Shenzhen authorities have promised villagers they will investigate land grabs linked to disgraced officials and the local branch of Hong Kong's Sun Yee On triad after hundreds of people protested on Sunday.
About 400 people from Wanfeng village, in Shajing subdistrict, protested against land seizures and alleged corruption by blockading a section of Baoan Road, a main road in the city's Baoan district, for hours on Sunday.
The villagers said their move was sparked by a Shenzhen police crackdown last week on a gang linked to Hong Kong's Sun Yee On triad. Many armed police arrived at the scene of the protest but no one was detained. Officials promised to investigate the village's property and financial records.
Shajing Communist Party head Liu Shaoxiong and some other officials were sacked during the anti-triad campaign and Liu is being investigated by the party's discipline watchdog over his alleged close links to the Shajing branch of Sun Yee On. Pan Zeyong, Wanfeng village's party head, has also been taken away for investigation, villagers said.
The villagers have circulated photographs of their protest on the internet and are calling for a fresh village party committee election and the return of their land.
'Some senior officials at the district level met us this morning,' one villager said on Monday. 'If they don't deal with our case in time, we will step up our protest.'