VZCZCXRO0114
PP RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #3399/01 3521057
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 181057Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7299
INFO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 003399 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/CM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ELAB PGOV PHUM CH
SUBJECT: China/Land/Abuse of Power: Self-Immolation 
Protests Spark Social Stability and Property Rights 
Debate 
 
REF: A) Chengdu 313 07 BEIJING 2060; B) 08 BEIJING 2818; 
C) BEIJING 3392 
 
THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: A tragic self-immolation death in 
Sichuan Province resulting from an urban house demolition 
dispute, followed by another similar protest in Beijing, 
has stimulated unusually broad public discussions of 
local-level abuse of power in land seizures.  Some 
commentators have suggested that conflicts caused by 
sharply rising property prices, local governments' large 
financial stakes in real estate, and the awareness of 
individual rights could be a source of urban social 
instability, and noted a popular soap opera dealing with 
these land issues was pulled off the air.  The persistent 
and numerous press and blog discussions since the 
incidents have triggered a public debate on the "forced 
demolitions" that are common in urban areas across the 
country, prompting the State Council to announce plans to 
revise demolition laws.  While the official press has 
publicized regularly-occurring housing and land protests 
-- including a few self-immolations -- in the past, the 
extent of debate around this particular case may both 
influence and reflect discussions on legitimizing 
urbanization and land ownership that are expected to be 
part of the Communist Party's 12th 5-year economic plan. 
End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Shocking Self-Immolation Protests 
--------------------------------- 
¶2. (SBU) On November 13, Chinese were shocked to see 
hand-held eyewitness video and photographs in many media 
outlets of a woman engulfed in flames on the roof of a 
house in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, surrounded by 
demolition equipment and public officials.  District 
authorities had ordered the house forcibly demolished 
after failed negotiations with the owner regarding 
compensation. When the demolition crew arrived they were 
met by the owner's ex-wife who poured a flammable liquid 
over herself and was subsequently engulfed in flames. 
The house was demolished after she was taken to the 
hospital, where she later died.  (See reftel A from CG 
Chengdu for further details on the case). 
 
¶3. (SBU) On December 14, another widely-publicized self- 
immolation to protest a forced eviction occurred in 
Beijing.  Not satisfied with the apartment offered as 
compensation, Xi Xinzhu burned himself, but survived, in 
a vain attempt to stop the forced demolition of his 
family's house in Beijing's Haidian district.  His 81 
year-old mother and wife were injured during the 
confrontation with workers carrying out the demolition 
order.  The Beijing Times, a People's Daily controlled, 
but unofficial commercial metropolitan paper, reported 
that the head of the district where the demolition 
happened also had an interest in the real estate 
development company responsible for development of the 
area. 
 
------------------------ 
State-Run Media Coverage 
------------------------ 
¶4. (SBU) Heavy media coverage of local heroes standing up 
to authorities in "demolition" cases is not a new 
phenomenon.  The famous 2007 "nailhouse" incident in 
Chongqing (Reftel B) received massive publicity in 
Chinese media, including front page color photos in such 
news weeklies as China Newsweek.  But, following an 
initial burst of media coverage, the propaganda 
authorities ordered a blackout fearing the protest would 
inspire copy cats (a notable difference from the 
extensive coverage currently allowed for these incidents). 
Since then, such protests have surfaced from time to time, 
including in a neighborhood in Beijing a couple of years 
ago (Reftel C).  Self-immolation has also been used 
sporadically across China in the last several years for 
many differing types of protests.  However, possibly due 
to the graphic nature of the publicly circulated video 
clip, combined with people's rising awareness of the 
value of their land, the Chengdu story has made it into 
the national spotlight and sparked a debate over the 
actions of the authorities. 
 
 
BEIJING 00003399  002 OF 003 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) China's official and quasi-official press has 
reported extensively on the case, including serious 
critiques of the local handling of the incident.  For 
example, Xinhua, China's official press agency, ran an 
article December 4 that not only probed the facts of the 
incident but also discussed the general issue of property 
rights, official power, and home demolitions.  Popular 
and influential party-owned commercial dailies such as 
Beijing's Xinjing Bao (Beijing News) and Guangdong's 
Nanfang Dushi Bao (Southern Metropolitan Daily) ran 
editorials, and the China Daily published an article 
December 11 by media commentator Bi Shicheng that stated 
"now that clashes over demolitions are becoming common, 
the central government has to overhaul the regulation as 
the first step toward honoring public sentiment, simply 
because it should not have been used as a violent tool by 
the strong against the weak." 
 
--------------------------- 
China's Netizens Also React 
--------------------------- 
¶6. (SBU) Beyond the official press, influential bloggers 
across the political spectrum, from liberals to hard-line 
nationalists, commented on the immolation case.  For 
example, the liberal blogger Bei Feng noted the incident 
in his weekly summary of important items from the 
Internet for the week of Dec 4, writing that it resulted 
in an outpouring of "public anger" on the Internet. 
Opinion ran against forced demolitions and commentators 
have said this should prompt law makers and decision 
makers to contemplate whether the current system of 
demolition regulations should be replaced by those based 
on the constitution and property law.  Strong Nation 
Forum, a BBS hosted by the website of the CCP's flagship 
newspaper People's Daily, allowed extensive discussion of 
the issue of the property law and demolition. 
 
