As reported by TheOtherMcCain.com, the Communist Party of China has been run out of a small fishing town in the southern part of the country.  In a story originally posted by Malcolm Moore in the Telegraph, Wukan – a town of 20,000 – is now in open revolt, after the death of one of their leaders, who had been held in police custody:

For the first time on record, the Chinese Communist party has lost all control, with the population of 20,000 in this southern fishing village now in open revolt…The last of Wukan’s dozen party officials fled on Monday after thousands of people blocked armed police from retaking the village, standing firm against tear gas and water cannons.

…the police have retreated to a roadblock, some three miles away, in order to prevent food and water from entering, and villagers from leaving. Wukan’s fishing fleet, its main source of income, has also been stopped from leaving harbour….The plan appears to be to lay siege to Wukan and choke a rebellion which began three months ago when an angry mob, incensed at having the village’s land sold off, rampaged through the streets and overturned cars.  Although China suffers an estimated 180,000 “mass incidents” a year, it is unheard of for the Party to sound a retreat. . . .

One marvels at stories like this.  In a nation that suppresses every possible opportunity for the people to achieve an ounce of liberty, it is awe-inspiring to see an entire town do so, with one assumes the full knowledge of what might happen to them for their insurrection.

The town has had their land taken from them by the Party since the early 90′s. Unfortunately for the town’s people, they didn’t realize the importance of what was happening to them, nor the concept of property rights:

“Almost all of our land has been taken away from us since the 1990s but we were relaxed about it before because we made our money from fishing,” said Yang Semao, one of the village elders. “Now, with inflation rising, we realise we should grow more food and that the land has a high value.”

But after serious stand-offs with police, including raids on the city by government officials that kidnapped some of the town leaders, the people are finding that they are better at running things than the bureaucrats:

We found we were better at administration. The old officials turned out not to have had any accounts in their office, so they must have been swindling us. And we have a nightwatch now, to keep the village safe. We have all bonded together

Freedom never comes easy.  It comes at a cost, and that cost is always dangerous, always bloody and always difficult.  It is hard to think that the Chinese government will allow this to continue, but one hopes that this is the start of something great for the Chinese people; a free China.  Until then, they continue to be a power, but not in any way super.