming coastal cities.

The head of China's judiciary has called on courts to maintain social stability amid the global economic slowdown, saying the number of labor disputes had jumped by 94 percent in the first 10 months of 2008, compared with the same period a year earlier.

The "Regulation on Petitions" issued recently by China's State Council states that petitioners may voice their grievances to higher-level government offices.

Many petitioners have spent years pursuing complaints against local officials over disputes including the loss of homes and farmland, unpaid wages and pensions, or alleged mistreatment by the authorities.

Farmers in Fuqing said in January that they have been petitioning for several years over farmland acquired for development as far back as 1995 for industrial development.

A local villager surnamed Chen said the dispute over compensation for their farmland remained unresolved.

"They don't care about this," he said Thursday. "Communist Party officials have no sense of shame."

Rural activist Zhang Jianping said state-run Chinese media would avoid reporting such disputes in Haikou township.

"We want the authorities to be very clear that the channels that enable our voices to be heard should not be labeled as hostile media," he said.

He commented on the propaganda communiqué: "Now you see the state security police have become the accomplices of those who bully the farmers."

Haikou township Party secretary Zhuang Weishun said RFA's report would have little effect on the situation.

"Nothing has changed," he said.

"The central government has sent different investigative teams and they did not find any problems. It is just a number of diehard petitioners making wrongful accusations."

Original reporting in Mandarin by Ding Xiao. Translated by Jia Yuan. Mandarin service director: Jennifer Chou. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.

Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

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