Legislation to regulate and curb the forced demolition and seizures of property that have plagued China's citizens and created major headaches for the central government appears to have new life after twelve years of deliberation.

　　強制拆遷和強行征地困擾中國民眾多年，也早已是中央政府的心頭大患。規(guī)范和抑制這種現(xiàn)象的法案在經(jīng)過長達12年的深思熟慮后似乎終于得到新生。

　　The draft law, now being discussed in the National People's Congress, calls for an end to the intimidation, violence and "other illegal means by both local administrations looking to take possession of people's homes and third-parties acting on their behalf," the Beijing-based, state-run China Daily reported on Thursday.

　　中國國有媒體《中國日報》(China Daily)周四報道說，全國人大正在討論的這項法律草案呼吁，地方行政機構(gòu)不得用脅迫、暴力及其他非法手段征用民眾住所，代表這些機構(gòu)行事的第三方也不得這樣做。

　　First proposed by a group of legal scholars including Ying Songnian, president of the Administrative Law Studies Institute under the China Law Society, in the late 90s, the legal reforms have taken on more urgency as disputes over property have become a flashpoint for China's citizenry.

　　中國法學(xué)會下屬機構(gòu)中國行政法學(xué)研究會的會長應(yīng)松年等一批法律學(xué)者于上世紀(jì)90年代末首先提出進行這方面的法律改革，而現(xiàn)在這項改革更具緊迫性了，因為有關(guān)房地產(chǎn)的糾紛已經(jīng)成為點燃中國民眾憤怒情緒的導(dǎo)火線。

　　Several incidents involving attempted property seizures made headlines in the past few years as residents threatened suicide or committed suicide to protest attempts to seize their property. The seizure process also frequently leads to violent stand-offs between evictees and local authorities, dozens of which have been documented on a crowd-sourced "Blood-Stained Property Map."

　　Peter Parks/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images2011年1月25日,親屬在安慰27歲的商店店主王詩渤(音譯,中).在她的商店遭暴力拆遷時,她絕望的發(fā)出了最后抗議.過去幾年，數(shù)起與試圖征地相關(guān)的事件曾經(jīng)登上新聞頭條，居民威脅要自殺或采取自殺行動，以此抗議強征強遷。拆遷過程往往還會導(dǎo)致拆遷戶和地方當(dāng)局的暴力對立。由大眾提供信息編制的一份“血房地圖”記錄了數(shù)十起這類事件。

　　In its latest incarnation, the legislation up for approval by the NPC, China's main legislative body, would not only curtail local authorities' ability to seize property but it would also ban property seizures from occurring during holiday periods or at night, unless an emergency justifies it, according to the China Daily report.

　　據(jù)《中國日報》報道，提交全國人大批準(zhǔn)的這份最新法規(guī)不光要限制地方當(dāng)局的征地能力，還將禁止節(jié)假日期間或夜間實施拆遷，除非是出于合理的緊急需要。

　　The new law would also require legislative approval at the local and national levels before a property could be seized by authorities. At the same time the law leaves a good deal of power in the hands of local chengguan, or urban management officers, which may create a potential for abuse, according to Peking University legal scholar Zhan Zhongle.

　　新的法律還將要求當(dāng)局在征地之前獲得地方和全國性立法機構(gòu)的批準(zhǔn)。同時法律保留了城管的很大一部分權(quán)力，北京大學(xué)法學(xué)家湛中樂認為，這可能會導(dǎo)致權(quán)力濫用的情況。

　　"[The latest draft] can be seen as an attempt from the top legislature to restrain administrative coercive power on one hand, and to maintain their ability to undertake social management on the other," Mr. Zhan told China Daily. By accepting the latest re-submission of the draft law, the NPC protects it from being automatically abolished under a legislative requirement that laws be submitted for review at least every two years.

　　湛中樂對《中國日報》說，（最新草案）可以被視為最高立法機構(gòu)的一次嘗試，一方面試圖限制行政當(dāng)局的強制力，另一方面又要維持其進行社會管理的能力。全國人大接受該法律草案的再次提交，使這一法律草案避免了被自動廢棄的命運。根據(jù)《立法法》的規(guī)定，一件法律草案在提請全國人大常委會審議后，如果在兩年之內(nèi)沒有再次提請審議，這件法律草案的審議就終止了。

　　"It is one of the most long-awaited laws in China's legal history," the 75-year-old Mr. Ying said. And now it is ''close to implementation, despite minor defects."

　　75歲的應(yīng)松年說，這是中國法制史上最為人們長久期待的法律之一；現(xiàn)在這部法律已接近于頒布實施，雖然還有一些不完善之處。

　　While Mr. Ying is optimistic, property owners may not want to exhale just yet. Local governments, which depend on land deals for the vast majority of their revenues, have a history of resisting regulations that restrict their ability to pursue new real estate projects. And even if the law passes, there may be loopholes  like the emergency clause  that allow forced seizures to continue.

　　雖然應(yīng)松年頗為樂觀，然而房產(chǎn)所有者或許還無法如釋重負。地方政府的絕大部分收入都依靠土地交易，它們歷來就有對限制其上馬新房地產(chǎn)項目的法規(guī)加以抵制的記錄。而且即使法律獲得通過，也可能存在漏洞，比如說允許繼續(xù)進行強制征地的緊急條款。

　　On the other hand, Beijing has lately been at pains to prove it can protect the interests of regular people, part of an effort to maintain stability as the Communist Party prepares for a scheduled leadership change in 2012. Implementing a law that genuinely put an end to forced evictions and demolitions â ' one of the country's most common causes of unrest â ' would go a long way towards maintaining peace on the streets.

　　另一方面，中國政府近來極力證明自己能夠保護普通民眾的利益，這是中國共產(chǎn)黨為2012年領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層換屆做準(zhǔn)備之際維護社會穩(wěn)定的舉措之一。實施一部真正叫停強制拆遷的法律將大大有助于保持街頭的和平穩(wěn)定，要知道，強制搬遷是在中國引發(fā)動蕩的最常見原因之一。