Nine people have been arrested as tensions in a southern Chinese village remained high Monday following a confrontation with paramilitary forces last week that left up to 30 locals dead, residents said.

Villagers said they were living in fear because local authorities were still searching for about 140 people considered the most active demonstrators and had posted their pictures on fugitive notices on the streets.

The arrests were announced on local television after the Chinese government admitted over the weekend that the paramilitary forces had on Tuesday opened fire on residents of Dongzhou village, Shanwei city in Guangdong province.

"Shanwei TV station said three of the nine people arrested are considered Dongzhou people's representatives while the others were people who participated in the protest," a man surnamed Chen told AFP.

The reported arrests could not be independently confirmed. Local police refused to comment.

Last week's confrontation arose from villagers' dissatisfaction over the inadequate compensation the government offered for taking their land to build a big coal-fired power plant, locals have said.

State media over the weekend put the death toll from the riot at three, saying eight others were injured.

The official figure was far below many villagers' estimates that as many as 30 people had died. If confirmed, the unrest would be the most deadly violence involving Chinese security forces since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

Residents said some 2,000 to 3,000 troops from the People's Armed Police, a unit under the Chinese military that opened fire last week, continued to keep the village under 24-hour surveillance on Monday.

"The situation is still very tense. They're searching for people who may be hiding in the (nearby) hill... they're also checking the IDs of people entering and leaving the village," Chen said.

Official media has blamed the shooting on villagers attacking troops with fishing detonators, dynamite powder and bottles filled with petroleum.

But villagers steadfastly rejected Monday the official death toll and version of events.

"We definitely don't believe what they're saying," said a woman who declined to give her name.

She and others said there were 40 to 50 people still missing.

"Their families don't know where they are. They could be dead or arrested," she said.

Villagers said although they had set up blockades to keep out the paramilitary troops from the protest site last week, the explosives they used were weak and no paramilitary officers were wounded.

State press announced on Sunday that the commanding officer of the paramilitary forces had been arrested for "mishandling" the situation.

Another villager, a man who did not want to be named, said families of missing people were distraught at not knowing the fate of their loved ones.

"The families are crying all day. They can't see their relatives to know if they're alive or dead. It's not like their relatives to not call home. Their mobile phones are also turned off," he said.

Local officials, meanwhile, were pressuring other bereaved families to sign papers saying their relatives were killed by their own explosives, said another villager who requested anonymity.

"They told the families: 'We will pay you 20,000 to 30,000 yuan (2,466 dollars), if you say your relative killed himself with explosives'," the man said.

Among the other causes of concern for the villagers has been that the power project, sponsored by a company run by the provincial government, would prevent villagers from using a nearby lake.

Residents depend on the lake fishing to supplement their meager incomes.

Villagers said they also feared residents would be exposed to pollution from the power plant.