Forced land seizure policy needs revision

A year ago, after Tang Fuzhen died after setting herself ablaze to protest the demolition of her house in Southwest China's Sichuan province, four of my colleagues and I decided to write to the top legislature - the National People's Congress - to suggest revisions to the urban housing demolition regulation.

After a year of waiting, a second draft revision has been published to solicit public opinions, but new, effective regulations still have yet to be released.

New policies often result in interest reapportionments. In this way, the demolition regulation's revision is typical of China's reform. It means a readjustment of core interests: if one party gains in favor of its interests, it is at the expense of others' interests.