Update on our rocket man
Curious discrepancy between what China’s Farmer Yang says he will receive as compensation and what his Beijing-based at
I recently blogged details of one of our reports out of China on the “cannon man” – the one-man stand against local authorities keen on kicking him off his property.
Today we’ve received word from Farmer Yang Youde that he will receive compensation – $25,000 dollars in cash, in addition to a modest apartment the government will provide him.
This would still be far below the amount Farmer Yang was hoping for.
There is a curious discrepancy in all this, which is that Farmer Yang’s Beijing-based attorney is reporting compensation of $110,700 US dollars.
That’s four times higher than what Farmer Yang is telling us he’ll receive.
It’s also the same number reported by state media newspaper, the China Daily.
Other media organisations have reported a compensation package of $112,000.
Which goes to show that even at the close of a story, the answer is never quite that straightforward in China.
Here’s our original report as broadcast: