Rebel China village takes first step in democratic vote

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BEIJING - Villagers in China whose rebellion against local officials last year grabbed the headlines kicked off a key process on Wednesday that will see them hold their first-ever open, democratic elections.# g1 u1 T! N3 R# }

3 x2 ?* H" l! ?' U) IResidents in Wukan in the wealthy southern province of Guangdong won rare concessions after they faced off with authorities for more than a week in December in a row over land and graft, including pledges to hold free village polls." c5 Y# y4 d* J' f# x- |
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China - a one-party state where top leaders are not elected by the people - nevertheless allows villagers across the country to vote for a committee to represent them.6 J7 b" K! }3 x& ~8 e; q6 h- s

- L! M% ~" ^7 V; V5.39.217.76But Wukan residents said their leaders had never before allowed these polls to go ahead in an open fashion, and instead selected members of the village committee behind closed doors.% {5 ]# S! a; Q2 i. W% ?8 J

' h6 H% t( m- i+ X9 k3 {9 h公仔箱論壇But on Wednesday they were due to openly select an independent election committee that would supervise their first democratic village poll due next month.5.39.217.76( i( D9 R. a/ T/ }1 ^- K+ {& h
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"The election committee is being elected to supervise next month's village election," a villager surnamed Chen told AFP by phone.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb; N- E: ~0 r  J; z0 W

+ o+ U+ Q; q2 Y"Wukan has never held village elections, this will be the first ever democratic election in Wukan."; O4 W; K+ w! z" F. j
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Zhang Jianxing, a villager close to the local government, added Wednesday's vote was "part of the process to hold open, transparent and fair elections."tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb4 D6 w5 x8 c; U1 H

. m- G6 v/ @7 W$ N& y4 p! ]2 ^! lThe election committee will be made up of 11 villagers who will not be allowed to run for next month's election, according to the official Xinhua news agency.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。0 M/ H% a  _! |; @, O
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The concessions won by Wukan residents are seen as a rare victory for protesters in authoritarian China.公仔箱論壇1 E8 [) T3 P3 r4 ^% E4 k" p
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They had protested for months in autumn last year against their allegedly corrupt leaders, whom they accused of abusing their power to profit from land in the village.$ Q4 m# O5 H7 M3 l/ v% b
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But it was not until detained community leader Xue Jinbo died in police custody in December after allegedly being beaten that their anger boiled over, prompting a tense, drawn-out stand-off with police and officials.; g, q7 x6 p( k* j: Y( c* h
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The Guangdong provincial government eventually capitulated as their case made headlines, and decided to intervene on behalf of the villagers.
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Following investigations into corruption, the government conceded that villagers' grievances were reasonable and that closed elections for village leaders last year were invalid.