China Promises Probe
Updated: 19:12, Thursday April 13, 2006

The Chinese government has reacted to a Sky News special investigation exposing the human cost of China's booming economy.

An official spokesperson has agreed to investigate the injustices revealed by Sky News.

Our reporting team managed to take rare footage of people being forced out of their homes to make way for new developments.

Many of the victims are now living in tents on the land where their homes once stood.

An official Chinese government spokesperson has responded to the pictures, admitting they are not good for China's image in the run-up to the 2008 Olympics.

"I will not deny that it happens in China, but I do think they're individual cases," said Counsellor Zhang Lirong.

Spokesman Zhang Lirong "China is in a period of rapid economic development and there are many problems that we face," he continued.

He promises that officials who do not act according to the law will be punished.

The local media is afraid to report what has been happening but the people affected have spoken out.

One woman said: "They're stealing our homes, it's theft, just theft. The poor have no human rights, no way of surviving. We've been everywhere for help."

Other film shows villagers being ousted from their land, with groups of hired thugs attacking residents and meeting stiff resistance.

While many of the poor now live in slums, property developers and government officials are making huge sums of money from China's property boom.

There is a land grab on an unprecedented scale and the full force of the state is being used to stop any opposition.

Video China's Land Grab Exposed


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