Demolition triggers plea to law enforcers

Law enforcers must carry out their judicial duties strictly in accordance with laws, administrative governance professionals urged on Monday after an official resigned following a demolition case in Haikou, capital of Hainan province.

On Sunday, the Haikou government said it had accepted the resignation of Huang Hongru, head of the city's Xiuying district, as he had been negligent in supervising leading administrators to remove illegal houses in Qionghua, a village in Changliu township.

The case resulted in serious clashes on Friday and Saturday between law enforcers such as chengguan, or urban patrol officers, and villagers who refused to allow the demolition of their houses.

The clashes were announced by the government's Information Office on Monday through its micro blog.

The case triggered public outcry after a one-minute video clip of the attack was posted online during the weekend that showed some women and children being hit by demolition workers.

The government criticized the attackers, saying officers beating women and children cannot be tolerated. It also said seven of the officers had been administratively detained.

But it said the demolition of illegal buildings will continue, as it is part of the province's plan to become an international tourist island.

Wang Wanqiong, a criminal lawyer who observed the case during the weekend, said the key is to find the root cause of the conflict and how the attack happened.

Yang Weidong, a law professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, said, "Law enforcers should not curb violence with violence, no matter how serious the conflict is."

A villager surnamed Tan, 44, said he saw a two-floor building torn down on Friday.

On April 18, the government posted a notice to villagers, ordering them to remove the illegal buildings before April 26, or they would be demolished.

Tan said the demolition workers had not agreed that villagers could remove furniture during the weekend, which had intensified the conflict.

Yang suggested that governments think twice when some people refuse to cooperate with them on implementing laws "because some violence could also be attributed to their ignorance in dealing with administrative affairs in their daily work."

He added, "When finding someone has put up buildings illegally, it is better for government departments to stop this quickly instead of ... tearing down buildings in a violent way."