Occupy Wukan!

China’s ‘99%’ are also in revolt against attempts by the ruling class in the Communist Party to enrich a few at the top of the country at the expense of the majority of Chinese workers and farmers.

We are truly witnessing a global revolt underway, pitting the world’s working-class majority against the tiny minority of exploiters and oppressors who control the vast bulk of the world’s wealth and political power.

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The rebel Chinese village of Wukan, which has driven out the Communist party and is now under police siege, has enough food to hold out for ten more days, according to villagers.

Wukan has been encircled by a police cordon since Sunday, after an attempt by 1,000 armed officers failed to capture the village. No food or water is allowed in, and no villagers are allowed out.

Trouble in Wukan has been brewing since September, after the village revolted at an attempt to take one of its last parcels of farmland and give it to a major Chinese property developer, Country Garden.

However it was the death of 43-year-old Xue Jinbo, one of the village’s 13 temporary representatives, in police custody that pushed Wukan into its current fury, and saw the last of the village’s dozen Communist party officials flee. His family believe he was murdered.

 … The gap between the rich and poor in the village has also upset many, with at least a hundred families, including those of the former party secretary and village finance chief, living in palatial three and four storey mansions, all built on farmland. On Wednesday, almost all the rich families had also retreated out of the village, while the ones who remained refused to comment on the protests, shut in behind high walls and strong steel gates.

So far, the police have not made any further attempts to retake Wukan, and the village’s temporary leadership said negotiations with the government are now under way.