The July 21 clash in Qianjin village, a part of Tongliao city about 725 km northeast of Beijing, was one of a growing number of protests across China, most of which go unreported in the tightly controlled state media.

“We were caught by surprise. Police punched and kicked villagers even as they lay on the ground,” one farmer said. “We’re ready to risk everything. If one government official comes, we’ll take on one. If several come, we’ll fight it out with several,” the farmer said.

Police reached by telephone declined to comment.

But Han Guowu, chief of Ke’erqin district in which Qianjin is located, insisted that police did not assault villagers. “Police were under orders not to retaliate when hit or verbally abused and restrained themselves,” Han said in a telephone interview.

He played down the clash, saying villagers had pelted police with chunks of hard clay, breaking the nose of one officer, smashing the window of a police car and breaking a video camera.

The farmers had refused to turn over their land and had blocked construction of the highway for two months, he said. “The entire village is in a state of anarchy,” Han said.

He dismissed accusations by farmers that the government had hired thugs to break into villagers’ homes in the middle of the night and assault them. He also denied corruption allegations. “Please trust the party and the government,” Han pleaded.

In an editorial, the Thursday edition of the People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party, will call for perceived threats to stability to be crushed.

If anybody accuses somebody affiliated with Washington, Beijing, or Moscow of human rights abuse, anyone who is a rational human being will believe them.

[ 31 July 2005: Message edited by: Betray My Secrets ]