This is an example of what I was saying re unrest among the less well-off people in China. Not many months ago there was a demonstration along the highway here by farmers and their families armed with pitchforks and hoes etc. They were decidedly angry about appropriation of their land and livlihoods to widen the highway to accommodate more fancy cars - not much comfort when all you have is a bike or an oxcart! The displaced farmers often end up working in the factories where they feel very miserable!


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...ow-cannon.html

Chinese farmer declares war on property developers with homemade wheelbarrow cannon
A Chinese farmer is fighting off property developers who want his land, firing rockets

from a homemade cannon made out of a wheelbarrow and pipes, state media said on Tuesday.

The rockets, which can travel over 100 yards, exploded with a deafening bang, A first

eviction team attacked Mr Yang in February after his rockets ran out, but local police

came to his rescue
Yang Youde, who lives on the outskirts of the bustling city of Wuhan, in central Hubei

province, said he had fended off two eviction attempts with his improvised weapon, which

uses ammunition made from locally sold fireworks.

"I shot only over their heads to frighten them," he told the China Daily of his attacks

on demolition workers sent to move him off his land. "I didn't want to cause any

injuries."

His approach is more aggressive than most, but Mr Yang's problem is a common one.

Anger over property confiscation is one of the leading causes of unrest in China, with

many people forced to give up homes and land to make way for anything from roads to

luxury villas.

Mr Yang said the local government had offered him 130,000 yuan (£13,000) for his fields,

on which they want to erect "department buildings". He said the land is worth five times

that amount.

Construction ditches have already been dug across the land of less obstinate neighbours.

A first eviction team attacked Mr Yang in February after his rockets ran out, but local

police came to his rescue. In May he held off 100 people by firing from a makeshift watchtower.

The government is planning to reform property confiscation rules, but rights groups say

the changes do not go far enough to address the potentially destabilising issue.