Farmers whose lands were expropriated gather at the torn down house of a journalist in Pingdu, Shandong Province, in September 2013, to express support for attempts the journalist made to protect his family’s property. Photo: IC

 
Seven suspects accused of killing one villager and injuring three others in an arson attack in Shandong Province were arrested on Tuesday. The arsonists, who were directed by a village official and a real estate developer, will face severe consequences for their crimes.

The arson case in Dujiatuan village, which is administered by Pingdu, is the latest deadly incident caused by a local land grab row. It attracted intense attention from the public, and the reactions from Pingdu city are being questioned.

Chinese law strictly forbids requisitioning land through violence. The village head colluding with the real estate developer to set fire to a tent that farmers had pitched to guard their land against development is a crime committed by their small circle, which will never be countenanced by the law or gain any sympathy from society.

The way in which Pingdu authorities managed the aftermath was highly controversial, but there is no convincing evidence that the local authorities shielded the perpetrators. It's reported that the Shandong Public Security Bureau and Discipline Inspection Commission have become involved in the case. We believe the truth will soon come out.

As has happened before, some are trying to magnify the symbolic significance of this case by claiming it to be the epitome of the public's antipathy toward officials. This is undesirable.

First of all, the official side and the public are the same in demanding that the arsonists be punished without leniency. The crime committed by the village head doesn't mean that officials backed him. There has been speculation that the village official would not have been so audacious if there had been no one shielding him from the top. Even if senior protection exists, no one can escape.

It's also noticeable that the case is a result of disputes over land compensation. Public opinion has been misleading people by depicting all farmers as being against land requisition. In fact, a majority of villagers want to be a part of land requisition. So far, all land grab rows have centered around how to allocate the compensation.

The Pingdu arson case is an isolated one, but it indicates some common features in land grab disputes across the country. It's a field where barbaric struggles among different interest groups often take place. Due to a lack of credibility, the abilities of local governments to mediate land disputes are being undermined.

Public opinion pays attention to land grabbing disputes out of concern for the weak, but these concerns are partly mixed with manipulation to attack China's current system. This is the complicated picture of Chinese public opinion.

Public opinion in fact intensifies conflicts instead of settling disputes. Some radical voices online have gone beyond the incidents and attached other points of contention.

China firmly sticks to the protection of the legal interests of land owners. Any violations of the law by officials or real estate developers will be punished accordingly. We should deal with the Pingdu arson case on its own merits, punishing the criminals in strict accordance with the law while seeking to calm the matter. Let society learn a lesson on how to avoid intensifying conflicts and prevent serious crimes.