China says police killed protesters "in alarm"

By Nick Macfie 53 minutes ago

BEIJING - China has confirmed that police shot dead three protesters "in alarm" during an attack last week on a wind power plant, and a newspaper said on Sunday the official who ordered the shooting had been detained.

Human rights group Amnesty International said it was the first time Chinese police had fired on protesters since the crushing of the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy demonstrations in 1989.

Estimates from residents and rights groups put the number of dead between two and as many as 20.

Villagers said riot police opened fire on Tuesday on protesters in the village of Dongzhoukeng in southern Guangdong province after they moved in to quell demonstrations over lack of compensation for land lost to the wind power plant.

The official Xinhua news agency said in an overnight report that villagers in Dongzhoukeng and Shigongliao attacked the plant on Monday and Tuesday last week.

"The first assault on December 5 caused a seven-hour suspension of the plant‘s power generation," Xinhua said.

"In the second onslaught, over 170 armed villagers led by instigators ... used knives, steel spears, sticks, dynamite powder, bottles filled with petroleum, and fishing detonators."

Police used tear gas to break up the protesters and arrested two, Xinhua said. The villagers then formed a blockade in a attempt to free their colleagues.

"(One of the villagers) shouted through a loudspeaker that they would throw detonators at the police and blow up the wind power plant if the police refused to retreat," Xinhua said.

"It became dark when the chaotic mob began to throw explosives at the police. Police were forced to open fire in alarm. In the chaos, three villagers died, eight were injured."

The Guangzhou Daily newspaper described the killings as a mistake and said the Guangdong official who had ordered police to open fire had been detained. It did not identify the official.

"The commanders at the spot did not handle the incident properly and the resulting deaths and injuries are a mistake," it said.

A middle school student told Reuters by phone the "main riots" happened on Tuesday and that police killed two villagers.

"The following morning, some families found about 20 family members missing." The next day, she said, police were no longer carrying guns, but batons.

"Up until today, police are still deployed at the crossroads leading to Shanwei city," she said, adding that order had returned to the streets.

Xinhua quoted the Information Office of the city government of Shanwei, where the villages are located, as saying that villagers had been incited to join in armed protests since June, using discontent over requisition of a coal-fired power plant in Dongzhoukeng as the excuse.

China‘s Communist Party has a monopoly on power and brooks no dissent but protests are common, sparked by disputes over land rights, corruption and a growing gap between rich and poor.

Many of the protests turn violent, but Amnesty said police opening fire marked an ugly turn. "Police used guns on protesters the last time in 1989," said Chine Chan, East Asia Campaigner for Amnesty International, referring to China‘s crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators by armed police and army.