At least five people have been detained by police from Xiaoshan district in Hangzhou , Zhejiang province , after thousands of villagers protested against the demolition of a half-built church, according to officials and a Hong Kong-based human rights group.
The confrontation took place on Saturday at Cheluwan village in Xiaoshan when the villagers tried to stop officials knocking down the church building, which was still under construction.
A spokesman for the Cheluwan village committee said the half-built church was illegal because it did not have the committee's approval. 'It has been torn down completely,' said the spokesman, who declined to give his name. 'It was an illegal structure built without official approval.'
The spokesman confirmed a crowd of about 6,000 people - mostly Protestants who did not worship at the state-sanctioned church - gathered on Saturday and some tried to stop police officers sent to knock down the building.
He said a number of the protesters were detained, but declined to give a specific figure. The Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said five were taken in.
Villagers contacted yesterday said more than a dozen were injured in scuffles with police. 'An old lady who must be more than 80 years old was thrown to the ground after she tried to stop a police car entering the [building] site. Others were beaten up or taken away,' a villager said.
