Remember this guy? Yang Youde, the maverick farm-defender with the homemade cannons and improvised defense system? It didn’t turn out very well for him in the end. The Chinese authorities unsurprisingly failed to see the funny side of it.
https://gizmodo.com/dont-step-a-toe-on-this-chinese-farmers-land-5557999
According to a new report on the matter, farmer Yang Youde suffered rather badly for his defiance of the land repossession order. He was interviewed by officials, his brother beaten and half-blinded by men who didn’t identify themselves, plus he spent 51 days in so-called “black jail”—an unofficial prison where Chinese citizens are thrown without legal recourse.
Chinese authorities said Youde’s 51-day detention was actually part of a “political education” training scheme, but we somehow doubt he had access to modern video games consoles, the internet or coffee-making facilities in his room during his stay. [Shanghaiist]
