Shijiahe, China
Police fired rubber bullets into a crowd of unarmed farmers in rural China this week to break up a protest against land seizures. At least 10 people were seriously injured. It was the latest in a series of protests sweeping through rural villages this summer. The state owns all land in China, and peasant farmers must lease their farms. Increasingly, they are being kicked off their land uncompensated, as local Communist Party officials confiscate farms for development projects, often for personal profit. Between 1999 and 2002, the last period for which figures are available, 1.5 million farmers were stripped of around 300,000 acres.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
