Housing protests in Beijing as top leaders hold crucial policy meeting
- Protesters gather at a government building in the capital, demanding a replacement for their homes demolished by the city more than a decade ago
- Meanwhile, top Communist Party leaders meet in Beijing to set political and economic goals for the next five years
While China’s top leaders praised the country’s economic achievements at a key Communist Party meeting on Thursday, a group of elderly protesters gathered at a government building in the capital, chanting slogans and demanding a replacement for their homes demolished by the city more than a decade ago.
Police stood by and watched as the protesters gathered at the gate of the Chaoyang District Housing Construction Committee, as they had done for the past three days, and yelled to its director, “Zhang Shihua, we want our homes!”
When police tried to disband the group, they resisted. “We are the victims here. Of course, we will try to defend our own interests,” one protester said to the police.
The group represented around 60 households seeking compensation and rent subsidies owed for the demolition of their homes in the neighbourhood of Tianshuiyuan, around a kilometre and half away from the site of the protest.
01:47
China GDP: economy grew by 4.9 per cent in third quarter of 2020
“We are 60 and 70 year olds, do you think we can fight you police? We can’t. What do we want? We want compensation, owed to us by law! There are national laws on this. We wouldn’t be here if we got it!” the man explained.