A pupil walks past the Wukan village committee building in Guangdong Province. Photo: Lin Meilian/GT

Two years after a landmark election in the village of Wukan, the democratic experiment seems to have ended in a shambles.

Some senior members of the elected village committee have been detained on corruption charges and others fled to the US, while those left behind trade barbs.

On March 31, thousands of residents from Wukan, in China's southern Guangdong Province, cast votes for new leadership, hoping their votes could bring change to the scandal-dogged village committee and lead to a brighter future.

In December 2011, Wukan, a fishing village with a population of 15,000, made international headlines when hundreds of thousands of villagers smashed the police station and cars to protest illegal land grabs and corruption by local officials. Their four-month protest won them the right to hold an unprecedented democratic election, the downfall of corrupt officials, and the potential to get their land back.

The protest leaders were put into power in the re-election in March 2012.

However, that did not end the turbulence. The re-elected village committee was overwhelmed with pressure: the inexperienced members had little idea of self-governance or how to deal with short-sighted villagers who were only considering their own personal interests. They also had to deal with sensitive higher-level authorities who they said had tried to manipulate the election and high expectations from home and abroad.

Even though Wukan's situation is still attracting international attention, this time around the villagers have kept a very low profile. No banners, no slogans, no public speeches. Villagers quietly and effectively cast their votes. Some did not even bother to come back to vote.

"People have started losing faith in the village committee," Zhang Jianxing, a young activist in Wukan, told the Global Times. "New election, old story. It doesn't really matter who is elected this time."

Outfoxing competition

To nobody's surprise, Wukan's protest leader and the head of the village committee Lin Zulian was re-elected with over 5,000 votes out of 8,000.

"This year's election was more effective and mature, we have a better understanding of democracy now," Lin told reporters at his home after the election. Lin is a slow speaker, but certainly not slow in the head. Villagers call the 68-year-old Lin "old fox," a symbol of cunning and trickery in Chinese culture. It is a compliment, praising him for his ability to charm both higher-level leaders and villagers, and his ability to keep himself out of trouble.

Earlier in 2012, Lin said he "regretted" getting involved. Unfortunately, he has been "involved" again this time as many villagers believe he is irreplaceable despite failing to fulfill villagers' expectations.

The land is the source of all the problems. Two years after the landmark election, only 5,000 mu (330 hectares) out of the 12,000 mu illegally sold to developers by the previous ousted committee had been returned, according to Xinhua.

Discontent is rife among villagers. A year after the revolt, some 100 villagers took to the streets to protest against the village committee they elected in 2012. Lin explained the difficulties of their jobs, but many did not listen. Since then, Lin has been afraid of seeing the villagers.

"I hope young people can take over my job one day," He said.

Heavy crown

It is obviously not a job that every young person is dying to get. As the youngest member of the village committee, 28-year-old Zhang Jiancheng had a bitter smile when he learned he had been re-elected this year.

Being a village committee member is more difficult than just putting a crown on his head. This is probably because he is in charge of regaining the land lost in the past two years.

Inexperienced and with little education background, Zhang works over 10 hours a day and spends a lot of spare time studying land-related laws and regulations.

"Two years ago the villagers voted for me without knowing too much of my ability," Zhang told the Global Times. "The early bird catches the worm, I have to work harder to prove myself."

However, Zhang soon realized that the mess the ousted village boss had left behind might take them years to clean up. And when it comes to the usage of returned lands, villagers and village committee have different opinions.

"Many villagers are urging us to split the returned lands," Zhang said. "If we did, some financially challenged villagers might sell it for money, and we would lose the lands again."

In the best interest of the group, the village committee planned to administer the lands on villagers' behalf and share the proceeds with them, Zhang said.

But one can't merely blame the villagers for the situation. Over the past two years, they have seen their once trustworthy candidates stung by scandals one after another. Yang Semao and Hong Ruichao, both deputy chiefs of the village committee, were taken away by investigation authorities right before the election on suspicion of taking bribes in public projects. Yang was later bailed out, Hong is still under investigation. Another committee member, Zhuang Liehong, fled to the US to seek asylum earlier this year.

