The latest example of a “nail house” in western China has reduced a multi-lane highway in the capital of Sichuan province to just a single line of traffic.
Nail houses – isolated holdouts whose owners refuse to accept compensation from developers – have become a divisive issue in Chinese media.
Online, commentators line up to either praise the bravery and tenacity of defiant home-owners or to censure their avarice and stubborn disregard for the greater good.
Circumstances vary between different nail houses and few news stories provide enough details to make an informed judgement on individual cases.
One web user hit the nail on the head when he observed, “Editor, you say every time that nail houses aren’t right, but why won’t you write what their reasons are?”
