China police free hostages in standoff - residents

BEIJING, Saturday (Reuters)

A hostage standoff in a Chinese village that suffered a bloody crackdown last year ended in the early hours of Saturday when police freed eight officials held by angry villagers for over a week, several residents said.

Five residents of Dongzhou in far southern China's Guangdong province told Reuters that police stormed a small temple where some villagers had locked the officials to demand the release of a detained local activist.

"They came in after midnight and broke through the locked gate," said one young man who asked not to be identified. "There are still many police around, so we don't know what will happen next."

He said he did not know if there was any violence or arrests at the time of the release.

Major elements of Dongzhou's latest drama remained murky, with many residents professing ignorance or unwilling to speak, unsure if the kidnapped officials were gone.

The kidnappers were demanding the release of a local resident detained on Nov. 9 after having hung anti-corruption slogans outside his house, said villagers. The standoff had escalated as police and anti-riot troops gathered on the edge of the settlement.

On Saturday, police and armed anti-riot troops were still gathered on the edge of Dongzhou, but their numbers were unclear, said residents. "I saw 20, maybe 30, troop trucks," said one villager.

Dongzhou gained notoriety in December 2005 after police and troops fired on locals in a violent standoff over construction of a coal-fired power station. Residents said they had received inadequate compensation for land lost to the station and other developments around their small settlement near the coast.