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.
1 j+ P& f% N9 h  U% o) i8 ~9 N, qTVBNOW 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。
: B/ d+ j4 Q# w  I5.39.217.76Residents 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.8 }2 O6 q! |% b2 ]$ |

. v1 G* V2 g" |4 {tvb now,tvbnow,bttvbChina - 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.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。% X- U" o/ M, \: j8 h
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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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( {( J% S' ^) J' }% x7 MBut 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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"The election committee is being elected to supervise next month's village election," a villager surnamed Chen told AFP by phone.
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"Wukan has never held village elections, this will be the first ever democratic election in Wukan."
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+ K# n2 ^6 q6 f2 n2 NZhang 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.5.39.217.762 ]& F* j5 l$ T7 I) Z# z  |
公仔箱論壇( ^0 p7 n  ^5 b( C
The concessions won by Wukan residents are seen as a rare victory for protesters in authoritarian China.
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8 c& s3 S! X" DTVBNOW 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。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.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb8 F: }/ A& l! F2 L6 B

8 M" ~  ?4 @3 R+ h& L6 J; s5.39.217.76But 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.3 A% ^: T: e& U

. f( }# J8 U) |/ n2 f+ ktvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThe 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.