Officials crack down on village protest

Several residents in a southern China village were injured Sunday when up to 3,000 security personnel surrounded the area in an attempt to end a land dispute, Financial Times reported. The officers cut off electricity in the village of Shangpu, Guangdong province, and used teargas after residents continued to protest alleged corrupt land deals involving a local leader. The protests, some of which devolved into mob attacks on residents, started in late February. The stand-off is strikingly similar to protests in the Guangdong village of Wukan in September 2011, where angry residents were eventually granted an election for village leadership.