Riot police arrested 13 protesters Tuesday as tear gas and rubber bullets were reportedly fired in the small southeastern fishing village of Wukan, which was once seen as a symbol of China's grassroots democracy movement.
Footage circulated on social media shows an intense standoff between the police and villagers. Villagers waving red Chinese national flags can be seen throwing stones and hard objects at the police, said to number in the hundreds or even thousands depending on the estimate.
Zhuang Liehong, who formerly served on the village committee that once ran the town, said in a phone interview with BuzzFeed News that he was in contact with family members remaining in the village and deemed the videos of the swarming police authentic after viewing. Zhuang took political asylum in the US in 2014 around the time two other committee members were accused of corruption.
Those arrested on Tuesday were among a group villagers who have been protesting the detention and charging of the popular village chief Lin Zulian for corruption since June.
Even as more photos and footage emerged, the local authorities dismissed reports that a clash between police and civilians had even happened.
#Wukan in lockdown again after village chief sentenced. Police broke into homes and people injured from shells.
They claimed on Weibo that the arrests were "supported by the masses," and warned that they would take action against "the individual internet users" who "publish false information and created the so-called 'Wukan Incident' with old pictures." Photos obtained by BBC producer Yu Xinyan, however, show a current timestamp alongside still-bleeding villagers.
Journalists on the ground have claimed to be unable to enter the village and surrounding area due to tight police control.
#Chinese police stopping all foreign journalists from getting anywhere near #Wukan We were ordered to leave Even nearby Lufeng is no go zone
Chinese authorities are blocking @TheJohnSudworth on @BBCWorld -- as he reports on the Wukan protests TVs go to black
As the growth of the country's economy requires ever more land, government land grabs that provide little in the way of compensation are common and are subject to regular public protests.
