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Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail More Yahoo! Services Account Options New User? Sign Up Sign In Help Yahoo! Search web search Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Australia China India Indonesia Japan Malaysia Philippines Thailand Vietnam Shanghai residents say forced out for Disneyland Reuters - Friday, July 9 Send IM Story Print By Farah Master and Emma Graham Harrison SHANGHAI - Hiding in the back of a taxi, Wang Yuchen is too scared to be seen near the sea of mud and rubble that until weeks ago was his home village and is now set to be a building site for Walt Disney Co's theme park. The engineer son of farmer parents, he is one of a growing number of China's emerging middle class to find themselves suddenly on the wrong side of the ruling Communist Party, over the hot issue of land seizures. A Chinese construction company is razing his home village, a bucolic enclave on the outskirts of China's frenetic financial capital, and the empty land will be handed over to the U.S. entertainment giant, demolition workers and state media say. Both Disney and the Shanghai city government declined comment on whether evictions were to make way for the theme park. "Disney and the Shanghai government are still working together to finalise the terms of the final deal. It would be premature to comment on specifics until those discussions are complete," a Shanghai-based Disney spokeswoman told Reuters. "All relocation queries are best directed to the Shanghai Municipal Government," she added. Wang says he doesn't object to moving but has not been offered adequate compensation for the two storey villa-style home into which the family had poured their life savings. "The country has to develop and this is a good project for Shanghai. But an amusement park for people to enjoy themselves should not be built on the ruins of our happiness," the quiet, intense Wang told Reuters in a quiet corner of a Shanghai cafe, leafing through photos, eviction notices and legal challenges. The developers have offered up to three flats to replace his property, but they are the tiny size of most homes in overcrowded Shanghai, altogether barely half the size of his villa. His parents, who have little income, will have no land to grow food. The apartments are allocated based on the number of people in a relocated family, not the value of their old house, and evictees have to contribute sizeable downpayments. "It is actually a good deal for people who had never spent much on their homes," said Wang. "But for us, it is a huge loss." Hundreds of thousands of ordinary Chinese are evicted each year, to make way for real estate developments and infrastructure projects. The transfers have become a leading cause of discontent in a country seething over a widening rich-poor gap. Rights groups say China risks growing instability and violence, as people who lose their homes and fields are better educated, more confident and better connected -- thanks to the internet -- than even a decade ago. "The demolishing process is not transparent. It is not public, fair or just," said Wang, who has turned to journalists to publicise his case after it was turned down by the courts. Fearing for his safety, Wang lay low in the back of a taxi as he showed Reuters the site. He says thugs have threatened his elderly parents and physically assaulted him. SCARCE LAND The challenge of finding land for major developments in China's packed cities means that controversial land grabs have marred some of the country's most prestigious projects, from the 2008 Beijing Olympics to this year's Shanghai Expo. Rights groups repeatedly criticised Beijing Olympic organisers for evicting people to make way for the Games, despite strenuous denials from the government that anybody was forced to make way for the event. Shanghai's Disneyland, which received the green light from Chinese authorities last November, is expected to cover a relatively small 4 sq km . The site has not been formally announced, but the official China Daily, and other state media, pinpointed Zhaohang and the surrounding area as the park's site, citing a local official. The village authorities declined comment when contacted by Reuters, but demolition workers told reporters the area -- still a patchwork of fields and small canals peppered with duck farms -- is due to be handed over to the U.S.-based company this month. And Shanghai's savvy real estate developers also seem sure of the park's new location. Barely two hours after Disney's announcement, a plot of nearby land sold at auction for more than two times its forecast price, the China Daily reported. Villagers say that compensation should not be an issue given the park's hefty budget, and they have the law on their side -- Beijing recently unveiled new rules protecting residents' rights during forced evictions. But often in China money designated for compensation for a move vanishes into the pockets of middlemen, and the regulations appear to have had little impact on the ground so far. SCARE TACTICS The development company said they did not have any significant disputes with residents in the area. "Ninety five percent of the houses have already been torn down. Any remaining conflicts are being resolved," a spokeswoman at the company's headquarters said. But Wang says that the only efforts to "resolve" their conflict have been by thugs. Tang Jianzhong, 28, a neighbour and fellow engineer, said his power and water were cut off, forcing the family to move. " not only making us leave against our will but also lowering our living standards, using all kinds of unjust measures to pressure us," said Tang. There is no confirmation from police that scare tactics have been used in Zhaohang, but they are common in land disputes. The high stakes have led to dramatic showdowns, including self-immolation. Development companies often also threaten to cut the compensation given to hold-out families. Wang's parents have urged him to give in and sign away the property in case they are left with even less than they are being offered now. But like many others of the increasingly confident middle-class that is worrying stability obsessed mandarins in Beijing, Wang is determined to keep on fighting. "My parents spent their life savings and blood to build this house ... I just want to reach a fair agreement," he said. 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