WUKAN, CHINA // The inlet beside Wukan, in China's south, is tranquil. Herons and egrets fly over the nearby lagoon. The surrounding hills, some rising high above the village, are covered with lush trees and shrubs and the green-blue waters show barely a ripple. There is no wind.
For the fisherman of this village on the South China Sea three hours' drive east of Hong Kong, this should be a pleasant day for fishing.
But this is a fishing village where the fisherman cannot fish.
Wukan has captured the attention of the world, and of internet-savvy Chinese, as its residents have risen up against what they see as corruption among the local Communist Party officials who answer only to their party bosses.
China may be a country that spends more on maintaining internal security than on defence, according to finance ministry figures, but the residents of Wukan have nonetheless driven out the bureaucrats and the police and are now governing themselves.
In return police armed with shotguns are guarding the roads into the village, partly cutting residents off from food and other supplies. And from the sea they depend on.
It's all over their defiance against land seizures and the death of Xue Jinbo, a 42-year-old man who led their protests that began months ago.
"We cannot go out right now as there are police patrol boats," said a fisherman who gave only his family name, Chen, because he is scared of reprisals, sitting on the back of a motorbike in one of Wukan's quiet and narrow backstreets.
"If you go out to fish you would probably be caught. We are just spending money without getting any money, and staying at home," added Mr Chen, whose father too was a Wukan fisherman.
For years, rural Chinese have been complaining about abuse by local officials. And yet they have had little recourse to the central government in Beijing.
Often land their families have farmed for generations is suddenly compulsorily acquired and handed to developers, many with links to the officials who seized the land.
This month, the people of Wukan decided they had had enough. Wukan is not the first village in China to stage a mutiny. But few others have kept the authorities out this long.
Anger first erupted in September when residents heard about plans to sell of much of the village's farmland to a developer, with local officials thought to be looking for huge profits. Police vehicles were overturned and local authority offices allegedly damaged.
Earlier this month police rounded up a handful of supposed ringleaders, one of whom, Xue, died in custody. Party bureaucrats and police were forced to flee the village in the face of thousands of protesting residents. Police stations and party offices are empty.
In the face of the police blockade, residents have been riding motorbikes through dusty lanes to secure food supplies from nearby villages. Some however admit that replenishing stocks is a struggle.
About 1,000 of the 13,000 residents are said to have signed a pledge accepting concessions by the local authorities, such as promising to abandon one proposed sale of land near the village and investigate corruption. But most residents are willing to wait things out.
"We will never give up. We will persist because the corrupt officials have sold all our land. We are determined, even though we don't have much," said a woman from the village surnamed Zou.
The village's new leadership said yesterday they were not even prepared to hold talks with officials unless Xue's body is returned, the remaining protest ringleaders released and all land sales halted. Residents will march on local government offices just outside the village tomorrow if Xue's family has not received his body by then.
As long as the impasse continues, Wukan's brightly coloured boats are unable to set sail at six in the morning as they usually would, to return by early afternoon.
On a good day, a boat would bring in a catch, including cutlassfish, worth more than 200 yuan (Dh115.7).
Instead, one fisherman, a middle-aged man who did not give his name, is manning a makeshift barricade at a bridge spanning the inlet, sitting with two other men under a tent-like awning. The police checkpoint, further down the road, is not visible.
"We used to go out every day," he says disconsolately. "But now if we go out the police just chase us back in."
dbardsley@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
Director: Kushan Nandy
Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Jatin Goswami
Three stars
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
Frida%20
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A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Top financial tips for graduates
Araminta Robertson, of the Financially Mint blog, shares her financial advice for university leavers:
1. Build digital or technical skills: After graduation, people can find it extremely hard to find jobs. From programming to digital marketing, your early twenties are for building skills. Future employers will want people with tech skills.
2. Side hustle: At 16, I lived in a village and started teaching online, as well as doing work as a virtual assistant and marketer. There are six skills you can use online: translation; teaching; programming; digital marketing; design and writing. If you master two, you’ll always be able to make money.
3. Networking: Knowing how to make connections is extremely useful. Use LinkedIn to find people who have the job you want, connect and ask to meet for coffee. Ask how they did it and if they know anyone who can help you. I secured quite a few clients this way.
4. Pay yourself first: The minute you receive any income, put about 15 per cent aside into a savings account you won’t touch, to go towards your emergency fund or to start investing. I do 20 per cent. It helped me start saving immediately.
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
MATCH INFO
Southampton 0
Manchester City 1 (Sterling 16')
Man of the match: Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
The essentials
What: Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
When: Friday until March 9
Where: All main sessions are held in the InterContinental Dubai Festival City
Price: Sessions range from free entry to Dh125 tickets, with the exception of special events.
Hot Tip: If waiting for your book to be signed looks like it will be timeconsuming, ask the festival’s bookstore if they have pre-signed copies of the book you’re looking for. They should have a bunch from some of the festival’s biggest guest authors.
Information: www.emirateslitfest.com
My Cat Yugoslavia by Pajtim Statovci
Pushkin Press
Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:
1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition
UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures:
Monday, 1st 50-over match
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match
Crazy Rich Asians
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeon, Gemma Chan
Four stars
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