Zhang said younger committee members find it hard to deal with the temptation of corruption. Zhang earns 1,600 yuan ($257) a month. But as a member of committee, he is often invited to attend many activities such as weddings and ceremonies. Sometimes he has to spend as much as 7,000 yuan a month to give cash gifts.

As a father of two children, Zhang said he lives under great pressure to feed his family.

"They should have elected rich people to do the job so that they don't need to worry about money," Zhang said. "But they prefer to choose a person like me who is poor and inexperienced but willing to fight for Wukan."

Yang Semao speaks to the media after losing the election race for the position of Wukan village head. Photo: Lin Meilian/GT

Tiger at the fence

Currently, the village committee believes maintaining stability is their first job in Wukan.

However, the crisis of trust has plunged the village committee into deeper trouble. Over the years villagers have kept venting their anger at the village committee, sometimes smashing their office tables and yelling at members on a regular basis.

In addition, 47-year-old Yang Semao, the former deputy chief of the village committee, is considered "potential threat" to Wukan's stability.

In contrast to the foxy Lin, villagers say Yang is like a tiger, straightforward, brave, impulsive and reckless, which easily makes him a victim of political games.

He did fall down before the election. At around 2 pm on March 13, Yang posted a notice outside the village committee office, in which he calls for holding an assembly of village representatives. Four hours later, he was handcuffed and taken away for alleged bribery. One day later, he was bailed out.

And of course, with about 2,000 votes, he did not get re-elected.

"It did not hit me like a surprise, I am kind of relieved now," Yang told the Global Times at his place, while drinking the local kung fu tea with his family. On the day of the election, he returned home early without waiting for the final result. He knew what was coming.

Two years ago, as one of the four village representatives, Yang and Lin organized the villagers to set up barricades around the village to stop officials from entering, now these two are fighting to be the head of village committee.

 "As a deputy chief of the committee, I took care of one third of the work, while Lin did not really appreciate my work," Yang said.

Their dispute began with a road construction project in 2012. Yang believed the project would bring benefits to the village, but Lin rejected the project saying it is a waste of money.

Yang publicly criticized Lin on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, and called him a "political swindler."

Yang also said Lin made no arrangements to hold meetings of village representatives, which are supposed to be held four times a year according to regulations. So he tried to organize one to prove his capability.

However, some villagers believed that his bold and "inappropriate" move was linked with his arrest.

As a deputy chief, Yang was mainly in charge of the village's education. To promote education, money was needed. The financially challenged village committee was like prey which attracted many project developers.

In 2012, a project developer approached Yang with 20,000 yuan for an education-related project. Yang said that after careful consideration, he accepted the money but he informed the committee and donated half of the money to school.

He said the authorities questioned him in May last year. He said he believes the sudden arrest was to stop him from running elections.

When asked about his expectations for the new village committee, he gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "I wish them nothing," he said.

Election fever

In 1982, a new Constitutional amendment outlined the direct election of village committees. The law took effect in 1988 and defined village committees as "mass organizations of self-government" at the grass roots.

Since then, village-level democracy in China has been booming. Elections have been held at China's grass-roots authorities. Some of these elections have been effective - competitive, clean and with high stakes. But there have also been many reports about vote buying and corruption during these elections.

However, many residents in Wukan said democracy needs time. Residents from neighboring villages in Lufeng city told the Global Times that the so-called Wukan model of transparent grass-roots democratic elections is probably not applicable.

"We have seen how Wukan residents fought for their rights, and what have they gotten in return now? Nothing," resident Huang Zhen from nearby Xialongtan village told the Global Times.

What happens in Wukan stays in Wukan. Lin said outsiders have over-analyzed the so-called "Wukan democratic trial."

"Wukan can't represent all of China," he said.