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Police hunt suspects in village clashes

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-29 08:09

DONGFANG - Police in south China's Hainan Province demanded criminal suspects who attacked government facilities Monday and partook in fighting surrender themselves.

A notice issued Friday by Hainan police said suspects should "immediately stop their criminal acts and turn in their tools used in the attack and fighting".

One person died and nine others were injured in clashes between Gancheng and Baoshang villages which started Monday in Dongfang City.

So far, no one has turned themselves in or been arrested.

Also Friday, the government of Dongfang City, which administers Gancheng, has decided to give the family of 32-year-old Zhang Ji, from Baoshang, who died after being stabbed in the head and arms during a fight on Wednesday, a pension of 300,000 yuan (US$43,911), Wang Heshan, Communist Party chief of Dongfang City, told Xinhua Friday.

The government will also give undecided amounts of money to the injured, he said.

Peace expectations

"After an investigation, we find most of the residents in the two villages want to put an end to the conflicts and restore life to normal as early as possible," said Shi Wen, who was in charge of dealing with the clashes, Friday.

Shi said government staff had entered the two villages to carry out legal education and dissolve antagonism between the two villages.

"I hope the government will arrest the suspects and solve the incident as early as possible," said Zhang Mingyong, a resident of Baoshang village. "Otherwise, the children cannot go to school."

Zhang's three children, one a middle school student and two studying at the primary school of the village, have stayed home in fear of being attacked by residents of Gancheng village.

The two villages, each with a population of over 10,000, have been feuding for more than eighty years over land and because of gambling houses.

The recent trouble started Monday night, when angry villagers gathered at the township government building to protest the government's response to a fight between a student from Gancheng village and another from Baoshang.

The protest became violent when their demands were not met. The office buildings of the township government, the police station and a local inn were smashed and burnt. Damages were put at more than one million yuan.

Spontaneous clashes between the villages since then had resulted in one death and nine injuries, according to the information office of the Dongfang City government.

More than 1,000 policemen are now in the villages to maintain order. The bridge connecting the two is now under the control of the police to prevent further clashes.

Even so, people remain scared. Fruit and vegetable dealers are not coming to Gancheng.

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