Nearly three months after chemical explosions damaged over 17,000 homes and killed 173 people in the major port city of Tianjin, residents are facing a campaign of intimidation by government officials intent on putting the episode behind them, The New York Times reported. Displaced homeowners – bunking with relatives or renting apartments as they wait for compensation and try to negotiate better settlements – say state compensation of 30% more than what they paid for their homes is inadequate since real estate prices have climbed considerably. Others are recovering from physical and psychological damage, and wondering how to earn a living. “I certainly can’t drive a forklift anymore,” said Liu Guigang, 43, who lost an eye and had vertebrae fractured in the blasts.
China Economic Review