When developers and residents fail to reach a compensation agreement, regulations permit developers to apply for permission from the demolition and eviction department to proceed with qiangzhi chaiqian, or forced eviction.13 This term, widely used in Chinese regulations, is defined nowhere, and methods of “forced eviction” vary. Some regulations specify that demolition and eviction companies should go through special training and be informed about relevant laws.14 Others say that developers may call in the police to evict residents.15 Some developers have reportedly tried other approaches, such as, in one case, arson; in another, local officials allegedly aided a developer by shouting “Earthquake!” outside a building in the middle of the night in order to make residents flee.16
There are many reports of unidentified men evicting residents in the middle of the night. Zhang, a Chinese immigrant in the United States whose friends were forcibly evicted from their home in a Beijing compound in 2003, spoke with them often by telephone during the period leading up to and after their eviction. Zhang described what his friends said happened to them:
It started in August. My friends lived on the ground floor of the building. You know in China, ordinary people can’t own land. They got a circular saying that in one month, they had to move out. They felt [the compensation offer] was extremely unfair. There were plans to build a big shopping mall, even though the local zoning laws shouldn’t permit such a big construction.
My friends just wanted appropriate compensation. In the beginning, [developers] tried to sway their hearts. They said, “if you move, you will get good compensation.” Then after the meetings did not get anywhere, they turned to stronger methods. In the middle of the night, while they were sleeping, people came in and broke up the courtyard wall. There were lots of people living there together in this building, they had a shop, it was really dangerous, there were still people living there.
[My friends] called the emergency number the moment it happened, and the police came to investigate. But the police said, “Well, this kind of thing…”—they wouldn’t deal with it. Then the water was cut off. Eventually [my friends] moved out, they moved in with their friends. It was cold, they could have frozen to death. They were suffering, their parents were elderly, and the parents were getting ill.
The residents didn’t believe at first that something like this could happen. I tried to warn them, when I spoke to them on the phone, but they said, “no problem, no problem”—they didn’t believe me. Now they believe me! But no one cares, the government doesn’t care.17
Zhang reported that after the jailing of Shanghai lawyer Zheng Enchong, his friends feared that their international phone calls were being monitored by the government, and asked him to stop calling them.
Others in Beijing, Nanjing city, and Suzhou province have told the Chinese media that developers hired heavy equipment, usually bulldozers, to destroy homes in the middle of the night while residents were asleep inside.18 A Beijing resident reported that his home was bulldozed with possessions still inside, even while he was still arguing in the courts about the size of the house as the basis for compensation.19
There are a number of reports of threats and assaults by employees of demolition companies against residents who refuse to move. In Tianjin, residents alleged on an Internet bulletin board that they were forcibly evicted by employees of the Tianjin city Beautiful East Residential Property Development Company, who rampaged through the half-deserted building, stealing and using property of residents who were in the process of moving out.20 Others have reported that they were verbally threatened or physically attacked.21 There have been unconfirmed media reports of residents being crushed to death by bulldozers during forced demolition and eviction.22 The Tianjin evictee alleged that after residents were beaten by employees of the demolition and eviction company, police refused to investigate.23
Some residents report that these violent evictions occur without warning. More often, the final, violent confrontation between demolition crews and residents occur after prolonged, months-long disputes among residents, developers, and the city’s demolition and eviction management department over how plans are made and what the amount of compensation will be; and after arbitration and legal remedies have failed to satisfy residents.
[13] “Regulations for management of urban residential demolition and eviction,” art. 17.
[14] Dalianshi Chengshi fangwu chaiqian guanli banfa [Methods for management of urban residential demolition and eviction in Dalian city], implemented November 1, 2001, art. 12.
[15] “Methods for management of urban residential demolition and eviction in Dalian city,” art. 10.
[16] Wen Xinwen, “Tian xiaoming: ‘Tianqi’ yubao [Daybreak over the fields: ‘Weather report’], www.peacehall.com/hot/chaiqian.xhtml, December 11, 2003; “Shaanxi bufen guanyuan wei dongyuan minzhong banqian jia chen dizhen yinfa konghuang [In order to make people move, some Shaanxi officials falsely cry ‘Earthquake’ and start a panic],” www.boxun.com, November 6, 2003.
[17] Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Zhang [pseudonym], January 22, 2004.
[18] Zhu Zhongxun, “Suzhou yili chaiqian “dingfeng zuoan” shimin shenye zao yeman bangjia [Suzhou forced evictee brutally kidnapped in middle of night],” Jiangnan shibao[Jiangnan Times],December 12, 2003, news.sina.com.cn/c/2003-12-12/06531321126s. shtml; Anonymous post by Nanjing resident, “Nanjing qiangzhi chaiqian, zai si yi ren! [Nanjing forced eviction kills another person!],” November 1, 2003, www.boxun.com; “Beijing heibang yili chaiqian an fan bei pu [Beijing criminal charged for violent eviction], Ming Bao, re-posted on www.boxun.com, October 30, 2003.
[19] Wang Xiaoxia, “Baoli chaiqian anli diaocha [Investigation of violent demolition and eviction cases],” China Economic Times, November 19, 2003.
[20] Posted by “Rights of the Masses are No Small Matter”, “Fanying Tianjinshi Hedongchude yeman chaiqian wenti [Report of savage eviction problem in Hedong district, Tianjin city],” posted on Beijing Entertainment News bulletin board, www.stardaily.com.cn/liuyan/guestbook.asp?Page=4, December 12, 2003.
[21] Xie Guangfei, Chen Xiaofeng, “Chaiqian yeman xing diaocha [Investigation of the savage nature of demolition and eviction],” China Economic Times, November 5, 2003).
[22] Xie Guangfei, Chen Xiaofeng, “Investigation of the savage nature…;” “Bei yanmi fengsuo de xiaoxi: Nanjing dengfuxiang chaiqianhu Weng Biao zifen zhihou, you you liangren cansi zai chaiqian er zi zhixia [Highly classified news: Two more people die in tragic demolition and eviction after Nanjing evictee Weng Biao's self-immolation],” www.boxun.com.
[23] “Rights of the Masses are No Small Matter”, www.stardaily.com.cn/liuyan/guestbook.asp?Page=4.