Rioters protest land grabs

Thousands of people in Guangdong province, already the site of several large, spontaneous protests this summer, have taken to the streets to object to government land seizures.

Official reports said protesters had blocked roads and highways near Lufeng, a small city not far from Hong Kong on China's southern border. The protesters are reportedly angry over land grabs, where farmers and villagers have lost land to governments and private property developers without due compensation. The issue is ongoing across China and a major source of discontent nationwide. Farmers and homeowners have little recourse to battle for compensation once governments and developers set the price and decide to tear down homes, farms and whole villages to make way for progress.

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper said reported that a government statement hinted about suspicion that land owned by a collective of villagers was sold out from under them by the local government.