Iron lady fights tooth & nail for house in China

The case is being seen as the first major test of the historic legislation guaranteeing private property rights passed by the National People’s Congress

For weeks, the confrontation drew attention from people all across China as a simple homeowner stared down the forces of large-scale redevelopment that are sweeping this country, blocking the preparation of a gigantic construction site by an act of sheer will.

Chinese bloggers were the first to spread the news of a house perched atop a tall, thimble-shaped piece of land like Mont-Saint-Michel in northern France, in the middle of a vast excavation.

Newspapers dived in next, followed by national television. Then, in a way that is common in China whenever an event begins to take on political overtones, the story virtually disappeared from the news media after the government, bloggers here said, decreed that the subject was suddenly out of bounds.

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Still, the “nail house,” as many here have called it because of the homeowner’s tenacity—like a nail that cannot be pulled out—remains the most popular current topic among bloggers in China.

It has a universal resonance in a country where rich developers are seen to be in cahoots with politicians. Few issues pack as much emotional force as the discontent of people who are suddenly uprooted, told that they must make way for a new skyscraper or golf course or industrial zone.

What drove interest in the Chongqing case was the uncanny ability of the homeowner to hold out for so long. Stories are legion in Chinese cities of the arrest or even beating of people who protest too vigorously against their eviction. In one often-heard twist, holdouts are summoned to the local police station and return home only to find their house already demolished. How did this owner, a woman no less, manage?

Part of the answer is that Wu Ping is anything but an ordinary woman. With her dramatic lock of hair precisely combed and pinned in the back, a form-flattering bright red coat, high cheekbones and wide, excited eyes, the tall 49-year-old restaurauteer knows how to attract attention.

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Earlier this month the National People’s Congress passed a historic law guaranteeing private property rights to China’s swelling ranks of urban middle-class homeowners, among others. Some here attributed Wu’s success to that.

“For over two years, they haven’t allowed me access to my property. But I have more faith than others,” says Wu. “I believe this is my legal property, and if I cannot protect my own rights it makes a mockery of the property law just passed.”

But Wu will, in all likelihood, lose her battle. Developers recently filed administrative motions to allow them to demolish her lonely building.