The Most Awesome Scavengers in History
(Zhao Shilong's Blog) Lies Cover Up Forced Relocation; The Most Awesome Scavengers In History. April 17, 2007.
[in translation]
According to an April 16 Yangchang Wanbao report, 300 households in the center of Foshan city were subjected to "assault, looting and robbery." On the same night when the news report was released, another mass assault occurred.
On the early morning of April 17, the police and the Dongjian Company which is doing the relocation, summoned the media to a press conference and announced that the "mass assault was made by scavengers." Thus, the most awesome scavengers in history came to light.
Here, let us review some of the episodes of this violent relocation:
At some time past 8pm on April 16, Mr. Huo who lives at Weining Road in Chancheng city heard sounds in his living room. He came out of his bedroom, and he saw that four or five strangers had broken in and were in the process of removing his refrigerator and furniture. Mr. Huo cried out loud for help from his neighbors. But these men immediately blocked the second floor stairwell and prevented anyone from coming in.
There are eight households in the building. Six other households had encountered the same experience as Mr. Huo.
A householder named Li went out on the weekend to sweep his ancestors' graves. When he returned home, he found out that his household's television, refrigerator, air conditioner and all other furniture have been removed. Even the electrical wiring, water pipes, steel gate and aluminum windows had been removed.
Mr. Li said: "I have never encountered any robber as thorough as these people."
Many neighbors have witnessed these lootings many times: At just past 1pm on March 20, dozens of people who looked like migrant laborers came on a dozen tricycles to the building. At the time, the front gate was locked. But two of the men pried open the window and entered the house to break the front gate lock. The men then rushed in and moved everything in the households onto the tricycles and rushed away. Meanwhile, the remaining men used iron hammers to smash the walls, they used scissors to snip the electrical cables, they used screwdrivers and pincers to rip out the electricity/water meters and remove the windows.
According to eyewitnesses, the entire house was turned into an empty shell in half an hour.
This was not an isolated incident. Many other households in the neighborhood have had the same experience. Many households even had their wires in the wall dug out and they were left with empty holes in the wall. Only the outside structure of their homes remained.
When Yangchang Wanbao reporters Ding Hua and Peng Jining were conducting their interviews, they continued to hear the sounds of breaking glass and smashing walls. A patrol police officer nabbed one "thief" who had all the tools: pincers, hammers, screwdrivers and so on.
When the police heard the sound of wall breaking, they came over and arrested four persons. But they did not find any equipment.
The residents said: "They are conducting guerilla warfare. I understand that they numbered about 200 persons who came from the same village."
"They are like bandits! They would steal from a home in the presence of household residents." Resident Mr. Chou had been forced to leave.
According to the bicycle repairer Mr. Li, these people were out of control because they came many times to commit robbery, from 6am in the morning to midnight. The largest mob that he saw at one time had more than 40 people.
According to information, the 600 or so households in the neighborhood received relocation notices twice between December 22 last year to January 15 this year. According to the notice, the households had to move out before June 6 this year. Mr. He told the reporters in anger: "We don't agree with the relocations. But the assumption is that the two sides must reach agreement. However, the company basically refused to talk to us. They just sent over a contract for us to sign. Some of the conditions were unreasonable. We wanted to negotiate with them. But they just ignored us."
According to the relevant regulations, the issues about the location of the relocated homes should be clearly specific in the agreement but none of that was mentioned in the contract. According to Mr. He who resides in Room 102 at Number 23, he went away on business. When he came back, he found out that everything in his home had been removed. Even more mysterious was that some strangers were living there. There was also a drilling machine by the front door and the house was filled with steel pipes that were more than 10 meters long. Mr. He located the foreman Mr. Wang for that team. Mr. Wang said that he was hired by a certain construction company for the relocation project. The reason why the workers were staying at Room 102 was that the contraction company informed them that the household had consented to be relocated.
According to media reports: Since last month, more than 300 households had moved out because they could not deal with the harassment. Many other people had signed the "agreement for relocation" in tears. When the reporters showed up, more than 40 people immediately rushed up to explain their situations: "We can't deal with this!" "At present, less than one-quarter of the households have not yet moved out. They said, "The electricity and water will be cut off tomorrow. We can't live here anymore."
