Protests over land seizures

Farmers gathered in their hundreds in Beijing demanding more compensation for what they said was illegal seizure of their land by a government-linked developer called Tianzhu Real Estate, which is building luxury villas. Protests against land seizures have increased in the last 24 months as more farm land was expropriated for highway construction and commercial and residential developments. Farmers called for the company to return the land before police dispersed the group four hours later. One protester said village leaders had failed to act in their interest, convinced farmers would not seek the protection of the law.