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March 2nd, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
While village elections are written into China’s constitution, they are rarely
free or fair. In Wukan, there has never been a ballot before: their “elections”
used to be stitched up by the former party secretary and his circle.
And as the villagers conclude their third and final vote today, liberal voices
within the Communist party have begun to refer to Wukan as an example of how
to bring reform to other villages. Diplomatic observers from the United
States will be in Wukan to witness the moment the vote kicks off.
But underneath the happy mood in the village, tensions remain. Change in China
does not arrive overnight, and there remains the lingering suspicion that
the villagers will pay a price for their transgressions at some point down
the line.
Xiong Wei, a Beijing-based advocate for grassroots democracy, who is in Wukan
to advise on the elections, has voiced fears for his safety on Weibo, the
Chinese version of Twitter. Another village leader, Hong Ruichao, confessed
to Reuters that he felt unsafe outside Wukan, in case of possible reprisals,
and tries not to leave the village.
And even though the Communist party is sponsoring the vote, it is not pleased
at Miss Xue’s participation.
Miss Xue said she had been reluctant to run for office until local government
officials began “harassing” her and urging her not to participate. “So
then I thought if I did run, that would put some pressure on the government,”
she said.
Still, she has already paid a price: earlier this week, the school where she
works rang to cancel her contract, citing a technicality.
“The last time the school called me, I went there and they locked me up
so that some officials could chat to me,” she said, adding that she was
not sure whether the government might try to stop her from attending the
ballot.
“My concern now is that some of my relatives are worried about the safety
of my younger brother and sister, who study outside Wukan,” she said.
Twenty-three other names will be on the ballot papers tomorrow, and each
candidate needs the support of at least half of Wukan’s 7,000 or so eligible
voters in order to be elected.
Here too, the bold experiment with democracy appears to be empowering a select
few. Voting is likely to run along family lines, and to elevate those who
organised the revolt.
Despite previously promising a clear division of responsibilities among the
election observers and participant, there has been some blurring of the
lines.
Yang Semao, one of the senior villagers, said he had been cajoled into wearing
both hats. “The government has ordered the election to strictly follow
the laws and regulations but the villagers prefer to be more casual, for
example voting for one’s own family and relatives,” he said.
The first issue for the new committee, once the results emerge over the
weekend, will be to resolve the appropriation of some 300 acres of the
village’s land by property developers.
“We have found an old map dating back to 1982, and acquired lots of solid
evidence to prove the land grab was illegal,” said Zhang Jianxing, one
of the younger villagers. “We are confident we have enough evidence to
resolve the issue.”
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