The Legal Time Bomb of Urban Redevelopment
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THE LEGAL TIME BOMB OF URBAN REDEVELOPMENT BY LIU QING Urban redevelopment in China’s major cities Residents of redeveloped neighborhoods sometimes has led to the forced relocation of countless find that government officials have a personal stake in the redevelopment project that makes them unsympa- families, many under highly disadvantaged thetic to complaints. circumstances. Liu Qing observes how In Shanghai discontent over urban redevelopment proj- chronic discontent over these clearance ects has come to a head with large groups of displaced resi- dents staging protests and attempting to petition central projects demonstrates the inadequacy of authorities in Beijing. legislation in the face of deficient enforce- In early March this year, a group of 45 people, including Wang Mingqing and Sun Dongming, was prevented from ment and implementation. petitioning Beijing authorities with their grievances over the terms and compensation offered to them in the redevelop- China has clear regulations regarding use and ownership of ment of their neighborhoods. property through its constitution, civil code, urban real The group represented only a small proportion of the estate management law and other relevant laws. However, as people protesting clearance terms.The conflict with develop- top Chinese lawyer Gao Zhisheng pointed out in a recent ers and local officials had already been simmering for interview with the China Economic Times, officials at all levels of some time without a mutually acceptable resolution, and the bureaucracy routinely operate as if these laws don’t exist. many people had been warned or placed under tight surveil- In theory,transactions of sale, lease or urban clearance lance.The timing of this petition attempt was particularly should allow individuals and real estate developers to deal sensitive because of meetings held in Beijing by the National with each other on an equal basis. But in reality,Gao said, People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political individuals are at a considerable disadvantage compared with Consultative Conference. corporations, and in forced clearance situations it is rare for In an attempt to circumvent heightened security meas- an individual to be compensated with a home equal in size ures, the petitioners split into several small groups and trav- or value to the one he is losing. eled to Beijing separately,then gathered together upon their Discontent over neighborhood redevelopment is a arrival on March 6.The petitioners proceeded to the State chronic problem in China, with complaints typically Letters and Visits Department of China’s State Council, but falling into five categories: officials there would not accept their petition, so they moved 1. Economic inequity.Residents claim that compensation on to the China Construction Department.There they were for their homes is inadequate and not in conformance greeted by a large contingent of plain-clothes police officers with stated policy. and an official from the Shanghai municipal petitions office, 2. Forcible execution. Residents feel they are offered no who had apparently anticipated their arrival. chance to negotiate with developers before being The petitioners were warned not to “stir up trouble” dur- evicted from their homes, and are sometimes left ing the NPC and CPPCC meetings, then were surrounded and homeless because of inadequate compensation. forced onto two buses, which delivered them to the Beijing 3. Personal oppression. Residents who refuse to leave train station in time for the 8:00 train back to Shanghai. their homes prior to clearance are often subjected to Police officers loaded the petitioners into one carriage and oppressive tactics such as extended detentions. guarded the exits at each end for the duration of the journey, 4. No means of appeal. Government officials and courts prohibiting the petitioners from walking around or getting seldom pay heed to residents appealing decisions to anything to eat.After the train arrived back in Shanghai at clear their neighborhoods. 10:00 the next morning, Shanghai public security police and 5. Government officials in league with developers. housing relocation officials escorted the protesters home, chiding them all the way.At least one petitioner, Huang May 1 brought a public protest in front of the Shanghai Shizhen, was arrested and detained overnight. Municipal Government offices on Kang Ping Road, with 132 That afternoon the deputy general secretary of the protesters ignoring restrictions on large gatherings to pre- Shanghai municipal government, Chai Junyong, listened to vent the spread of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome NO.2, 2003 the petitioners’ views and promised to resolve the problem (SARS) epidemic. as soon as possible. But the protesters, doubtful of an accept- The protesters, including Chen Wanying, Chen Baoliang, able outcome after protracted discussions, continued to exert Zhang Gongyuan, Li Jianyong, Sun Dongming and Wang pressure