Beijing, Nov 12: Two Beijing residents have been charged for high-profile protests on Tiananmen Square, as the family of one of them launched a protest today against what they said was official wrongdoing. A mass-circulation paper reported prosecutors had raised charges against Ye Guoqiang for "trouble-making" after he jumped into a moat at the north end of the square to express his anger at being evicted from his home. “This seriously disturbed public order," the Beijing times commented in its report on Ye's action, which took place on the October 1 national day in front of the huge portrait of communist founding father Mao Zedong. Ye's anger was triggered after he and his family -- including his elderly parents -- were evicted from their home in late may when developers demolished their neighborhood to make way for new projects. His dramatic action, which was seen by large crowds, highlighted increasing desperation by locals to combat the demolition of old houses, accelerated by Beijing's preparation to host the 2008 Olympics. In September, 35-year-old Wang Baoguang set himself and an eviction team member on fire after developers tried to force him from his Beijing home. Ye is not the only one to face trial for taking his grievances to Tiananmen Square, the symbolic center of Communist China.
Bureau Report