[Unattributed report - handwritten: "More Than 3,000 Wuhan Residents To Be Removed for Relocation Purposes Block the Roads and Clash With the Police; 50 Are Injured and 100 Others Are Arrested"]
Our information centre has learned that a Donghu-Shahu open canal project, which involves the interests of 50,000 Wuhan residents, caused a major riot yesterday, during which more than 3,000 people to be removed for relocation purposes blocked Zhongbei Road, a major highway in Wuhan City, to launch a protest. A bloody clash happened between several hundred special task force policemen and the protesters. Some 50 people were injured and more 100 others were arrested. Their whereabouts were unknown. As the authorities have decided to proceed with forced relocation at the end of August, Wuhan will very like face a large-scale violent riot soon.
As our information centre has learned, the Wuhan City Government has invested 12 billion yuan for the construction of an open canal from Donghu to Shahu. The government said that this will help improve the city environment and harness pollution. This is Wuhan City's largest relocation project in history, which involves more than 50,000 residents of some 20,000 households. The project is described by the residents as a hand-in-glove collaboration between officials and developers. The residents are strongly discontented with the compensation prices, relocation sites, and the students' schooling arrangements. The residents are sceptical about the details of the project, such as the scope of construction, the project plan, and the project cost estimate - which have all remained undisclosed - and the question of whether the canal project will help harness pollution when the sources of pollution remain unresolved.
At around 0730 yesterday, more than 3,000 people from the Wuhan Heavy Machine Tool Group Company and Wuhan University, including workers, teachers, and retired personnel, began to block Zhongbei Road and Donghu Road, paralysing the traffic in the surrounding areas. At 1100, the Wuhan authorities sent 500 special task force policemen to clear the site. When they were trying to arrest the protestors, a bloody clash occurred. Fifty protestors were injured and 100 others were arrested and carried away on vehicles. Their whereabouts were unknown. As there will be forced relocation soon, Wuhan will very likely face a large-scale violent riot.
This year China has increased 30,000 special task force policemen. From 2010 to 2011, it will increase 30,000 special task force policemen annually. After the 5 July incident in Xinjiang, 6,500 special task force policemen from 31 cities were sent to Urumqi. The increase in the number of special task force policemen and their mobility indicates that riots will become more serious in China in the future.
On 4 August, the Shanghai authorities sent more than 100 special task force policemen to break into some citizens' houses to catch thieves. This sparked great controversy throughout the country. Not long afterward, 12 people at least were proved to have been innocently arrested. And the police breaking into citizens' houses to take cold drinks from the refrigerators had even become a laughingstock of the netizens. Such instances show how low the "human rights" protection on the mainland is. In Hong Kong, it would be incredible for a policemen to climb into a citizen's house without a search warrant. But such a case occurred in Shanghai, a city whose economic development level is equal to that of Hong Kong.
Written on 22 August.
Source: Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, Hong Kong, in Chinese 22 Aug 09