China rebel village votes, but hopes fade for fair poll

By Maxim Duncan WUKAN, China (Reuters) – Villagers in southern Guangdong who launched an open revolt against local authorities in 2011 held an election on Monday amid intensifying pressure against protest leaders, who have either been detained or sought asylum abroad. The government pressure is casting doubt on China’s ability to establish grassroots democracy and underscores the limits of China’s village elections, over which local governments often assert control. In 2012, Wukan, a village of 15,000 people, was seen as a model of rural democratic experimentation after it conducted secret-ballot elections, in a first, for new village leaders. The protests ended peacefully after Wang Yang, the reform-minded party secretary of Guangdong province, sent a senior official to negotiate with the villagers.