Coming...
It seems not everyone is elated about the new headquarters building for China Central Television (CCTV), currently under construction at the corner of Guanghua Rd and the East Third Ring in Beijing. When completed, the Rem Koolhaas-designed skyscraper should be one of the most distinctive in Beijing.

But, inevitably, someone had to move to make room for the colossal, new structure. Among the properties slated for demolition is a row of old, red brick walk-ups lining the Third Ring Road on the east side of Jingguang Bridge. Despite being less-than glamorous, they were very centrally located and some of the residents seem to feel that they have been poorly compensated for having to relocate.

Last night, on a taxi ride along the third ring, I spotted some angry banners flying from one of the doomed apartment buildings. The banners were in blue and white, which are Chinese mourning colors, although perhaps this is coincidence. This morning I went out with a camera and took a few photos. A small knot of aunties and uncles was out front of the building, but that was it. I didn't speak to any of them.

Protest and slogan language tends to be rich in chengyu and pushes the limits of my translation skills, but I've had a go at teasing the main messages out. The language is pretty strong. The gist of the residents complaint seems to be that they are being poorly paid for their old but superbly-located properties, which are just a few minutes from Guomao (China World Trade Center), Tuanjiehu Park, Gognti Beilu and a few other east-side landmarks. This isn't surprising. While many cities will claim the right of eminent domain for redevelopment, Beijing is in the midst of a convulsive bout of wholesale, pre-Olympic redevelopment, of which CCTV tower is a part. As explored by The Economist in their recent survey and leader, property rights are not well developed in China, and it's unlikely that anything approaching a free-market transaction was involved in the appropriation of the properties and the compensation of the owners. One graffito painted on the front of the building says, "CBD - 4500 yuan per square meter". That's considerably below what even resale properties in the CBD start at these days, and the supply of old, local-style dwellings in that area is shrinking rapidly as they are demolished for more upscale properties out of reach of all but the wealthiest Beijingers (and, ahem, foreigners).
  Going, but not quietly...

The vertical banner on the left side of the building, which is partially obscured, speaks of collusion to oppress the common people, and contains a vow to protect the homes of workers. The blue and white horizontal banner at the top-center of the building says CCTV buys by coercion and preys on the common people for its own benefit. The vertical banner at right says that CCTV demolishes lawlessly and refers to the 4500 yuan per-square meter price for CBD property. The price is also painted on the wall at the foot of the banner. There are some other graffiti scattered about the wall. One appears to say, "safeguard human rights". Between my poor reading and the somewhat haphazard characters, it's hard to be sure.

In the large graffito in the second image, the character for "law" has been painted over a scrubbed-out "chai" (demolish). The central, vertical part refers to CCTV's move and demolition, and the horizontal part to the suffering of the wealth of private citizens and a demand for legal protection.

I'm fairly surprised the police have left all of this up as long as they have, being that it it is pretty close to a number of tourist sites and international office buildings and that it faces one of the city's major thoroughfares. It doesn't directly attack the government, so perhaps it's only considered B-grade scandalous. On the other hand, CCTV is a government organ and the construction of their new office tower is part of the government's grand redevelopment plan for the city. It may be they are simply more tolerant than I thought they'd be, or it may be that they figure it is CCTV's problem and the TV people can deal with it.

If I was a betting man, I wouldn't put money on this little expression of angry, free speech making it onto CCTV's news coverage. But you can't make a metropolis without breaking some eggs.

Anyone who is better at translating this kind of language is welcome to provide clarifications or corrections.

Here are high resolution versions of the first photograph, and the second photograph.