Shandong province’s Menghe Shuanghuo reservoir project occupies a large amount of river beach forest land. The local government forcibly dredges the river sand for sale and violently overturns the small huts where villagers guard the river sand. Renowned human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng condemned the Chinese officials for destroying collective property and looting public assets.
Chen Guangcheng recently told Epoch Times reporters that in his hometown of Dongshigu Village, Shuanghuo Town, Yinan County, Shandong Province, local government officials colluded with businesses. Developers have been using large sand dredging boats to dredge and sell sand from the Meng River, dozens to hundreds of tons per day, causing the collapse of villagers’ forest land. The Meng River runs dry for almost ten months each year, with water flowing only in the summer. During the rainy flood season, sand dredging stops, the boats are pulled ashore, and now they are being returned to the river.
Epoch Times previously reported that the Menghe Shuanghuo reservoir project has occupied a significant amount of river beach forest land. Farmers in Dongshigu Village witnessed their planted poplar trees being cut down, and the contracted forest land was not compensated. Despite the forest land compensation being withheld by the village committee, Linyi Water Conservancy Group forcefully dredged the sand, leading to villagers’ protests.
“Because the villagers did not reach a compensation agreement with them and the compensation was not deposited into the villagers’ accounts, according to Chinese law, it is not allowed to proceed with work. This property belongs to the collective, to Dongshigu Village. The local government sold it off, what kind of logic is this?” Chen Guangcheng said.
In order to stop developers from dredging the river sand, villagers spontaneously organized to take turns guarding the area. They moved a small hut that was originally used for epidemic prevention to the bridge as a guard post. Recently, local government henchmen forcibly overturned the guard post.
According to villagers’ accounts and on-site videos, on October 22, county and town government officials, along with over thirty thugs from the Party and government agencies, went to the site and violently overturned the villagers’ guard post, even threatening to crush it with a bulldozer and sell it as scrap metal.
Villagers rushed to the scene, taking photos and videos with their phones. Officials and thugs avoided the camera, hastily leaving. A law enforcement vehicle also quickly reversed and fled. In the afternoon, dozens of people from the police station arrived, threatened the villagers, and used a crane to put the sand dredging boat (referred to by villagers as a sand-stealing boat) back into the river to begin sand dredging.
Mr. Chen, a villager, informed Epoch Times reporters, “The town mayor, police chief, about twenty police officers, and two police cars arrived. The police chief threatened the villagers, saying if it’s not okay, go to the police station. Regular people don’t want to go there. You can’t reason with them even if you have a valid reason. They are inherently unreasonable.”
Mr. Chen expressed that villagers are very frustrated and dissatisfied with the government’s tyranny and oppression but are reluctant to stand up for their rights due to various threats. He has no hope for higher-level officials. At least from the municipal government downwards, including the county, town, village governments, there seems to be no hope for the villagers.
Over 120 households in the village are seeking a lawyer, but legal fees are exorbitant. “If we can raise enough money, we will hire a lawyer to sue. Because lawyers are more professional in legal matters. Currently, the government, including the village committees, is seriously violating the law. Compensation was directly auctioned off without being distributed proportionally as the lawyer said. Villagers haven’t received anything, but the government forcibly auctioned it off,” said Mr. Chen.
Previously, a village secretary named Han from Dongshigu Village confirmed that the beach was the village’s contracted land, and all compensation payments were deposited into the village’s collective account. He explained that the funds were used for the village’s public welfare projects, likening it to a family selling a sheep where the money can’t be divided among the children.
Reporters attempted to contact the Shuanghuo Police Station to inquire about the incident response and the identities of those who overturned the villagers’ guard post but received no response.
Chen Guangcheng stated that the guard post belongs to the collective property of Dongshigu Village. The officials and thugs who overturned the hut committed a crime of damaging public property. Their actions of looting public assets have reached an extreme level. Especially in the current economic downturn, it is said that Shuanghuo Town has withheld salaries for five months.
“So in this situation, once they see benefits, these officials are like blood-sucking mosquitoes, using any means to loot public assets from the villagers and compete for profits,” he said.
It is noteworthy that Chen Guangcheng confirmed the presence of individuals among those who violently overturned the guard post who had previously engaged in long-term illegal detention of him and his family.
“There is a person named Zhang Shenghe (音) who is quite famous. When the actor Christian Bale visited Dongshigu Village in the past, the person pushing and shoving Christian Bale was him. You can still find him in CNN’s footage. So netizens say it was the ‘Battle of Christian Bale and the Coat.’ Another person, Li Xianqiang (音), worked in the Shuanghuo Town Judicial Office. They are hiding and not showing their faces. I believe it’s not just these two people,” he said.
Chen Guangcheng emphasized that this is a very interesting phenomenon, demonstrating that the CCP’s wrongdoing has never stopped. “They have been aiding and abetting evil, willingly acting as thugs for the Communist Party, not just for two or three years. If they continue their misconduct, we will list them as villains, keeping them forever on the pillar of shame. We can see that the communist dictatorship is on the verge of collapse. During China’s transition to justice, there will definitely be a reckoning for these individuals.”
“The Communist Party has never ceased openly looting and persecuting the people. Since the Communist Party took power, it has never stopped. It’s just using different methods at different times, targeting different groups to loot different things – either stripping your rights, property, or possessions, continuously persecuting in various forms,” he added.