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.
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Residents 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.
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+ `, [. i, |; h* ^0 {公仔箱論壇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." H) h, ~# Z0 f1 F- V8 m
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But 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.
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, R/ z  _8 k0 G: e0 G' nBut on Wednesday they were due to openly select an independent election committee that would supervise their first democratic village poll due next month.
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- C. ^- }8 D6 t5.39.217.76"The election committee is being elected to supervise next month's village election," a villager surnamed Chen told AFP by phone.5 _6 l- r) c: w& ^6 n

! P; h* _& [) r% e0 r" `: X) h; T" D公仔箱論壇"Wukan has never held village elections, this will be the first ever democratic election in Wukan."
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3 {6 ]% @1 W/ A( F' I公仔箱論壇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."
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The 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.
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The concessions won by Wukan residents are seen as a rare victory for protesters in authoritarian China.
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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.
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$ |7 ?$ ?" w5 y3 b: h2 U8 BBut 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.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。# \! B7 W8 U- |8 T

' Y8 a, c8 ]7 {' Q; ~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.