@Stratocaster

I'm sorry. Let me rephrase:

This social instinct is inherent in us humans/nonhuman primates as it is in our avian, land, and aquatic kin.

@dolphin

Agreed. Unsuspecting buyers need to conduct due diligence on real estate developers before getting starry eyed in the sales office, granted some of the developers' shady track records are more challenging to unearth...

for instance, the 经典双城 protests hoped to capture the attention of local reporters/journalists for exposure. Unfortunately for unspecified reasons, the media have kept a distance... hence the importance of my John sparrow analogy.

Even the local police once stood on the side of the developer trying to disperse the protestors. Nowadays they too have been ordered to stay neutral on the matter.

Similar to the OP's account, cell phones were once pried from protestors' hands, but to refrain from refueling bad publicity, the developer now acts with more civility.

@Stratocaster

No, didn't think you would understand.

@alienew

Little birds have informed me that Kunming local residents of 经典双城 community in the West, near 昌源中路 KRT subway station on Line 3 (pink), have faced harsher intimidation tactics by real estate developer 华信地产 these past eight years. Protests are still ongoing as we speak.

Besides the beating and vandalism of breaking windows or throwing snakes into previous 农民房 households, several occupants died from gas cylinder explosions caused by the affiliates of said developer.

One community resident even traveled from Kunming to Beijing's Tienanmen Square, sneaking past 24 hour confinement watch, to self immolate himself on two separate occasions in protest. This news reached central & local authorities and the developer was ordered to pay millions in compensations, yet still far from what they owed everyone.

Many residents are still left without homes as the one-to-one real estate swap for building complexes originally promised by the developer have yet to be built. Previous public spaces that the community once collectively received rent for, are now seized and controlled entirely by the developer w/o reimbursements. With little sources of income, abandoned elders in the community scavenge among the trash just to get by.

@alienew

Good find. Here's the direct link to John Israel's article published three days ago on The Globalist:

www.theglobalist.com/[...]

I'd be remiss not to chime in on posters rebuking the OP for going public "looking for sympathy" and "complaining about it on social media."

As a morning park stroller, my observation of a flock of sparrow birds may be a good analogy to our quandary...

The other day I saw a sparrow perched on a privileged branch of a tree calling out to warn other sparrows nearby, not visible to the looming threat of a squirrel. This public message in the form of a chirp, or a tweet, is intrinsic in all sparrows in the flock, and act as a collective alarm system ensuring their survival as a whole.

This social instinct is inherent in us humans as it for our avian, land, and aquatic non-human primates.

John may not be the first sparrow to spot the squirrel, as millions of Chinese have quietly accepted their fate of unjust expropriation compensations... but as a credible academic scholar, his "tweet" can echo louder & farther than would dislocated farmers in countrysides who lack voice in the press, let alone foreign ones.

John performed a honorable civic duty by broadcasting the risks & vulnerabilities on behalf of all prospective buyers and current homeowners in China, be it foreigners or locals.

@Laodianpiao (OP John Israel)

Touching base to see if you're okay - safely standing your ground amid all the chaos created by the 拆迁办.

If it's any consolidation or silver lining, this just came to my attention... all real estate developers in Hainan Island Province (and probably beyond) whose projects situated 200 meters within its entire 1,580km coastline (一线海景) are facing the merciless wrath of Beijing.

The Central Environmental Protection Inspection Team (中央环保督查组) has mandated the termination of all construction and even the sale of 一线海景 ocean-view apartments/villas/hotels/restaurants/businesses/artificial peninsulas & islands, indefinitely. In more extreme cases, ordered the immediate demolition of completed and ongoing commercial projects by prominent developers with seemingly bottomless war chest and ceilingless reach. No amount of 红包 for local or provincial officials could bail them out at this point.

The state level, led by President Xi, is currently raining down hard on land developers & corruption in the name of environmental protection.

I'll make sure to return it back to rightful owner by sunrise. ;)