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.

　　强制拆迁和强行征地困扰中国民众多年，也早已是中央政府的心头大患。规范和抑制这种现象的法案在经过长达12年的深思熟虑后似乎终于得到新生。

　　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.

　　中国国有媒体《中国日报》(China Daily)周四报道说，全国人大正在讨论的这项法律草案呼吁，地方行政机构不得用胁迫、暴力及其他非法手段征用民众住所，代表这些机构行事的第三方也不得这样做。

　　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.

　　中国法学会下属机构中国行政法学研究会的会长应松年等一批法律学者于上世纪90年代末首先提出进行这方面的法律改革，而现在这项改革更具紧迫性了，因为有关房地产的纠纷已经成为点燃中国民众愤怒情绪的导火线。

　　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,亲属在安慰27岁的商店店主王诗渤(音译,中).在她的商店遭暴力拆迁时,她绝望的发出了最后抗议.过去几年，数起与试图征地相关的事件曾经登上新闻头条，居民威胁要自杀或采取自杀行动，以此抗议强征强迁。拆迁过程往往还会导致拆迁户和地方当局的暴力对立。由大众提供信息编制的一份“血房地图”记录了数十起这类事件。

　　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.

　　据《中国日报》报道，提交全国人大批准的这份最新法规不光要限制地方当局的征地能力，还将禁止节假日期间或夜间实施拆迁，除非是出于合理的紧急需要。

　　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.

　　新的法律还将要求当局在征地之前获得地方和全国性立法机构的批准。同时法律保留了城管的很大一部分权力，北京大学法学家湛中乐认为，这可能会导致权力滥用的情况。

　　"[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.

　　湛中乐对《中国日报》说，（最新草案）可以被视为最高立法机构的一次尝试，一方面试图限制行政当局的强制力，另一方面又要维持其进行社会管理的能力。全国人大接受该法律草案的再次提交，使这一法律草案避免了被自动废弃的命运。根据《立法法》的规定，一件法律草案在提请全国人大常委会审议后，如果在两年之内没有再次提请审议，这件法律草案的审议就终止了。

　　"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岁的应松年说，这是中国法制史上最为人们长久期待的法律之一；现在这部法律已接近于颁布实施，虽然还有一些不完善之处。

　　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.

　　虽然应松年颇为乐观，然而房产所有者或许还无法如释重负。地方政府的绝大部分收入都依靠土地交易，它们历来就有对限制其上马新房地产项目的法规加以抵制的记录。而且即使法律获得通过，也可能存在漏洞，比如说允许继续进行强制征地的紧急条款。

　　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，中国政府近来极力证明自己能够保护普通民众的利益，这是中国共产党为2012年领导层换届做准备之际维护社会稳定的举措之一。实施一部真正叫停强制拆迁的法律将大大有助于保持街头的和平稳定，要知道，强制搬迁是在中国引发动荡的最常见原因之一。