Economic development and the 2008 Olympics have given the Chinese capital an extraordinary facelift… but many Beijing residents have paid a high price. The games provided a pretext for many huge developments which are ongoing long after the atheletes have gone home. Demolition and forced evictions turn people into fierce
critics of a political system which makes it difficult and dangerous for ordinary folk to challenge the rich and the powerful.
SUPER: Beijing
ANOTHER HOME IS TURNED TO RUBBLE AND DUST… IN YEARS TO COME THE DEMOLITION MEN OF BEIJING WILL LOOK BACK ON THIS AS THEIR GOLDEN AGE… FOR MANY LOCAL PEOPLE REMEMBER IT AS THE TIME BEIJING SOLD ITS SOUL:
SUBTITLE 00.22 - 00.45
Development, which damages the character of the old capital, is being promoted with the slogan ‘New Olympics New Beijing,’ but I still love the old Beijing. I say this from the bottom of my heart, because old Beijing is the soul of this city.
GUO GUANYUN IS WATCHING HIS NEIGHBOURHOOD DISAPPEAR. HE SAYS DEVELOPERS ARE GOBBLING UP FORTY-THREE ACRES IN ONE BITE:
SUBTITLE 00.58 – 01.03
It’s extremely greedy. Good buildings and bad ones, they’re all demolished, Whether people want to move or not, everyone has to go
GUOGUANYUN’STURN IS COMING SOON… ALL THE BUILDINGS ON HIS STREET ARE MARKED WITH CHARACTER “CHAI”, TEAR DOWN. PEOPLE WHO HAVE LIVED HERE ALL THEIR LIVES WILL HAVE TO GOTO MAKE WAY FOR APARTMENT BUILDINGS MALLS AND OFFICE BUILDINGS.
THE OLYMPIC GAMES WERE USED TO JUSTIFY MANY UNRELATED PROJECTS WHICH ARE GOING FORWARD LONG AFTER THE GAMES WERE OVER.
GUO’SNEIGHBOUR NIU DE SHAN SAYS PEOPLE ARE EVICTED WITHOUT PROPER COMPENSATION.
SUBTITLE 01.43 – 02.09
Theres a saying ‘A profit of ten times is a good reason to kill’. I wonder
how much they’re making to do something like this. We’re like baby chickens. They can grab us whenever they want. The law is just something they use to oppress people.
MRS GUO RECALLS THE DARK DAYS OF THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION WHEN PRIVATE PROPERTY WAS SEIZED:
-more-
SUBTITLE 02.17 – 02.28
This is worse than the Cultural Revolution. Then property was confiscated, but
it was returned afterwards. Our home belongs to us. Now they will demolish it for good. I don’t want that.
EVERY CITY RENEWS ITSELF FROM TIME TO TIME. MANY OLD
BUILDINGS IN BEIJING ARE NOT WORTH SAVING… AND SOME OF THE NEW
ONES, LIKE THIS NEW HEADQUARTERS FOR THE NATIONAL TELEVISION
NETWORK CCTV, HAVE OUTSTANDING DESIGNS.
WHAT MOST BOTHERS SUN DA… THE LAST HOLD-OUT
IN HIS CRUMBLING APARTMENT BLOCK… IS THAT PEOPLE ARE
GIVEN NO CHOICE, AND NEXT TO NO COMPENSATION:
SUBTITLE 03.14 – 03.24
We want reasonable compensation, a reasonable settlement. Ordinary people should be allowed to have a say. They don’t give us the right to speak up.
HERE ARE SOME OF THE WINNERS IN BEIJING’S MAKEOVER. THIS IS
A NEW PROPERTY REGISTRATION OFFICE WHERE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BOUGHT HOMES NEW PICK UP THEIR TITLE DEEDS. THE BOOM YEARS HAVE CREATED A NEW CLASS OF PROUD HOME-OWNERS. MANAGER LIU XIAO ZHENG SAYS HE ISSUES TEN-THOUSAND TITLE DEEDS A MONTH.
SUBTITLE 03.47 – 03.53
People are really happy to pick up their title deeds. This is a big thing in their lives.
HOME OWNERSHIP…AN UNIMAGINEABLE DREAM FOR MOST CHINESE ONLY A FEW YEARS AGO…CAN BE WITHIN REACH EVEN FOR A YOUNG SINGLE PERSON LIKE XIAO HAN
SUBTITLE 04.05 – 04.11
It’s because government policies are good that many people can now afford their own home.
NEW HOMEOWNERS GET TITLE DEEDS… BUT…WHEN PEOPLE WHOSE FAMILIES HAVE LIVED IN THE SAME HOME FOR GENERATIONS FIND THEMSELVES ON DEMOLITION ROW… THEY CAN ALSO BE IN BUREAUCRATIC LIMBO.
P.T.C: In the past century alone, from the Qing Dynasty to the Nationalist regime to the Communist era, with the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, the rules and documents for home ownership changed time and time again…creating a golden opportunity for unscrupulous officials to cheat homeowners. That’s what Guo Guanyun and his neighbours plan to challenge:
-more-
THEY MARCH UNINVITED INTO THEIR LOCAL PROPERTY REGISTRATION OFFICE WHICH HAS BEEN REFUSING TO GIVE THEM
DOCUMENTS THEY ARE ENTITLED TO. THEY TAKE OVER A CONFERENCE
ROOM, AND GET OUT PAPERS TO MAKE THEIR CASE.
