BEIJING (AFP) — A family in central Beijing has plastered the outside of their home with portraits of China's top communist leaders and raised an Olympic flag in a rare show of defiance to fight an eviction order.
The family's campaign to remain on some of Beijing's hottest real estate has attracted much foreign media attention ahead of the Games, as it is seen as a symbol of a nationwide struggle by China's marginalised against the powerful.
"This is the only thing we can do at this stage. We are asking China's good leaders to protect our rights," said Yu Pingju, one of an extended family of 14 living in the ramshackle home in the trendy Houhai district.
Yu's family has put up posters featuring images of communist revolutionary hero Mao Zedong and current President Hu Jintao as part of their protest to fight eviction, a move that risks angering the government.
By raising an Olympic flag, the family has also tried to link their sensitive issue with the Games, a tactic China's communist rulers have warned against in other human rights cases.
"Let's follow big brother Hu as head of the Communist Party to build a harmonious society and a peaceful Olympics," said one slogan, put up alongside Hu's portrait.
Yu's family has owned, lived and worked out of the home located inside the former "Imperial City" which surrounds the Forbidden City for 60 years, she said.
The family has sold fruits and roasted chestnuts and maintained a small grocery store on the premises, but have been offered inadequate compensation to leave, according to Yu.
Prime real estate in central Beijing has been hotly contested recently, with locals accusing the government of colluding with developers to cash in on a raging property boom.
Government confiscation of land and homes remains one of the leading issues of social unrest in China.
In Yu's case, the local government has said their home was dangerous and needed to be torn down, but officials had largely failed to provide legal documentation backing their eviction demands, she said.
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