¶7. (SBU) A cursory review of blog coverage shows many 
comments that portray the Chengdu self-immolation as a 
symbol of the deep frustration Chinese citizens feel with 
not only high real estate prices but also with powerful 
officials working hand-in-hand with property developers 
who often ignore the rights and interests of urban 
residents.  There are many examples of blog comments in 
the form of eulogies and memorial speeches lamenting the 
victim's death and praising her courage and persistence 
in fighting authorities. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
"Dwelling Narrowness" and Housing Discontent 
-------------------------------------------- 
¶8. (SBU) Concern about the public's discontent with 
housing and land issues was evident recently when 
"Dwelling Narrowness," a popular television drama that 
dealt with the frustration and unhappiness among urban 
residents trying to buy a house, was abruptly cancelled. 
The show directly addressed soaring property prices that 
have given rise to other social problems, including the 
gap between the rich and the poor, corruption, and 
falling moral standards (one of the series' characters 
has an affair with a rich, corrupt official in order to 
buy an apartment).  A local business publication 
attributed the cancellation to pressure from real estate 
developers, who were also portrayed negatively in the 
popular show. 
 
¶9. (SBU) A prominent academic in a meeting with 
Undersecretary Burns (Reftel C) confirmed that land and 
real estate seizures as a potential social stability 
problem had become a hot topic of discussion in China. 
He explained that local governments have an increasingly 
large financial stake in real estate, and as property 
prices in urban areas continue to climb the risk of 
conflicts with what he termed "quasi-legal land 
occupants" also rose. 
 
¶10. (SBU) The above-referenced December 11 China Daily 
article echoed this view, explaining that local 
governments are often dependent on money generated by 
land supplies to boost local GDP (and thus secure local 
leaders' political futures).  The article argued for 
giving common property owners more legal rights to fight 
off rich and powerful developers and local governments, 
writing that "in the long run, efforts should be made to 
reform local governments' finance and tax systems so that 
 
BEIJING 00003399  003 OF 003 
 
 
they stop playing the role of stakeholders in the 
demolition game." 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
State Council Responds to Call for Legal Reform 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
¶11. (SBU) Reports of the self-immolation prompted a 
discussion of the need to reform land-seizure procedures 
often abused at the local-government level.  In a letter 
to the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing 
Committee made public in December 17 China Daily article, 
law professors Shen Kui, Jiang Ming'an, Wang Xixin, Qian 
Mingxing, and Chen Duanhong of Peking University 
suggested that the State Council Legislative Affairs 
Office revise or abolish the "Housing Demolition and 
Relocation Management Regulation."  Since then, other 
reports of lawyers, academics, and PRC media articles 
have been published advocating reform of demolition 
regulations.  (Note: The existing regulation provides 
that residents have to vacate a property once the 
government issues a relocation permit, and a maximum 
period of a year and a half is allowed to negotiate 
compensation.  If no agreement is reached, demolition may 
proceed.  This regulation often leads to corruption in 
which local business interests collude with officials to 
pay minimal value for demolished homes to make way for 
profitable developments.  End note.) 
 
¶12. (SBU) The Peking University scholars wrote that the 
PRC constitution and property law provided that the 
government can only confiscate housing for public welfare 
construction, and that compensation must be paid before 
relocation is forced.  The professors claimed the current 
regulation favors demolishers and infringes upon the 
rights of residents.  One of the professors explained 
that they do not oppose urban development, but wanted 
simply to ask the question "if the price [of urban 
development] is people's basic rights and sense of 
security, can we afford that?" 
 
¶13. (SBU) After a December 16 meeting with the law 
professors, the State Council Legislative Affairs Office 
said it is working on reforming the demolition regulation. 
"We'll speed up revising and issuing a new regulation to 
improve the current urban housing management system and 
better safeguard citizens' rights," said Gao Fengtao, 
deputy director of the Legislative Affairs Office.  He 
added that the State Council has been working on a new 
regulation since the implementation of the 2007 Property 
Law, but still needs more time to resolve the many issues 
related to demolition. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
¶14. (SBU) China recently concluded the Central Economic 
Work Conference which endorsed increasing urbanization as 
a means to boost domestic consumption, and is currently 
working towards the 2010 drafting of the 12th 5-year 
economic plan which reportedly will include urbanization 
as a key theme.  The extent of debate around this 
particular case, and the debate surrounding maintaining 
social stability while promoting urbanization, will 
influence the government's discussions on urban and 
suburban land ownership in drafting the 12th 5-year plan. 
Currently urban land is held on long-term leases which 
are expected to be renewed.  If China attempts to 
accelerate urbanization to rebalance the economy and 
boost consumption without addressing the legal and 
institutional weaknesses in the current land management 
system, more protest incidents will likely result.  These 
incidents could spur needed legal reforms and stronger 
property rights, but will likely not themselves become a 
source of broader social instability.  End Comment. 
 
GOLDBERG