Property Seizure Rampant in Hangzhou City
City council members routinely send hundreds of police to confiscate properties from homeowners in Hangzhou. Within two years, about one thousand properties were forcefully taken by the city government, which has been making commercial deals with developers without approval from local residents. Locals hope international human rights organizations can help. Here’s more.
STORY:
Property owner Mu Baoshui says he owned about 2,900 square feet of housing and rental space. But police took it all away without any prior notice or legal documents in hand.
[Mu Baoshui, Property Confiscation Victim]:
”About 700 police, including the police chief, city security officers and city council members, came to my house and forcefully confiscated my property. They took over my property, but didn’t offer any compensation or another place to live. They said our earnings belong to the communist party. My wife and I have worked very hard our whole lives for this house. Now it’s all gone. I hope human rights organizations can help improve human rights in China. In China, people don’t even have the right to live.”
Another Hangzhou resident, Mr. Chen, says the government confiscated his property on July 30th 2007. He also says the government didn’t send any notice or message to them. When he went to hospital, the city council seized his house.
[Mr. Chen, Property Confiscation Victim]:
”My wife and I went to the hospital, and when we came back, our house was gone. I called the media and asked them to report on this issue, but no one would. I went to court and they simply denied my case. What can I do?”
Mr. Hsu says he received notice from authorities that his property would be taken. Many of residents went to appeal, attempting to bring the case to court, but were denied. Those who participated in public protests were all arrested.
[Mr. Hsu, Property Confiscation Victim]:
“We protested the confiscation and about 13 people were arrested. Our homes were still forcefully taken from us, as well as our land. It is impossible to bring these cases to court; especially since government officers order the confiscations. In 2006, they sent two notices informing us of the confiscations; more then 800 property owners were involved.”
About two thousand people live in the Jiangan district of Hangzhou city. But because the city council made contract deals to commercialize the property, more than 800 housing properties have been forcefully confiscated and more are expected to follow.
NTDTV, Hangzhou, China
