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Mimi Lau

As the situation in the coastal Guangdong village of Wukan remains tense amid an ongoing police lockdown over land grab protests, a plethora of information has been circulating online about what’s going on there.
This week, Lufeng city police said four internet users had been detained or punished for spreading rumours or exaggerating facts. “Individual netizens deliberately exaggerated facts, fabricated rumours or edited old photos and treated them as scenes presently happening in Wukan,” police said.
We sort through what’s true, what’s not and what has yet to be officially confirmed.

TRUE
- Tear gas cannisters and rubber bullets have been fired at villagers, as can be seen in pictures and videos showing fired cannisters on the ground as well as people’s bloody injuries from the bullets.
- Lufeng police have issued 10,000-yuan (HK$11,600) cash rewards for tip-offs on the whereabouts of six suspects, including Yang Shaoji, a nephew of Lin Zuluan’s wife. Lin is Wukan’s former party secretary, who was sentenced to 37 months’ jail in Foshan last week for corruption. Televised broadcasts over the past few days have warned locals against sheltering the suspects.
- Food supplies are limited and fast dwindling as shop and markets in the village have been shut since Lin’s conviction, after villagers stepped up their daily demonstrations to twice a day. Wukan continues to be under police lockdown since violent clash on Tuesday. Food delivery into the village is being restricted and those who want to leave the village are told they will not be allowed to return. This has forced people to remain in the village and rely on supplies of instant noodles and canned food instead of going elsewhere to buy food. On Thursday, some women were allowed to go to neighbouring villages to buy food in the day, but the village came under lockdown again when night fell.
‘We’re scared and dare not go out’: food shortage as Wukan in police lockdown after clashes over protest leader’s arrest
- Plain-clothes and uniformed policemen are hunting down those deemed to be active protesters. Villagers have presented surveillance tapes and photos showing paramilitary police going from door to door searching for protesters. Many locals dare not step out of their homes for fear of arrest.
Watch: Riot police clash with villagers


CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS
- A rumour has been circulating that a woman in her 80s had been shot dead by rubber bullets in Tuesday’s clash. An official statement said, however, that the victim, 83-year-old Qian Xiuyin, injured her left arm and experienced pain in her left elbow. She was taken to Lufeng City People’s Hospital for treatment and foreign objects resembling shreds of home-made bombs were removed from her body, according to Lufeng city police. But villagers continue to insist Qian was injured by rubber bullets rather than home-made bombs.
Symbol of China’s rural democracy: five years of struggle in Wukan land grab protests
- An internet user posted a picture online claiming that her cousin’s hand had been shot at by police. But police say that is not true; her cousin was not wounded by police, they said.

UNCONFIRMED
- Reports have said villagers are being offered 20,000 yuan each for information leading to the arrest of each foreign journalist. Locals say this news is being broadcast throughout the village, but local authorities have yet to confirm the information.
SCMP reporter among five Hong Kong journalists detained, questioned by Chinese police in Wukan crackdown
- More than 100 villagers, including students, are estimated to have been arrested by Lufeng police this week, according to photos and videos sent by villagers. Local police have yet to confirm the number of people arrested.


Guangdong communist boss goes to ground zero of grass-roots democracy crackdown

Harsh sentences for Wukan protesters could backfire

China jails nine over protests in Guangdong ‘democracy’ village

Convicted Chinese protest leader renounces bribery confession after getting heavy sentence

Wukan

Separating fact from fiction in China’s Wukan crackdown over land grab protests

An injured villager in Wukan, Guangdong province. Photo: SCMP Pictures

***ONE TIME USE ONLY, PLEASE CLEAR THE COPYRIGHTS BEFORE RE-USE - OTUO*** Wukan villagers protesting in their village. SCMP Pictures (UNDATED HANDOUT)

***ONE TIME USE ONLY, PLEASE CLEAR THE COPYRIGHTS BEFORE RE-USE - OTUO*** Anti-corruption protest continue in Wukan Guangdong, China. A villager is seen injured with plastic bullets. 13SEP16

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China

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Is there really a big cash bounty for catching foreign journalists? Did police fire tear gas and rubber bullets? Did an old woman die in the clash? We find out
