Mayor vows crackdown on China village protesters

China: Authorities in southern China have vowed to crack down on the instigators of a rare revolt against local Communist leaders by villagers who say corrupt officials stole their land.

Wukan, a village in the wealthy southern province of Guangdong with about 13,000 inhabitants, has been under police blockade for more than a week after local leaders fled under pressure from furious residents.

Anger at authorities boiled over on Sunday when Xue Jinbo, a villager held on charges of instigating September riots that saw a police station attacked, died in police custody. Villagers say they believe he was beaten to death.

Wukan has been the scene of repeated and at times violent protests over land seizures, a hugely contentious issue in China, where authorities are accused of colluding with developers in lucrative real estate deals. The villagers have become a thorn in the side of the Communist party in Guangdong, located on the border with Hong Kong and one of China's most prosperous provinces.

Despite attempts to censor the web and a virtual black-out in China's state-run media, weibos -- Chinese microblogs similar to Twitter -- have buzzed with news of the Wukan protest.

This week, as thousands of villagers held daily rallies to demand justice over the land seizures and Xue's death, the mayor of Shanwei city -- who also oversees Wukan -- vowed to crack down on the instigators of the unrest. But Wu Zili said those who surrendered could be shown leniency and announced the suspension of the property development that sparked the September riots, in an apparent attempt to placate the protesters. AFP