Rebel China village takes first step in democratic vote

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BEIJING - Villagers in China whose rebellion against local officials last year grabbed the headlines kicked off a key process on Wednesday that will see them hold their first-ever open, democratic elections.5.39.217.77:8898/ W5 e( `8 y; N; }$ Z3 h5 H5 G) y
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Residents in Wukan in the wealthy southern province of Guangdong won rare concessions after they faced off with authorities for more than a week in December in a row over land and graft, including pledges to hold free village polls.
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1 }1 z& v( d7 Z# X* \- q: ztvb now,tvbnow,bttvbChina - a one-party state where top leaders are not elected by the people - nevertheless allows villagers across the country to vote for a committee to represent them.5.39.217.77:8898: @) |1 D4 z+ e; o
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But Wukan residents said their leaders had never before allowed these polls to go ahead in an open fashion, and instead selected members of the village committee behind closed doors.
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3 t. w; t# b' @8 C' C5.39.217.77:8898But on Wednesday they were due to openly select an independent election committee that would supervise their first democratic village poll due next month.3 r) ^& D8 D6 S7 b1 F5 ?  o4 `
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"The election committee is being elected to supervise next month's village election," a villager surnamed Chen told AFP by phone.
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) @9 {: T8 e( ~* x5 A0 stvb now,tvbnow,bttvb"Wukan has never held village elections, this will be the first ever democratic election in Wukan."
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Zhang Jianxing, a villager close to the local government, added Wednesday's vote was "part of the process to hold open, transparent and fair elections."
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/ C) @. n! A* l$ _* ]% C8 A/ K3 u" {The election committee will be made up of 11 villagers who will not be allowed to run for next month's election, according to the official Xinhua news agency.2 ]6 f  B. O$ Z: ?

2 i* i4 K2 |: O. FThe concessions won by Wukan residents are seen as a rare victory for protesters in authoritarian China.; d7 F6 T2 ~- }$ S
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They had protested for months in autumn last year against their allegedly corrupt leaders, whom they accused of abusing their power to profit from land in the village.
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) n' A/ h4 A) J2 N# w5 {8 @+ {, p公仔箱論壇But it was not until detained community leader Xue Jinbo died in police custody in December after allegedly being beaten that their anger boiled over, prompting a tense, drawn-out stand-off with police and officials.
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, y4 `# T6 j8 U8 z: A* q5.39.217.77:8898The Guangdong provincial government eventually capitulated as their case made headlines, and decided to intervene on behalf of the villagers.
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Following investigations into corruption, the government conceded that villagers' grievances were reasonable and that closed elections for village leaders last year were invalid.