With little oversight from the central government, and no independent judiciary or a free press to hold them accountable, local authorities in rural areas are often a law unto themselves. According to China’s Ministry of Land Resources, there were more than 90,000 cases of illegal land transfers last year, yet there were precious few prosecutions.
然而，这部新的法律将不能解决最严重的物权争执，即在旧城改造中没收土地和强制拆迁的做法。大多数这种抗议是因为地方官员的行为，他们的做法在现有的中国法律下就已经是明显违法的了。真正的问题在于让官员们尊重法制。因为中央政府的监督力度不大，以及没有独立的司法部门或一家自由的媒体来让他们负责任，对于农村的地方政府来说他们自己常常就是法律。根据中国国土资源部的统计，去年有超过9万起的非法土地转让，然而被检举揭发的却少得可怜。