CHINA ARRESTS RURAL PROTEST LEADERS

by Erik Eckholm

The New York Times - The International Herald Tribune

Thursday, June 17, 1999

BEIJING - Five months after riot police violently dispersed a huge demonstration by angry farmers in the southern province of Hunan, two of the farmers' leaders have been arrested and charged with serious crimes. The two leaders, Yang Yaojin and Hu Zhiping, had been fugitives since the demonstration in Daolin township Jan. 8. On that day, thousands of villagers gathered to condemn what they said were illegal taxes and corruption on the part of local Communist Party officials. Hundreds of police officers dispersed the crowd with tear gas and clubs. One man was killed by an exploding tear gas canister and scores were injured, according to witnesses. The demonstration appears to have been one of the largest of many similar protests reported in recent years as discontent has simmered over official corruption, high taxes and low grain prices. Since the confrontation, the police had sought several leaders of the illegal two-year-old farmer association that had mobilized local villagers. But the men were sheltered

by neighbors in the hilly villages surrounding Daolin township.

Early Friday morning, according to two local residents who spoke on condition of anonymity, the police arrested Mr. Yang and Mr. Hu.

A third leader, Cui Luokun, was not at home when police broke down the door of his home, and he remains in hiding. On Saturday, Chen Lixiang, the Communist party secretary of Ningxiang County, which includes Daolin, visited the town and called a meeting of local officials. He told them that Mr. Yang and Mr. Hu had been charged with "assaulting the government" and "holding illegal rallies," according to the local residents. The farmers still cling to the hope that Beijing authorities would support their cause if they only knew the facts, residents said. But since January they have been afraid to protest publicly.Top officials in Beijing have spoken out against excess taxes levied by local authorities and against official "wining and dining" with farmers' hardwon earnings. But they have also been frightened by worker and farmer protests and seem determined to crush independent organizations.

A Hong Kong human-rights group, the Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China, reported this week that nine farmers in Ningxiang County were charged recently in connection with the January demonstration, issuing a list that included Mr. Yang but not Mr. Hu. Daolin residents said that only these two had been arrested from their township and said they were unaware of further arrests in neighboring areas, but they could not rule it out, either. The same Hong Kong group reported that about 150 farmers held a protest Monday at the headquarters of Fujian Province in Fuzhou. They were protesting inadequate compensation and official corruption in a government takeover of their land.

The farmers left peacefully after meeting with officials, the report said.