UN protestors Highlight Chinas Forced Eviction Problem

In China, forced evictions are a heated issue. Local authorities and companies often collude to force people off their land to make way for new development. And if you’re evicted in China, there’s often no way get fair compensation. Our reporter spoke with two victims of forced eviction who are protesting outside the United Nations building in New York.
[Chen Xuxing, Forced Eviction Victim]:
“This is a photo of my house. It had 4 floors and was close to 500 square meters.”

Chen Xuxing’s house is gone. A local real estate developer in Wuhan wanted to use his land to build a park, but Mr. Chen didn’t agree. So the company forced him out of him home—and then demolished it.

It’s known as forced eviction, and in China, it’s one of the most serious problems facing the country today. Developers, often working with local officials, have rushed to cash in on a real estate boom. Often, it involves driving residents off desirable land.

Residents have little legal protection—even when companies do illegal things to force them out.

[Chen Xuxing, Forced Eviction Victim]:
“Because we didn’t reach an agreement, three days later they employed thugs to break into my house.”

This is video footage from the surveillance camera on Mr. Chen’s house.

[Chen Xuxing, Forced Eviction Victim]:
“Several dozen people came, thugs came to break down my door…After beating me in the house until my head was bleeding, they pulled me outside to beat me. They said they had taken me outside to beat me so the neighbors could see, and that whoever doesn’t move will end up like this.”

Mr. Chen was hospitalized for two months.

He shot this footage after leaving the hospital. His street is filled with the debris of demolished houses. This couple stands in the ruins of their home—torn down with all their belongings still inside. Other houses are marked with the word “demolish.”

Mr. Chen says the development company was colluding with local officials. When Mr. Chen was attacked, neighbors called the police, but they didn’t show up until the following afternoon. Local authorities also refused to listen to the residents’ protests.

According to the Asia Advocacy Director at Human Rights Watch, this type of corruption is common in China.

[Sophie Richardson, Asia Advocacy Director, Human Rights Watch]:
“Corruption is an enormous problem inside China, and collusion between local business interests and officials is commonly cited in everything from people’s inability to access medical care to getting their cases taken in local courts.”

To make way for Shanghai’s World Expo, local authorities evicted an estimated eighteen thousand families from their homes. Hu Yan’s family was one of them.

In Ms. Hu’s case, Shanghai authorities reclassified the land that they took, leaving her family with little compensation. They received only about one-thirtieth of what the land was originally worth.

Ms. Hu says that the land reclassification broke the law, but no court would hear her case.

[Hu Yan, Forced Eviction Victim]: 2.54
“On August 15, 2005, China’s Supreme People’s Court ruled that no People’s Court will accept disputes to do with demolition and relocation.”

Ms. Hu’s home was destroyed in 2005. Since then, Chinese authorities have released new guidelines on forced evictions. But it seems that progress has been minimal.

[Sophie Richardson, Asia Advocacy Director, Human Rights Watch]:
“There have been comments made by the government that opportunities for consultation will be expanded, but whether that’s really been enforced, I think, is certainly up for debate.”

Still seeking justice, Ms. Hu has brought her protest to the United Nations in New York. After seeing her on the news, Mr. Chen—who now lives in the U.S.—joined her.

[Chen Xuxing, Forced Eviction Victim]:
“There is simply nowhere you can go to get your voice heard. There is no one taking care of these things, no one taking responsibility.”

[Hu Yan, Forced Eviction Victim]:
“Since the Shanghai government will not give me an explanation, I have now come abroad to international society. You have the whole world, 242 countries and international organizations participating in the Shanghai world Expo, aren’t you going to give the people who have been harmed a fair explanation? So I have come to international society to tell people the true situation [in China].”

Hu Yan has vowed to stay outside the United Nations until the Shanghai World Expo ends in October.

Ben Hedges, NTD News.

(Karen Chang and Shelley Zhang contributed to this report)

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