Zhejiang Villagers Protest Land Grabs

Since February 1st, residents from two villages in China's in Cangnan County in Zhejiang Province have been taking to the streets, protesting land grabs by local officials.

Panhe East and West villagers say local officials stole their land.

[Lu Yeqin, Villager]:
"Officials from the village sold land. This land originally belonged to the villagers. After it was sold, the [villagers] were not given any money for it. The villagers are upset, and after all, this land was passed down through their family business. They rely on the land for their livelihood, but now it has been sold."

Police did not stop more than 3000 villagers from marching to the village committee, but neither have the villagers received a response from local officials.

Local resident Mrs. Ma says the turnout has been huge.

[Mrs. Ma, Villager]:
"Everyone from the village came out. Today we will march again, and the whole village should come. I have even seen kids coming out, passing by my building."

Locals say that last October police arrested several people when they pushed over the wall of an enclosure owned by a local property developer. Some are still detained.

Protests over land grabs have been heating up in China with the village of Wukan forcing all Communist Party authorities out for two weeks over similar issues at the end of last year.

Land grabs in Zhejiang date back to 2006 and the villagers hope they can use the same protest style as Wukan to correct the situation.