by their own methods. Qiaojuan, gathered at 2:30 that afternoon and began shout- On April 5 representatives of more than 300 households, ing slogans such as, “SARS is frightening, but forced removal including Ai Furong and Wang Huifang, approached the is even more frightening,” and “SARS is terrible, but dicta- Shanghai Mayor, Han Zheng, and the Municipal Party torship is even more terrible.” Secretary,Chen Liangyu, during memorial activities at a After about half an hour, more than 200 Public Security cemetery for the Qing Ming Festival and requested a meeting Police sealed off the area, rounded up the protesters and to discuss serious breaches of personal and property rights in loaded them into two buses. Protesters who arrived later were CHINA RIGHTS FORUM a clearance operation.The encounter caused considerable dispersed from the scene by police.The arrested protesters 69 ON THE GROUND A home scheduled for demolition in a Shanghai redevelopment zone. Photo: Reuters. tension among the officials, who called 300 police officers to were sent to police stations in 14 different districts. One pro- the cemetery to ward off the possibility of physical conflict. tester, Zheng Wanfeng, managed to telephone his family on his Finally Chai Junyong, the Deputy General Secretary,came cell phone and told them not to expect him home that night. forward to accept a petition from the resident representa- Later in the month, on May 20, a group of more than 150 tives, and promised in writing that municipal officials prospective petitioners were met by a large number of police would meet with the representatives on the afternoon of officers at the Shanghai train station and prevented from April 14. But on that day officials cancelled the meeting at boarding the train for Beijing. the last minute and sent police to disperse the representa- Some of the protesters were soon released, but at least 80 tives who had turned up. More than 30 representatives, were detained at police stations throughout the city.Sources angry at the rebuff, went to the Shanghai train station and said that some of the detainees, including elderly women, several of them, including Kang Xiuzhen, purchased tickets were forced to stand for extended periods and deprived of to Beijing for April 17. But almost immediately police timely access to food and drink. arrested and detained the representatives and confiscated Among the detainees was a Hong Kong resident, Shen their train tickets. Ting (Sam Ting), who was helping her mother, Mo Zhujie, resolve difficulties arising from the destruction of her home Voices of the Dispossessed in a clearance operation. Other detained protesters included Song Adu,Yao Xueying, Chen Xiuqin, Min Daohua, Jiang Following are testimonies of two families displaced in urban redevelopment Baozhen,Yu Xuefeng, Chen Wanfeng,Wang Qiaojuan and projects in Shanghai. Zhang Jungen. The persistence of these protesters is easier to understand when considering the ways in which their rights have been My name is Song Adu. I am seventy years old, and I lived in abused, sometimes even to the point of injury or death. a home on Zhong Shan Road West in Shanghai’s Xuhui For example, the home occupied for several generations District before the neighborhood was cleared. by Sun Meizhen’s family measured 140 square meters (about In the 20-odd years since China embarked on its ope- 1260 square feet), but the real estate company redeveloping ness policies, the people’s living standards have continued the neighborhood only agreed to compensate the family for to improve. But even today,under the rule of law,President a 30 square meter unit. Jiang Zemin’s “three represents” policy and constitutional Other examples related by the lawyer Gao Zhisheng to the law,here in the great international city of Shanghai some China Economic Times include Liu Fengchi, a descendent of the local officials in collusion with corrupt elements suppress Qing Dynasty emperors and an army veteran who was the basic requests of the ordinary people and deprive them injured in battle, who had lost all but one of 138 residential of their human rights. units he owned in the redevelopment of Chongwen District. In 2001 the Real Estate Management Department of Li Changhua, also a resident of Chongwen District, had his Xuhui District organized a relocation committee for the electricity and water supply cut off when he refused to stated purpose of clearing a squatter area and redeveloping move, and finally the demolition crew simply tied him up the land.The State Construction Department had and carried him away.About 100,000 yuan in cash that Li announced that starting on November 1, 2001 it would had been keeping at home disappeared along with other provide compensation for redeveloped property based on belongings, and his electrical appliances were destroyed. In the current market value, but the Shanghai municipal gov- Min’an Hutong in Beijing’s Dongcheng District, residents ernment began forcibly clearing districts before this policy said the developer never signed any kind of agreement with was implemented.