Reuters

Nov 17, 2006 — BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese village where police shot protesting residents last year has again erupted in conflict after locals took eight officials hostage, residents said on Friday as the standoff continued.

Angry residents of Dongzhou in the southern province of Guangdong have held the officials near the village for nearly a week, demanding the release of a detained local activist.

"The villagers grabbed eight government officials and have kept them locked in the temple for seven days," said one shopkeeper in Dongzhou. "The villagers have locked the gate."

The villagers were protesting against the detention on November 9 of a resident who had hung anti-corruption slogans outside his house, Radio Free Asia reported earlier.

Several residents told Reuters the standoff had escalated as police and anti-riot troops gathered on the edge of the township, out of direct view of residents.

"The police at the village entrance don't dare enter," said one resident surnamed Huang.

Dongzhou gained notoriety in December 2005 after police and troops fired on locals in a violent standoff over construction of a coal-fired power station.

The shootings galvanized domestic and international concern about rising discontent in China's countryside after a string of violent confrontations.

Reports at the time said dozens of protesters and bystanders might have died, but the government said only three were killed — a number backed by some residents, including kin of the dead.

THOUSANDS OF PROTESTS

The trouble in Dongzhou is just the latest of thousands of protests and confrontations that the government says erupt across China every year, even as the Communist Party leadership seeks to ease strains over corruption, land grabs and inequality and create a "harmonious society."

The number of protests and riots throughout the country fell by over a fifth in the first nine months of 2006, a senior police official said this month. Police dealt with 17,900 "mass incidents" from January to September —