China denies fresh stand-off in troubled village
BEIJING, Dec 21 (Reuters) - China on Friday denied there had been a new stand-off between residents and authorities in a troubled village where police opened fire on demonstrators protesting against a controversial power plant two years ago.
More than 1,000 riot police were sent into Dongzhou village in the southern province of Guangdong to guard a key electricity pylon of the plant and they fired tear gas on Thursday at several hundred protesters, U.S.-funded Radio Free Asia reported.
But Liu Jingmao, spokesman for the Shanwei city government overseeing Dongzhou, put the number of protesters at only "a few dozen" from a "tiny minority" of the villagers.
"They were restrained throughout so there hasn't been any clash," Liu told Reuters by telephone.
"The construction of the power station and its grid resumed recently. The villagers just wanted to seize this chance to ask for more money," Liu said.
Dongzhou made international headlines in December 2005 after police fired on locals protesting against the coal-fired plant. Residents said they had received inadequate compensation for land lost to the project.
The government said three villagers were killed accidentally amid the chaos when protesters stormed a nearby wind power plant with home-made weapons. Some villagers said the death toll was much higher.
The police officer on the scene was sacked, but several villagers who took part in the riot were also jailed. Tension has since flared periodically in the area.
Armed police had set up check points around Dongzhou this week and a "menacing televised announcement" had been broadcast to urge the latest protesters to turn themselves in, Radio Free Asia said, quoting residents.
But Liu, the Shanwei government spokesman, dismissed it as untrue and said no armed police had been involved.
"The overseas reports are completely unfounded. All lawful demands of the villagers have already been met. We will not discuss any unreasonable claims."
But he said the completion of the plant had been delayed by the protests for some time and there might still be "unpredictable incidents" before it formally started generating power, which could happen as early as January. (Reporting by Guo Shipeng and Lindsay Beck; Editing by David Fogarty)
