In late June, under the cover of night, more than 100 men dressed in black, some armed with long batons, surrounded the factory of Beijing Universal International, a Taiwanese American business located in the capital’s suburb of Dougezhuang Township.
The men first shut down the power and then climbed over the company’s walls to grab two security guards and two employees inside the building, witnesses say.
The four were quickly ordered to vacate the premise and prevented from witnessing and shooting photos or videos with their cell phones. Prodded and yelled at, the guards and employees were dragged across the street and held in a local government owned building, one guard said.
“I told them that we would listen to them and that there was no need to treat us that way and push us around. I am a free and legal Chinese citizen, not some hoodlum,” he said, recounting what happened early that morning on June 24. Speaking with VOA days after the incident, he lifted up his pants legs to reveal his skinned up knees, explaining how he was pushed to the ground.
Exactly how many bulldozers or backhoes were involved in what turned out to be an operation to demolish the facility is unclear.
Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can to view it offline.
What is clear is that it did not take long for the wrecking crew to turn the near 4,000 square meter facility, and all of its equipment, furniture, machinery and supplies into a pile of rubble.
“Originally, we were supposed to meet with the owner of the property and local authorities on Monday, but then more than 100 men showed up in the middle of the night” said Josephine Lee, General Manager of Beijing Universal International. “Within an hour everything was razed to the ground.”
Lee and her husband, Mick Chiu, came to China more than two decades ago in the hope that their language and cultural understanding would bring a bounty of commercial opportunities. But the demolishing of their business, Chiu said, was an unfair and harsh blow.
“I pay taxes and [employ] Chinese employees,” Chiu said. Then, “they come at 2:00 a.m. in the morning and demolish everything. It’s like hey, I am a criminal, I am a foreign criminal.”
Forced demolitions are a huge problem in China. Local authorities over-stepping their legal bounds to make land grabs in cahoots [EDS: colluding secretly] with developers are a key source of social unrest in China, said Jiang Mingan, a professor of law at Peking University.
“In the past, developers could just move in and carry out (forced) demolitions themselves with a government approval,” Jiang said. “But that is no longer the case. Now the government must sign off on the demolition first and carry out the task on its own. The government no longer can pass on the duty to developers.”
In 2001, the country passed what was widely seen as an ill-considered regulation on demolition and relocation. Some of the provisions of the regulation provided a legal footing for local governments to demolish city houses in order to accelerate urbanization projects.
After a decade of land grab controversies by local governments, forced demolition in lieu of a court order was officially banned in 2011 after China kick-started a new set of regulations to ensure all demolitions are carried out upon the consent of property owners.
The new laws, however, while well thought out have so far been poorly executed, legal experts say. And legislation alone has not been enough to stop some local governments from abusing their power.
Local governments rely heavily on land transactions to boost their revenues and that perpetuates the problem. The slowdown of the Chinese economy is adding to that pressure.
At a top-level government meeting in late August on deepening reform, officials called for more efforts to strengthen economic property protection and building a more egalitarian legal system. So far, pronouncements and pledges have done little to change realities on the ground.
Analysts argue that really the only way to keep forced demolitions from happening is to change the country’s tax and revenue system.
Authorities are still finding ways around existing legislation to keep on bulldozing over the rights of renters, owners and businesses. Nighttime demolitions, as well as the confiscation of cellphones, detentions and in some cases even violence are common tactics.