Police shooting in land seizure sparks public outcry

SHENYANG - Public discontent is growing over forced land grabs after a fatal shooting by a policeman left a son dead and a father injured in Northeast China's Liaoning province Friday.

The public backlash has been witnessed on Sina Weibo, a popular Twitter-like microblogging service.

"There will be a day when police will arrive to shoot lawbreakers to protect people's lives and property after receiving phone calls on illegal land grabs! I hope there will be such a day!" wrote one netizen under the name of "Guangtoulaobadeweibo" on Sina Weibo.

"I appeal for an investigation by the Ministry of Public Security to see if the police were involved in the land grab. Meanwhile, I appeal to the local government to make public the land grab approval and to let the public know more of the truth," wrote another under the name of "Yanjianqingdeqiutian".

Wang Shujie, a 36-year-old villager in Xinglongtai district of Panjin city, and his father, mother and elder brother chased policemen and road construction workers while wielding axes and sickles. They were also spraying petrol to stop the workers from building roads on their rice paddy, according to the city government.

Policeman Zhang Yan fired warning shots after his hand was injured by the father's sickle. The father then tried to grab the gun and during a wrestle, the father was shot in the leg, the government said.

At the time, Wang set himself ablaze and jumped at Zhang and was shot dead by the police officer.

A government investigation showed that the shooting was justified because Zhang's life was threatened as he had petrol on his clothes.

The official probe said the four blocked the road construction because they failed to get higher compensation for housing 300 meters away from the road.

But Wang's wife Jiang Yang told Xinhua that the family disturbed the construction because the road rollers destroyed the rice before they reached any agreements on compensation.

Jiang said a mu of farmland (0.07 hectares) could be compensated for less than 20,000 yuan ($3,170) for 22 years of the remaining lease term.

The family did not agree to the compensation because they believed it was too low. The government filed a lawsuit that will to open on Oct 9, she said.

"You see our rice was trampled by the road rollers just about 10 days before it was to be harvested," the woman said. "Why couldn't the government wait for a while?"

Many other villagers also voiced discontent over the low compensation.

The local residents could not get jobs as the land is not to be used for industrial projects, said a villager. "Without land, what is going to help guarantee our future?"