
Thousands of Villagers in China Clash With Police Over Fishing Boat Relocation
Riot police clashed with residents of a southern Chinese fishing village who blocked roads last week to protest a state order to relocate their boats from a long-used typhoon shelter, fearing the move would threaten their livelihoods, according to residents.
The protest began on the afternoon of May 6 in Guang'ao Village, Shantou City, Guangdong Province, as nearly 2,000 villagers gathered along the main road near the harbor. The villagers said they opposed the forcible relocation of their fishing boats to a temporary shelter in a neighboring village, which they said was unsafe and prone to theft and vandalism.
The standoff lasted into the early hours of May 7, when over 100 riot police were deployed to forcibly disperse the crowd, triggering physical confrontations, injuries, and multiple arrests.
A local resident, Chen Mingjian, who gave a pseudonym out of fear of government retaliation, told the Chinese edition of The Epoch Times that the village has two typhoon shelters. The older one has reliably protected the village's 600-plus fishing boats for years, withstanding typhoons above category 10 without damaging any vessels—a record that has earned it the trust of local fishermen.
By contrast, Chen said the newer shelter, built in 2019, was not constructed according to approved plans. He said it lacks sufficient wind protection, contains hidden reefs, poses significant safety risks, and cannot accommodate all the village's boats. As a result, residents have long resisted relocating their vessels from the original shelter.
In 2024, the Guang'ao Village Committee privately sold the older shelter without public approval, said villagers. After the sale, when officials attempted to force local fishermen to relocate their boats, the order was met with strong resistance.
Related Stories
5/2/2025
1/8/2025
Chen said residents raised safety concerns about the newer shelter with local officials in October last year but their appeals were ignored. The community was shocked when, on May 6, a large police force was deployed to enforce the boat relocation, triggering the protest from the villagers.
Beyond their immediate concerns over the fishing boats, Chen revealed deeper grievances in the village. Over the past decade, all of the village's collective land under the control of local authorities has been sold off, yet ordinary residents have been kept in the dark about the transactions and where the proceeds went. With decades-long missing dividend payments to the community, according to villagers, years of frustration erupted into a mass protest.
Following last week's crackdown, a small group of villagers, including Chen, met with village officials and the district-level Chinese Communist Party chief, demanding resolution of the typhoon shelter issue and transparency over the past land sales from their community. While the Party chief promised to address their concerns, no concrete plan was offered, according to Chen.
Guang'ao Village, with a nearly 300-year history, is home to more than 14,000 residents and remains heavily reliant on marine fishing. Around 2,000 villagers are engaged in offshore operations, supporting a network of related industries such as seafood processing, sales, logistics, and equipment maintenance. Fishing accounts for over 65 percent of the village's total economic output.
In rural China, other local officials have been accused of selling collective land for personal gain without properly compensating villagers.
A high-profile example occurred in 2011 in Wukan, Guangdong Province, where villagers staged months of protests after officials allegedly sold more than 990 acres of village land. The proceeds, claimed to be more than $110 million, were believed to have been embezzled by corrupt local authorities.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
10 Chinese nationals detained after ICE operation at Baton Rouge massage parlors
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained 10 Chinese nationals Wednesday after an operation at nine Baton Rouge massage parlors. The federal agency said agents searched the locations after getting criminal search warrants for prostitution and pandering that led to the seizure of bulk cash and evidence. According to ICE, the women were detained as agents work on identification and removal processing. The East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office identified the following businesses as part of the investigation: 14111 Airline Highway, St. George, La. – Y& L Body Relaxation 9065 Perkins Road, St. George, La. – Spring Body Conditioning 17301 Jefferson Highway, St. George, La. – Magnolia Spa 712 O'Neal Lane, Baton Rouge, La. – Wonderful Land Spa 804 O'Neal Lane, Baton Rouge, La. – All Natural Spa 4528 Bennington Avenue, Baton Rouge, La. – YY Rainbow Spa 12240 Coursey Boulevard, Baton Rouge, La. – Oriental Relax Spa 156 McGehee Drive, Baton Rouge, La. – Orange Spa 5145 Main Street, Zachary, La. – Vivian's Therapy Spa An investigation began in November 2024 after complaints of prostitution at multiple massage parlors. Warrants were obtained for the locations and later executed. Multiple statewide and local agencies aided agents, including: Homeland Security Investigations Baton Rouge East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office Enforcement and Removal Operations Drug Enforcement Administration U.S. Border Patrol Louisiana Attorney General East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office Louisiana Bureau of Investigation Baton Rouge Police Department Zachary Police Department Baton Rouge Fire Department St. George Fire Department 'I am proud of the multi-agency task force's work today. We recovered people and information showing wider patterns of illegal behavior, money laundering, and trafficking. This problem has increased exponentially since Joe Biden opened the border. The exploitation of women through trafficking and prostitution is harmful to women and society – and it's illegal. I'll keep fighting to stop it!' Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement emailed to Louisiana First News. ICE raids: What are your rights when approached by an immigration officer? Senate GOP seeks to cut SALT cap, triggering fight with House Young LSU baseball fan fights cancer, supports Tigers heading to College World Series BMW's new flagship SUV to debut in US 10 Chinese nationals detained after ICE operation at Baton Rouge massage parlors What to know about the new 'Nimbus' COVID variant Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Taiwan cyber unit says it will not be intimidated by China bounty offer
TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan's cyber forces will not be intimidated by China's threats of a bounty for the arrest of 20 people Beijing says are Taiwanese military hackers, and China's legal system has no jurisdiction on the island, its defence ministry said. China views democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory and has over the past five years increased its military and political pressure against the island. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims. Last week, the public security bureau in the Chinese city of Guangzhou said the hackers were part of the Taiwan military's Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command, and published their pictures, names and Taiwan identity card numbers, offering rewards of more than $1,000 for their arrest. On Wednesday, China's Taiwan Affairs Office said the government will "pursue the matter to the end, and will not be lenient", using legal channels to "crack down" on their activities. Late Wednesday, Taiwan's defence ministry's electronic force command said China was continuing to use "fictitious cyber hacking incidents to distort the facts" and offering cross-border rewards. According to Taiwan's constitution, China's communist party has no legal jurisdiction over the island and its laws have "no real binding force" on Taiwan's people, it said in a statement. "The Chinese communists have invoked their domestic laws and regulations to systematically manipulate public opinion, with the intention of creating long arm jurisdiction and undermining the morale of our military," it added. "The officers and soldiers of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command will not be affected by this, and will continue to defend the digital frontier and ensure national security through the solid defence of information." Taiwan has repeatedly accused China of staging not only widespread hacking attacks against it, but also of spreading fake news via social media and other means to undermine confidence in the government.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Indictment: Red Ginger owners employed, harbored undocumented workers
ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. (WJHL) — Red Ginger Buffet Chinese restaurant was open and busy Wednesday, a week after its owners were arrested on federal felony charges for allegedly harboring, concealing and employing four undocumented workers. Federal documents show Xiong Wei Yang and Xu Rong Wu face three separate counts related to claims that from May 2023 to March 2025, they not only employed the four but also 'engaged in a conspiracy, knowing and in reckless disregard' of the fact that the employees were in the U.S. illegally. Greene Co. sheriff explains 287(g) partnership with ICE The two were released on a $20,000 bond each. Wu told News Channel 11 she and her husband intend to keep the restaurant open and acknowledged the charges. Meanwhile, several diners said the allegations wouldn't dissuade them from patronizing a restaurant they said has great food and kind, friendly owners. 'We came to support them now that they're back open,' Anna Harrell, who said she favors the crab rangoon, said. The restaurant reopened on Tuesday after being closed for several days. McKenna Cox, a local immigration attorney, said charges of harboring and also of concealing immigrants are increasingly being leveled against employers, including smaller businesses. 'That's not historically something that's been pursued aggressively by the federal government outside of a human trafficking context, at least in recent years,' Cox said. 'So this focus on the harboring statute is something that's come to popularity fairly recently.' Social media reports of Department of Homeland Security vehicles 'raiding' the restaurant last week turned out to have some basis in truth. The department is listed as the arresting agent in court filings. Cox said the key to the government's case is the harboring allegation, which she said has been interpreted in various ways across the country. The indictment's first count claims the couple 'did conceal, harbor, and shield from detection such aliens in buildings and other places for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain.' The second count alleges the defendants 'encouraged and induced' the four immigrants to come to enter and live in the U.S., 'knowing and in reckless disregard' that action violated the law. The third count alleges 'a pattern and practice of hiring' unauthorized aliens. 'It remains to be seen what the proof is and the evidence may be in any given case, and certainly in the case of our friends at Red Ginger, whether or not that can be proven by the federal government and that legal standard can be met,' Cox said. 'There's a lot of room for maneuvering and interpretation legally in this case and in cases like it.' Cox said news reports and communication among immigration advocates have shown an uptick in enforcement actions — though she acknowledged work on this case could have preceded the more aggressive enforcement implemented by President Donald Trump starting in January. 'Right now we're seeing a focus on restaurateurs and restaurants in our area and throughout the Southeast,' she said. 'We're also seeing a focus on construction sites. We're seeing a focus on any location where we frequently have undocumented folks or immigrants working in those industries.' Cox thinks prosecution could be as much of a focus as gaining convictions. 'This type of arrest, this type of prosecution is a message to anyone who employs undocumented workers, if they know that they're undocumented or people who may have entered the country unlawfully and don't have a current, valid legal status.' Raids have occurred in the past, but Cox said typically they've involved sites employing large numbers of staff. And she said the law gets stricter when 10 or more people are involved. 'I can imagine that it has a chilling effect on local businesses, on small businesses, on family-run businesses that we in America are very proud to have and we want to encourage,' she said. Cox said finding people willing to do some less-than-attractive work, like that common in restaurants, has gotten harder for employers since the COVID-19 pandemic. 'There probably is an increased reliance on immigrant labor for folks who really will consistently come to work and are willing to do some jobs that perhaps U.S. citizens are not super excited about taking and working in,' she said. As Cox pointed out, though, the federal government is trying to prove Red Ginger's owners violated federal law. Guilty pleas or verdicts could result in imprisonment, fines or both. The allegations won't be enough to keep Anna Harrell and her husband away. Sam Padgett, who said he pops over several times a week from his job at a nearby Lowe's to enjoy the buffet, said the same. 'They know me in there,' Padgett said. 'They're really nice. And I'm a fan of Chinese food, and this place is rated really highly, so it's been busy lately.' Cox thinks some Northeast Tennesseans may be in for a surprise concerning immigration enforcement actions, but also thinks people are on alert given the 'front and center' coverage of ICE raids, protests and related stories. 'Regardless of whether you support or don't support those actions, it is very much in our zeitgeist and in our national mindset, and so I think that to see it locally brings it home,' she said. 'I think people are like, 'Oh, you know, I didn't maybe expect to see that here,' but we're seeing it here. It's happening here … It's not just happening across the country in another place, and it does affect our local businesses and it does affect our friends and neighbors.'Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.