Backlash as Beijing fire safety blitz forces exodus of city’s underclass
BEIJING: In Xinjiancun, a ramshackle village of migrant workers on the far southern fringe of Beijing, demolition machinery tears into buildings as residents drag out the last of their belongings under the gaze of police and security staff.
A citywide fire safety blitz prompted by a deadly blaze this month is forcing thousands of migrant workers out of their homes and businesses, igniting unusually direct criticism of city government measures seen by some people as unfairly targeting the vulnerable underclass.
Beijing’s municipal government launched the 40- day ‘special operation’ targeting fire code and building safety violations after a Nov 18 apartment fire in Xinjiancun killed 19, almost all of them migrants.
The Beijing government said it had acted on more than 25,000 violations in the operation’s first week, which it described as purely “for the lives and safety of the people”. Tens of thousands of people are believed to be affected, activists said.
While restaurants and shops not up to code in more affluent areas have not been immune, the safety blitz has mostly targeted outlying parts of Beijing where enforcement of construction codes
To say that this special operation is to drive out the ‘low-end population’ is irresponsible and baseless. Beijing government statement
has tended to be lax, and where migrant workers congregate due to cheaper rent.
“To say that this special operation is to drive out the ‘lowend population’ is irresponsible and baseless,” the Beijing government said in a statement carried by state media on Sunday.
“Some of the migrant population choose these places to work and live in, but they don’t understand the danger they’re in.”
One resident said her family of six, including her nine-month old grandson, had been suddenly rendered homeless, spending the previous night huddled in the back of their minivan in sub-freezing temperatures.
“We are also Chinese people. Why are we being treated this way?” said the woman, from central China’s Hubei province.
“What are we to do, where can we go to raise grievances? No one dares to,” she said, asking not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Local authorities attributed the Nov 18 blaze to faulty electrical wiring in an illegally modified two- storey property housing shops and a cold storage facility in the basement, with the top floor subdivided into small, crowded living quarters.
More than a dozen residents of Xinjiancun said at least 50 uniformed security guards and ‘chengguan’ – an urban management force which assists police – had smashed their stores’ signage and issued threats to ensure compliance.
The Beijing city government and the Daxing district government, which covers the southern part of the city, did not respond to requests for comment.
Xia Xiaocong, a 44-year- old supermarket owner, said he was told to move everything out and leave within 48 hours, after security guards cut his electricity and trashed the front of his shop.
“I told them I have all the legal documents, and they said you have to close and get lost,” he told Reuters inside the damaged store, its shelves emptied. Residents and supermarket staff confirmed details of Xia’s account.