Protesters in Henan block railway line as anger flares over property dispute
Train halted for 20 minutes in Henan province after demonstrators allege they’ve been swindled out of cash for apartments
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 03 February, 2015, 12:34pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 03 February, 2015, 5:33pm
Laura Zhou [email protected]
Protesters on the track in Henan province. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Dozens of people blocked a railway line and stopped a train from coming through in northern China amid angry scenes over a property dispute.
Police said six people were arrested and 22 faced punishment after the protest in Xixia county in Henan province on Monday morning.
Twenty-eight people got on the track and stopped the train heading to Xian in neighbouring Shaanxi province, a statement from the county government said.
The train was blocked for 20 minutes before the crowd was removed, the China News Service reported.
One of the protesters told the Huashang Daily newspaper that hundreds of people went to petition the county government on Monday morning, alleging they had been swindled out of cash by a developer after paying for apartments.
Another protester told the newspaper that the attempt to block the train came out of anger and frustration.
“We went to protest to the government, but they didn’t help solve the problem, only detained some of us,” he said.
“We didn’t have another option but to go for the trains.”
The protester, who was not named, said he had paid more than 200,000 yuan (HK$251,000) three years ago for an apartment, but construction was never completed and the property developer refused to return the money.
He said more than 300 people who had bought homes in several projects in the area near Nanyang were affected.
The county government said on Monday that a court had frozen the assets of the property company and a special team had been set up to handle the case.
Property and land disputes are one of the main sources of protest in China, with complaints that local governments either do little to settle grievances or are in league with developers.
