China shooting: Commander detained

 

DONGZHOU, China (AP) -- The commander of forces that shot and killed people protesting land seizures in a southern village has been detained, the Chinese government said Sunday, as police in riot gear patrolled the community and appealed for order.

The government said three people died in Tuesday's violence in this coastal village northeast of Hong Kong, but witnesses put the death toll as high as 20.

The commander's "wrong actions" were to blame for the deaths, said a statement issued by the government of Guangdong province, where Dongzhou is located. It did not identify the commander or say what his actions were.

In its first statement on the violence, the government said Saturday that hundreds of people attacked a wind power plant in Dongzhou and assaulted police.

On Sunday, the village was under heavy guard by at least 100 riot police, some with shields and helmets. No weapons were visible. There was no violence, but villagers could be seen arguing angrily with police.

Residents said earlier that families were pleading with police to return the bodies of slain loved ones.

Government banners hung at the village entrance said, "Following the law is the responsibility and obligation of the people" and "Don't listen to rumors, don't let yourself be used." Another tried to placate local anger, promising, "The people's government will always support the people of Dongzhou."

The police shootings Tuesday were the deadliest known clash yet amid growing anger in areas throughout China over government land seizures for construction of power plants, shopping malls and other projects.

Farmers often complain they are paid too little. Some accuse local authorities of stealing compensation money.

Such incidents have alarmed communist leaders, who are promising to spend more to raise living standards in the poor countryside, home to about 800 million people.

By the government's count, China had more than 70,000 cases of rural unrest last year. Protests are growing more violent, with injuries on both sides.

President Hu Jintao's government has made a priority of spreading prosperity to areas left behind by China's 25-year economic boom. But in many areas, families still live on the equivalent of a few hundred dollars a year.

Outside Dongzhou, police on Sunday were stopping vehicles at roadblocks, checking for local men.

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper said villagers wounded in the shooting were "under police control" in hospitals. It quoted one villager as saying relatives were detained after they went to visit an uncle, who was recovering from a gunshot wound to the chest.

The Post quoted some residents as saying officials were trying to hide the death toll, offering families money to give up bodies.

The official Xinhua News Agency said villagers in Dongzhou were unhappy over land requisition and were demanding more compensation. It said the province has formed a group to investigate.

The villagers attacked the plant using knives, steel spears, sticks, dynamite, gasoline bombs and explosives used in fishing, Xinhua said. It said police dispersed the crowd with tear gas and arrested two people accused of inciting the violence.

However, the attackers regrouped, and after dark began throwing explosives at police, it said.

"Police were forced to open fire in alarm. In the chaos, three villagers died," Xinhua said.

A village woman told The Associated Press by telephone on Saturday that police were holding some bodies, refusing relatives' pleas to return them. The woman, who refused to give her name for fear of retribution, said 10 to 20 people were killed in Tuesday's violence.

A village man, who gave only his surname, Chong, put the number at 15 to 20. He said many families had gone to a local police station seeking compensation, but officers had turned them back.

Chong said dozens of people were missing, but didn't elaborate.

Telephone calls to the local police station went unanswered.