China and The 2008 Olympics: Are they forcing people from thier homes to build the Venues?

�In the middle of the night, while they were sleeping, people came in and broke up the courtyard wall. There were lots of people living there together in this building, they had a shop, it was really dangerous, there were still people living there.�
��Zhang,� friend of a forcibly evicted Beijing family
www.hrw.org...

The 2008 Olympics were awarded to China (Given thier human rights record, one has to wonder who they bribed) and they are in the midst of preparing for the venues. However, in order to make land avalible it seems that they are eveicting people from thier homes and taking the land.

China�s rapid urban development, fueled in Beijing by preparations for the 2008 Olympics, is leading to the eviction of homeowners and tenants in violation of Chinese law and international standards on the right to housing. In many cities, Chinese local authorities and developers are forcibly evicting hundreds of thousands of homeowners and tenants who have little legal recourse. Evicted residents left with few avenues of redress have increasingly taken to the streets to protest, where they have met police repression.

There are a number of reports of threats and assaults by employees of demolition companies against residents who refuse to move. In Tianjin, residents alleged on an Internet bulletin board that they were forcibly evicted by employees of the Tianjin city Beautiful East Residential Property Development Company, who rampaged through the half-deserted building, stealing and using property of residents who were in the process of moving out.20 Others have reported that they were verbally threatened or physically attacked.21 There have been unconfirmed media reports of residents being crushed to death by bulldozers during forced demolition and eviction.22 The Tianjin evictee alleged that after residents were beaten by employees of the demolition and eviction company, police refused to investigate.23

Some residents report that these violent evictions occur without warning. More often, the final, violent confrontation between demolition crews and residents occur after prolonged, months-long disputes among residents, developers, and the city�s demolition and eviction management department over how plans are made and what the amount of compensation will be; and after arbitration and legal remedies have failed to satisfy residents.
www.hrw.org...

Im not really surprised that the govenment of China would show so little concern about its citizens, but I am apalled that the IOC has not taken a look at what is going on in China and re-ecaluated its decision to give Bejing the 2008 Olympics

[edit on 29-8-2004 by FredT]

this is nothing unusual even in the west especially the United States. People are always forcefully removed from their homes for development an example would be the WTC in New York.

thanks,
drfunk

I wonder if u've heard of the scandal of the 2000 Olympics,if there was no bribe,Beijing should have hold the Olympic Games in 2000.
in china,the urban development has continued for quite a long time,the 2008 Olympics had little impact on it.and the problem of eviction of homeowners has existed for a long time too.some homeowners who are not satisfied with the compensation or the local authorities deeds often refuse to move out or go to the government to protest,and soon afterwards the compensation has been increased,and such things now is rare.I heard some people in Beijing looking forward that there house can be claimed by the government,so the can used the compensation and their savings to buy a new apartment,otherwise they will never be able to afford a new house.
as for Tianjin,I myself live in Tianjin, recent years,there has been a great amount of investment in Tianjin,which make tianjin looks like a construction site.and there are great many people's houses were claimed by the government.the compesation here is about 3000RMB(about 360USD)/square meter,approximately the price of the apartments around the center of the city,but the prices were determined by the government,the homeowners can't bargain and have no choice but to leave.which serves to guarantee the new project don't be delayed.
often,the housebreaking can provide the houseowners the oppotunity to buy a new one,(their old ones certainly is old and sometimes even dangerous),so the majority of homeowners didn't protest.last years,there were so many people buying new apartments that the prices in Tianjin rised by about 20%.
and in china,the claim of land mostly is done by the government,the government buy the land from the homeowners and then sell it to estate development companies or put it into other use,so the statement that residents were threatened or assaulted by the employees of demolition companies is unlikely to happen.caz they can't benefit from that.
also is the statement that people came and break up the wall in the middle of the night when the homeowners were sleeping,after all,the government
is not banditi or robber, they needn't break the wall in the middle of the night.and if there were casualties,the officer in charge will be in serious trouble,he(she) needn't risk himself(herself) when he(she) can get nothing from that.
so I'm quite suspicious with the material u cited and your point of view.

This kind of thing is quite common in the US especially when it comes to road construction. Here they do try and give you what they think is a fair value but if you don't want to move you will have your property taken from you.

Some Atlanta landlords got downright BRUTAL before the 96 Olympics.

Can I name one?

Habersham Properties is the devil!