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At first glance this appeared to be a story from Arizona or New Jersey. Guess again! China. It seems officials in the Chinese government love Eminent Domain as much as their American counter parts.

PETITIONERS ATTEMPT MASS SUICIDE IN BEIJING 2004-07-12
HONG KONG, July 12, 2004—A group of 23 petitioners from the northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang climbed a building outside the country's Supreme Court in Beijing on Monday in an apparent mass suicide bid over unresolved grievances, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports.
...The requisition of land by local governments and their crony development companies is a frequent cause for complaint in China, as local residents are evicted from their homes with little ceremony and scant compensation so local governments can cash in on skyrocketing property values..."We were thrown out with no formal procedures by the Management Bureau for the Affairs of State Organs. They built homes for ministers on the piece of land which they took over from us," she said from the middle of the chanting crowd.

Radio Free Asia(RFA) broadcasts news and information to Asian listeners who lack regular access to full and balanced reporting in their domestic media. Through its broadcasts and call-in programs, RFA aims to fill a critical gap in the lives of people across Asia. Created by Congress in 1994 and incorporated in 1996, RFA currently broadcasts in Burmese, Cantonese, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Mandarin, the Wu dialect, Vietnamese, Tibetan (Uke, Amdo, and Kham), and Uyghur. It adheres to the highest standards of journalism and aims to exemplify accuracy, balanceand fairness in its editorial content. For more information on Radio Free Asia, visit www.rfa.org