A household named Xie used a DV camera to record the entire process, including the interviews of the reporters interviewing householders. Mr. Xie said: "I have recorded more than 40G of video in one month's time. You can see the cases where the electricity meters were destroyed or the walls and doors busted. They were very professional."
When the Zumiao police station received reports, they sent personnel to seal the scene. After the media had exposed the seriousness of the situation, the Foshan public security bureau's Chancheng station called for an emergency press conference early morning on April 17. Director Zhang of the police station announced the "preliminary investigation results" and said that he believed that "the incident was basically caused by scavengers." He also claimed that "since March 1, we have not received a single incident in which a resident complained about being forcibly relocated."
According to a Guangzhou Daily report, the Chancheng public security bureau deputy director Chen Yonggong told the media that 13 investigative teams formed by 26 militia police officers had conducted a "blanket" canvassing of the 156 remaining households. According to the preliminary tally, 30 households have complained to the police that they had been robbed. "The data of 110 reports were basically consistent with the situation."
Concerning the "rash of robberies committed by scavengers," the police station said that it has deployed its police officers to keep watch at the various entry points into the district. But since "the district belongs to the prime area of Foshan city and the lanes of the district traverse each other in complex patterns, there is a certain degree of difficulty for maintaining public safety."
The Dongjian Group general manager made his first public appearance at the Public Security Bureau's press conference. He said that the company had a relocation permit from the Chancheng district Construction Department and all their processes were normal and reasonable. The reporters learned from the Foshan city Urban Planning Department that Dongjian Company had the specified rights for development and has met all the requirements.
But the victimized residents hold dissenting opinions. Many residents believed that the company hired the migrant laborers to cause trouble. "This was a large-scale forced eviction."
Resident Mr. Han said; "Would the migrant laborers use concrete and sand to block the drainage system of the residents?"
Another resident said; "The scavengers were very professional when they cut off the electricity. Not only did they cut off the electricity from the outside, many of them entered the home to cut off the electricity cables. According to the regulations, when the outside electricity cables are cut off, it is the responsibility of the electricity company to make the repairs. But when the electricity cables inside the home are cut off, the householder has to pay for the repairs out of his/her own pocket."
After reading this piece of news that one would not know whether to laugh or cry about, I am unable to laugh. The most awesome scavengers in history made their appearance in Foshan. Are the scavengers really so awesome? Are they really scavengers? Or are they being manipulated or instigated to become the tools for "relocation"? Are they just scapegoats?
With the <Property rights law> that has just been passed in the background, more than 300 households have just been forcibly evicted. The process occurred over more than one months' time and the site is in the bustling city center of Foshan. These "scavengers" knocked down doors and walls in enter into people's homes to take other people's properties and assets. Sometimes, they did not even care if the household members were present and they robbed and vandalized the homes. Is this still a society under the rule of law? Or are these chaotic times during wartime?
The police explanation of the "scavengers" seems to be the most absurd thing ever. If the police assert that these several hundred "scavengers' had been able to go undeterred in their crime spree in the center of a major city such as Foshan over the course of one whole month, then the police are guilty of serious dereliction of duty, malfeasance or even being an accessory in crime. The taxpayers should not be paying for the upkeep to these 'cats' which cannot catch the mice and who appear not to be able to see these mice. They should really be replaced by some cats who can actually spot the mice.
If the police assertion is false, then their story about the "scavengers" represent lies that are more truer than in the American movie <True Lies>! This was a naked forced eviction. This was a violent eviction that ignored public rights, this was a violation of citizen rights and this was a mass incident in which citizen properties were robbed. The police statement was a cover-up that attempts to excuse the violence against the evictees as well as their own culpability.
From this case, one can see that the law enforcement authorities are indifferent to the violation of citizen property rights. We can see that certain authorities act on behalf of certain special interest groups and the thought-provoking "inaction" and dishonesty of certain authorities.