AFTER A SENIOR OFFICIAL SHOWS UP… DEMANDS TO SEE THEIR ID CARDS BUT WOULD NOT GIVE HIS OWN NAME. … THEN REFUSES TO LISTEN TO THEIR COMPLAINTS… THEY HOLD A MEETING.
SUBTITLE 05.34 – 05.38
It wasn’t easy to buy a house. Five years and still no documents.
SOCIAL SCIENTIST HE ZHENG JUN HAS BROUGHT HIS VIDEO CAMERA ALONG.
SUBTITLE 05.47 – 05.51
They treat us sixty-year-olds like performing monkeys
SUBTITLE 05.54 – 05.57
Those who agree, come along. Those who don’t agree can stay here.
THEY DECIDE NOT TO TAKE THIS SITTING DOWN.
SUBTITLE 06.00 – 06.03
Let’s Go
THE CHASE BEGINS.
BLOCKED BY A JUNIOR STAFF MEMBER, THEY START SHOUTING SLOGANS
SUBTITLE 06.16 – 06.31
We demand a government which serves the people
Power comes with responsibility.
The use of power should be supervised.
Compensation for violation of rights.
THE SENIOR OFFICIALS REAPPEARS…AND RUNS AWAY…ONLY TO BE CONFRONTED AGAIN…. AND AGAIN…UNTIL THE PROTESTORS FEEL
THEY’VE MADE THEIR POINT:
OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN WITHHOLDING KEY DOCUMENTS TO REDUCE THE COMPENSATION DEVELOPERS WILL HAVE TO PAY. SOCIAL SCIENTIST HE ZHENGJUN SAYS DEVELOPERS AND DEMOLITION GANGS
ARE OFTEN CLOSE TO GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS:
SUBTITLE 07.17 – 07.31
They are knowingly breaking the law. One thing we’ve found out is that the head of a demolition company could actually be a judge in a local court, so he is backed by the government.
ONE FAMILY’S ATTEMPT TO RESIST DEMOLITION JUST BEFORE THE OLYMPICS BECAME A LOCAL ATTRACTION FOR A FEW DAYS. THE HOUSE, FLYING THE OLYMPIC FLAG NEXT TO THE HAMMER AND SICKLE, WAS PLASTERED WITH PICTURES OF LEADERS PAST AND PRESENT…
SUBTITLE 07.50 – 07.54
They are to Protect us. protect us, protect us.
DOES REALLY BELIEVE THE DEMOLITION CREW WILL BE AFRAID TO TOUCH THE LEADERS’ POSTERS?
SUBTITLE: 08.03 – 08.05
28.58 No, they’re not afraid.
THE NEXT MORNING DOZENS OF GARDENERS WERE WORKING TO BEAUTIFY THE STREET FOR THE OLYMPICS. THE HOUSE AND THE PEOPLE HAD BEEN TAKEN AWAY IN THE NIGHT.
EVICTIONS CAN BE BRUTAL. PEOPLE ARE FORCED TO MAKE WAY FOR THE BULLDOZERS.
THIS FAMILY HAS JUST BEEN KICKED OUT WITH NOTHING BUT WHAT THEY CAN CARRY…
PEOPLE, EITHER EVICTED…OR SOON TO BE EVICTED CAN S CARCELY CONTAIN THEIR RAGE,
SUBTITLE 09.05 – 09.15
I used to have a sweet life, now we have a tough life. We’ve lost everything.
Without help from relatives we would starve to death.
PEOPLE HAVE BEEN BEATEN UP TO FORCE THEM OUT
SUBTITLE 09.20 – 09.32
They don’t give us enough money to buy a house. We don’t know what this government wants. They don’t allow ordinary people to live
IN RECENT YEARS ALL OVER CHINA MILLIONS OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN FORCED OUT OF THEIR HOMES OR OFF THEIR LAND BY DEVELOPERS WORKING WITH CORRUPT GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS.
SUBTITLE 09.34 – 09.46
We have lived here since before the Japanese invasion. This is worse than the Japanese.
At least the Japanese didn’t kick us out of our homes.
SUBTITLE 09.47 – 09.51
They use all kinds of methods. They blow things up, chop , beat , smash, rob and steal.
SPEAKING YOUR MIND IS DANGEROUS IN CHINA…BUT LOSING A HOME CAN TURN PEOPLE INTO FEARLESS CRITICS OF THE GOVERNMENT ;
SUBTITLE 10.06 – 10.24
The government and gangsters are in this together. Officials and gangsters are just the same. Officials and businessmen, police and gangsters all work together.
SUBTITLE 10.20 – 10.24
Doesn’t the government have any humanity? The Olympics are coming and our house is gone. How can can our family live?
SUBTITLE 10.37 – 10.40
We didn’t want the Olympic Games… We want Human Rights!
CHINA’S OLYMPIC SLOGAN WAS “ONE WORLD ONE DREAM”…
WHATEVER THAT DREAM WAS SUPPOSED TO BE, THE NEW BEIJING IS BEING BUILT IN PART ON THE BROKEN DREAMS OF THE POOR AND THE POWERLESS. PATRICK BROWN IN BEIJING