Residents in Liao Bu Town, Dongguan, Guangdong, expressed their dissatisfaction over the imposition of village surrounding fees. On the evening of March 9th (Sunday), a large number of people gathered at the toll station to protest, even breaking the barriers of the toll station.
According to netizens who shared videos, the residents of Xiaodi Village in Liao Bu Town were required to pay parking fees monthly for vehicles from outside, causing additional financial burden on migrant workers. The sudden fee regulation sparked strong discontent among the people. On the night of March 9th, a large number of villagers and nearby residents gathered around the toll station to demand the cancellation of the fees.
Videos showed that a large crowd gathered at the toll station at an intersection, some even broke the barriers and threw them by the roadside.
One netizen who posted the video said, “It’s already tough for us outsiders to make a living here. Besides rent, utilities, the remaining income is barely enough. Now adding village fees on top of that is truly unbearable. That’s why there was such a strong demand for rights protection last night. Are they really going to make it impossible for outsiders to survive here?”
According to the netizen, dozens of police officers were deployed by the authorities before the situation was resolved.
Information shared by multiple netizens indicated that the phenomenon of arbitrary village fees is widespread in Guangdong Province. In some places, within a distance of less than a kilometer, there are several toll barriers set up.
Search results by netizens showed that Dongguan City’s Transportation Bureau briefly halted village fees in 2021, but in February 2022, they introduced the “Dongguan City Village (Community) Vehicle Regulation Management Guidance” which allowed village fees to be charged. By January 2024, in various towns of Dongguan such as Dongcheng, Nancheng, and Liaobu, at least 20 villages or communities had restarted charging fees for foreign vehicles and people. The fee structure includes a free first half-hour, 3 yuan per hour after, with a maximum of 30 yuan per day. Monthly cards are priced at 200 yuan per month.
The imposition of village fees has led to dissatisfaction among villagers and outsiders and raised questions about the legality of the fees.
As reported by mainland media earlier, some residents interviewed stated, “The fees are definitely unreasonable. This is a village, not a parking lot.” The owner of a car repair shop also expressed confusion as customers coming to the village for repairs are required to pay for parking, which customers find unjustified.
The villagers’ rights protection incident stirred discussions online, with many netizens saying, “The local finances can’t sell land, so they resort to closing roads for tolls.” “In the current situation, any additional expenses are truly unbearable. It’s unnatural if we don’t speak up.” “Support the cancellation of village fees.” “If there are fees, we won’t rent or work in their village.” “In the future, such herd effects will increase in various social events because people are utterly fed up with the abnormal state of public sentiment.”
However, related videos and reports were quickly deleted, leaving only a few scattered videos online by the time of the reporter’s deadline. Many netizens mentioned, “All videos have been taken down.”