What had happend in Taishi Village and What's Next?
Lu Banglie, the activist who was described in Guardian's China correspondent Benjamin Joffe-Walt's as being beaten by government sanctioned mobs "until he was lifeless", is actually alive. He has talked to RFA, (interview available for download in mp3), BBC and a number of other people about the attack.
“All of a sudden many people surrounded our car,” Lü told RFA’s Mandarin service. “We tried to put the gear in reverse but the mob would not let us go in reverse either. They were pointing at me as if they knew me.”
Lu, who was trying to accompany Guardian correspondent, was pulled out of the front passenger seat by several men by the hair, he said. “They started hitting me with their fists and kicking me with their feet. They pinned me to the ground and kept beating me. I fainted,” he told RFA reporter Zhang Min.
“Someone splashed cold water on me and I regained consciousness for a second but then passed out again. When I came to, I was in a moving vehicle. My head was hurting very badly. I started throwing up,” he said.
After he had vomited several times, the men offered him food, and then dumped him at the Zhijiang Hotel, contacting the Zhijiang parliament as they left. Two parliamentary officials then took Lu to hospital, suggesting to him that he should blame Taishi villagers for the attack.
“I don’t know who beat me. They were wearing plain clothes. But later I was told by people from the Zhijiang People’s Congress that they were villagers. They even asked me, ‘Don’t you think the farmers down there are violent and barbaric?’ I was still in a daze at the time, but I remember replying, ‘It’s not the peasants who are barbaric. It’s the government.’ They smiled.”
SCMP's editorial, Oct 11:"These attacks are inexcusable. A state of lawlessness now seems to exist. So far, no senior official from the provincial or central government has commented on the attacks. No attempt has been made to dispel the perception that local officials are using their authority - lawful or otherwise - to suppress opposition and to intimidate outsiders. The situation cries out for urgent action to be taken by either the provincial or central governments."
FT: "The events in Taishi will have no impact on the outcome of the party plenum, which meets in secret and is due to finish today. However, the confrontation may give more conservative leaders in Beijing ammunition to prevent the present experiments with township elections in a few provinces from being extended nationwide."
So, how are the villagers in Taishi Village doing? What will happen to their demands? The world probably won't be able to find out until the government lets reporters go into the village to cover the story.
