Openness urged in property disputes

Judicial specialists and lawyers suggest that governments provide residents with more transparency in land expropriation procedures and compensation to avoid tragedies such as the one in Pingdu.

Police in Pingdu, a county-level city in Shandong province, confirmed on Tuesday night via their micro blog that arson was the cause of a tent fire set amid a land dispute on Friday. The fire killed one villager and injured three others.

Seven suspects, including the two alleged ringleaders, have been detained, and the investigation is ongoing, the micro blog said.