Guangdong communist boss goes to ground zero of grass-roots democracy crackdown
Politburo member Hu Chunhua makes appearance in Wukan to try to improve chances of promotion with show of loyalty, analysts say
After five years as Guangdong’s Communist Party boss, Hu Chunhua made his first trip last week to a village at the centre of a crackdown on grass-roots democracy.
Hu, a Politburo member, is a front runner for higher office at the national party congress later this year and analysts said his high-profile trip to Wukan on Thursday and Friday was meant to bolster his prospects for promotion.
Wukan, a fishing village of just 13,000 people, made international headlines in 2011 when a long-running land dispute and the death of an activist in custody triggered pitched battles between police and residents.
Conflict erupted again in September last year after police took away dozens of village leaders. Security forces suppressed the violence with tear gas and rubber bullets, and locked down the village for days.
Hu was widely believed to have ordered the crackdown.
According to the Southern Metropolis News, Hu said that since last year the village had “strengthened the building of the party’s grass-roots organisation and made progress in resolving the land disputes according to the law”.
