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.
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* n# t0 T2 n  P0 Y" r! I/ ^公仔箱論壇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.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。9 D+ {8 t# K2 I) e2 m; V) {- [

) a# t' N& K& l! |" X1 Ptvb 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.
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$ E* J) h* h( c# d) x* z公仔箱論壇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.: [% c0 I" q/ ?- N
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But on Wednesday they were due to openly select an independent election committee that would supervise their first democratic village poll due next month.
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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.5 k5 K4 k5 N# A9 Z2 f' Q# x

. s- ~  a  B' L2 X) y, v( z5.39.217.77:8898"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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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.5.39.217.77:8898& q, N$ q6 O" r  w5 k+ A6 o

( t' |! z3 v7 r9 P4 [# U2 c8 [公仔箱論壇The concessions won by Wukan residents are seen as a rare victory for protesters in authoritarian China.
6 r0 w5 ^( W$ yTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。
/ E- Q4 b: f0 H& p1 ~* gtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThey 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.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。; f5 Q4 z) g' b. G- H% Q2 m

# Z' G, L$ v; x# n9 V1 U6 E( H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.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。7 D. c- n1 _' ^* `
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The Guangdong provincial government eventually capitulated as their case made headlines, and decided to intervene on behalf of the villagers.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。/ G# v% n& b' v+ ^; j
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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.