A research center under the Beijing petition office (called the Center for Research on Social Contradictions, of all things), along with private polling companies, has released results of a survey on the most common cause of social unrest in China. Respondents said forced evictions were the most important factor, placing it above all other reasons, combined! Low compensation and forcible resident removal were obviously important factors in the choice. Now that they've got some proof, here's hoping they actually do something about it so people can stop blowing themselves up and lighting themselves on fire. more ›

While we've heard of people being thrown out of their homes in other districts and counties, there seems to be the thought that Shanghai is just too civilized to play host to this kind of brutish behavior. Not so. Just a little before the start of the New Year, residents of Tongbei Lu in the Yangpu District were awakened in the middle of the night by dozens of helmeted workers armed with metal bars and bricks. Le Monde found a video of the attack. more ›

Here's another case to go up on the Bloody Map. A 49-year-old man here in Shanghai has died under somewhat mysterious circumstances while trying to protect his house from demolition. Update: Xinhua has apparently confirmed it was a heart attack. more ›

• Protest at China TV tower [The Straits Times] "Demonstrators gathered outside a fire-gutted tower near the new China Central Television (CCTV) headquarters in Beijing on Tuesday, protesting against what they called forced eviction, state press said. About 30 residents accused the state-run television station of trying to get them to move from the area to make way for the massive and nearly completed construction project, Xinhua news agency said. After about an hour, police persuaded the protesters to put away their banners and leave, the report said. "
• China Backs Off Latest Rio Tinto Claims [WSJ] "Chinese officials distanced the government from allegations on a state-backed Web site that employees of mining giant Rio Tinto PLC had used years of "deceit" to obtain state secrets that cost China's steel industry more than $100 billion — spotlighting the murky and often confusing way China handles such secrecy cases. The allegations, published over the weekend, had quickly gained widespread attention, as they appeared to represent the government ratcheting up pressure over the case of four Rio Tinto employees, including an Australian citizen, who were detained last month by the Shanghai State Security Bureau on vague accusations of using bribery to obtain secrets that harmed China's national interests."
• Another suspect dies in Kunming police custody [GoKunming] "A man being held in detention in Kunming died in a hospital on Saturday with no clear cause of death, according to a Xinhua report. According to a police spokesperson speaking to reporters on Sunday, 43-year-old Wang Shukun (王树坤) had been held in the Guandu District Detention Center since July 19 before being checked into a hospital by police on August 6. After undergoing emergency procedures to save his life, Wang died early Saturday, the spokesperson said."