On November 3, villagers from Guanshaling in Changsha, Hunan, staged a late-night protest, chanting slogans. Although the incident occurred more than ten days ago, it has only recently gained attention within the domestic WeChat community in the past couple of days. A viral video circulating online claimed that villagers from Gaobu Village in Changsha, Hunan, have established a “Rights Protection Office.”
The circulated video was captioned as “On November 3, villagers from Guanshaling in Changsha, Hunan marched in protest late at night, shouting in unison ‘Down with corrupt officials, dismiss village officials.'” The video shows a large group of people raising their fists and chanting slogans at night.
This video has been widely circulated on WeChat in recent days but was swiftly deleted, prompting mainland Chinese netizens to inquire: What happened in Changsha? On overseas platforms, the video marked with November 3 once again gained traction.
Online comments include:
“They are a thousand times better than those who kneel down for rights protection.”
“Standing up and marching with banners to protest is the right way to do it, hundreds of times better than kneeling for rights protection. Rogue governments fear people standing up and resisting them.”
“The tyranny will not die, and the disasters will not cease.”
“The Chinese Communist Party’s another move to shift blame: it’s all the fault of grassroots officials’ dereliction of duty.”
“If village officials can now be compared to corrupt officials, one can imagine the situation.”
“New normal, new appearance. The reason no longer needs to be explained; what comes next is harder punches.”
“Collusion between officials and businessmen, harming the common people.”
“This is the debt owed by the Chinese Communist Party. They are the Huang Shiren and Zhou Bapi created in their script.”
“At last, no more kneeling.”
Additionally, a recent video shows that villagers from Gaobu Village in Changsha, Hunan, have established a “Rights Protection Office.”
In the circulated video, it can be seen that on the street lined with shops, a storefront has put up a sign that reads “Gaobu Village Collective Rights Protection Office,” with villagers setting off firecrackers to celebrate the establishment of the office. The video was set to cheerful music and spread across mainland Chinese social media.
Earlier this year in April, Epoch Times reported on a dispute triggered by the land acquisition and demolition for the expansion of Gaobu Market 20 years ago, involving shady dealings and official corruption. Villagers from Gaobu Village did not receive the houses they were supposed to, nor did they receive any compensation. Villagers have been fighting for their rights for the past three to four years. On March 26 this year, a villager died from falling off a building during the rights protection process. On March 28, authorities mobilized a large number of police officers to seize the body, resulting in over a thousand villagers angrily attacking the police station.
Public records indicate that Guanshaling Village is located in Yuelu District, Changsha City, while Gaobu Village is in Wangcheng District.