Supermarket chain Vanguard has been physically assaulting protesting residents, including elderly women, in the run up to the grand opening of its 19,000 square-meter behemoth on January 26.
The project has already been delayed for several months because people from the adjacent apartment complex – Futian’s Qiao Xiang Cun – have continually protested its presence. Not only is the massive supermarket set to completely spoil the tranquility of the gardens by attracting hordes of people, residents also believe that construction is illegal, damaging to surrounding structures and highly polluting.
A string of daily confrontations this week has ended in violence. Unfortunately, this has generally pitted 100 or so Vanguard security guards – males in their 20s – against around half that number of residents, many of whom are in their 50s to 70s, especially on weekdays.
On the afternoon of Sunday January 5, locals took matters in their own hands, removing building materials from the parking lot under their building. Lasting into the early hours of January 6, the resulting protests culminated in chants of “Vanguard get out,” the arrival of 100 or so Vanguard security guards, outbreaks of fighting, and an eventual police presence. Further protests on Tuesday January 7 saw one female resident in her 70s attacked by a Vanguard security guard, a witness recalling, “They tore her mobile phone out of her hand and hit her with it. We went to the police but they did nothing.”
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On midday Thursday January 9 - a time when many protesters were elderly and female - a man in his 60s told us at the scene: “They’ve formed a human chain and won’t let us past. One guard hit me about with a full water bottle, and they also hit a woman in her 50s. They were shouting at us things like ‘You’re dead, you’re dead.’” Essentially, blocked access and resulting altercations are occurring on property that these residents own.
The corporate titan’s under-construction air-conditioning exhaust system directly .jpg)
runs under at least four of Qiao Xiao Cun’s apartment buildings, requiring large holes to be drilled through structurally key walls. One resident told us, “This is illegal and has no approval. It completely compromises the structural integrity of the buildings as these walls are support structures designed to protect against earthquakes and subsidence.” Residents also fear that the exhaust itself will create a localized blanket of poisonous fumes that will affect much of the area and could make their properties unsellable.
With indifference from authorities coupled with a lack of consultation and complete disregard for local people, Vanguard has proved that it’s happy to close its corporate fist figuratively and literally on – among others – elderly men and women in its quest for profits. Unsurprisingly, the residents we spoke to are outraged, scared and not prepared to give their names.
From their perspective, Vanguard – with a name that implies bravery – is indeed a big man standing tall and proud, liberally evacuating its bowels on the little guy.
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