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.8 l9 D) r3 }# _) P0 b+ p9 n
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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.6 I% G4 Y# ]: C0 c. k

* R: P" ]  i8 HChina - 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.公仔箱論壇, u* U2 Y; G( n. L
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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.% a; o) Z" f' e" o. [$ m( F
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But 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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: ^0 Z- I$ |# j' i: g3 f"The election committee is being elected to supervise next month's village election," a villager surnamed Chen told AFP by phone.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。: l4 C* C* Q6 C* A' ?

( y$ ^3 s7 o" i- J6 Y5 k9 R) o"Wukan has never held village elections, this will be the first ever democratic election in Wukan."
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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,bttvb9 F$ Y7 e  V4 q9 m1 |
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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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/ v7 n* |( b2 L$ T2 ]% w公仔箱論壇The concessions won by Wukan residents are seen as a rare victory for protesters in authoritarian China.7 R6 N* \+ ^" q, R2 _7 F3 o* w
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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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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.% ?/ K$ K$ C+ M& p+ x
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The Guangdong provincial government eventually capitulated as their case made headlines, and decided to intervene on behalf of the villagers.公仔箱論壇) R+ z8 L8 M8 s8 R, o
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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.