Rural evictions rise as laws ignored by local officials
Thursday 11 October 2012
Printable
EmailAmnesty International said today that the number of people forcibly evicted from their homes or land in China had "risen significantly" over the past three years.
Officials in the country are often accused of suspect deals with property developers in which people's land is sold to help pay off local government debt.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the report was "biased" and that "the legal rights of homeowners are protected by the law."
Beijing issued new rules last year to make it harder for developers to demolish homes and increase the penalties for officials involved in the practice.
But Amnesty said the rules were rarely applied in rural areas and evictions were rising due to a construction boom funded by the 2009 economic stimulus package.
Local officials' best hope of promotion is often a record of economic growth, leading many to breach regulations if they are unlikely to be caught.
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