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Tensions are riding high in southern China's Wukan Village after a week-long blockade prevented authorities from entering. A tearful funeral for a village leader has galvanized the will of thousands of protesters. They suspect he was tortured to death. They say they will march on government offices if his body is not returned.
Residents of Wukan Village in southern China's Guangdong Province have promised to march on government offices if the body of a fellow villager is not returned.
Authorities have completely lost control of the village of 20,000 since last Friday. Residents have blockaded the roads to stop further police arrests, following months of protests against land seizures by government officials. Authorities have cut off the electricity and thousands of armored police have surrounded the village, preventing food from entering.
Tensions rose last week when local butcher Xue Jinbo, who was helping negotiate with authorities, was pronounced dead by cardiac arrest. Family members who saw his body say there were signs of torture.
A tearful funeral was held on Friday. According people interviewed by phone,
thousands lined up to bow to his image, holding banners such as "You sacrificed your life for our land."
Villagers reinforced the blockades over the weekend and men armed with wooden clubs patrolled the streets.
In a rally of thousands on Saturday, they promised to march on government offices in nearby Lufeng, if Xue Jinbo's body was not returned within five days.
But there is little sign of progress on negotiations with authorities. Village leader Ling Zuluan told reporters his mobile phone had been cut off, making it hard to hold talks. His eldest son had been sent there from outside the village asking him to turn himself in or face prosecution, the New York Times reported.
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