​​University City Savages

Synopsis

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In 2001, the Party Secretary of Guangdong Province in South China launched a project to build a major university City in Guangzhou.

Construction began in 2003. This project, covering a total area of 17 square kilometers, was built in an area where farmers and fisherpeople lived . The provincial government expropriated their land, brutally evicted them and demolished their homes. There are only two small shanty towns there now, inhabited by 'illegal' squatters who refuse to accept the government's meaner  compensation. Instead, they demand an apology and proper process of law.  Some people call the squatters: The Savages.


Background Information

Nail-occupants

According to the Contemporary Chinese Dictionary, “nail-occupants” refer to residents who bargain with the authorities and refuse to move out when their land is resumed by the government for urban development. Their undemoloished homes stick up like nails. Their refusal to cooperate may be a result of corruption among government officials, which causes compensation to be paid at lower than average rates. This has led many residents to rise to defend their entitlements, and some of them become high-profile “nail-occupants”. The emergence of nail-occupants can in fact be regarded as an indication of the people’s awareness of the need to defend their own rights. Unfortunately, their defiance often results in suppression by officials, sometimes violently.


University Town

The commoditization of tertiary education has led to the development of university towns in various parts of China. For example, construction of the Dongfeng University Town in Langfang, Heibei Province commenced in 1999 and is the first university town in the country to be operated as an enterprise. The venture has since accrued losses amount to RMB 2.2 billion and is further the subject of scandals involving illegal land enclosures. Nearly half of the land within the town is used for non-educational purposes, such as the construction of golf courses and villas.

According to an investigation carried out by the Ministry of Land and Resources, university towns are being built in various parts of the country, such as Zhengzhou, Nanking and Zhuhai. In some provinces, three to four such towns are built at the same time.
High school admission has been expanded for the fifth consecutive year in China. There are more than 10 million university students, resulting in an urgent demand for campuses that dramatically fuels the development of university towns. However, many university town developments have deviated from their original objectives and run into problems such as funding shortage, excessive borrowing and under-admission of students. In some cases, the development of university towns is simply used as a pretext for real estate investment.

Guangzhou University Town

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Guangzhou University Town covers an area of 43.3 square kilometres, which is twice as big as Macau, with a capacity to accommodate 180,000 to 200,000 students and a total population of 350,000 to 400,000 (including the population of nearby rural areas), equal to that of a medium-sized city. The project costs are expected to be in the region of RMB 20 to 30 billion. The town is already occupied by ten educational institutions, including Guangzhou Zhongshan University, South China University of Technology, South China Normal University, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangdong College of Pharmacy, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou University, Xinhai Conservatory of Music and Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts.

The National Audit Office announced in July 2009 the audit reports of 10 provinces and 64 counties that have been selected at random. The reports show that land revenue exceeding RMB 60 billion and the income and expenditure of more than 70% of the developing districts are missing from the accounts of such provinces and counties. National policies were apparently not followed, while financial protocols were violated.Local governments are often reluctant to disclose the amount of land premium payable in sale of land, so that the government can continue to control land prices by resuming land at low costs and selling to developers at high prices. The resulting income is used by local governments to cover non-budgeted expenses, costs of local projects and the “grey income” of both senior and junior officials.Whilst the law has stipulated clearly that income from land sales should be applied towards compensation and subsidies to those affected by land resumption, compulsory relocation, land and urban development, and similar uses, in reality, compensation is often assessed not in accordance with the law, which has often led to land disputes.

News

On 22 November 2009, the villagers climbed to the top of the Canton Technology University teaching building and threatened to jump off.  Some fire trucks with thick mattresses, waiting for them.When some women and children needed to go to the toilet, they were caught by the police.  Some students of the Fine Arts college who were taking pictures, had their cameras seized.The situation continued throughout the day.  During the same time, the police continued the destruction of the huts.  No one was hurt or arrested except for one villager who was taken to jail for a week.

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With nowhere to live, the villagers slept on the ground outside of the University hospital.all of the squatters' shelters were destroyed and now there is no place for them to live. It is certain that the government wanted to 'clean up' the area before the Asian Games.further disregarding the farmers' claims to their land.


Film festivals 

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Chinese Documentary Festival 2009(HK)
China Independent Film Festival 2009(Nan jin)
China Time filmfest in Hamburg, Heidelberg, kiel, Husum 2010

Chinese Visual Festival, London 2012

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