An official in east China has been sacked after he said he wanted protesting farmers to "live on nothing," authorities said yesterday.

The farmers said the government took their farmland to build on without providing acceptable compensation.

The dismissal was ann-ounced by the government of Gaomi City, Shandong Province, yesterday, after Shandong Television broadcast a video clip showing official Gong Houcai rudely answering a telephone phone call from a farmer.

The farmer, whose name was not revealed, said the government of Tidong Village, which is supervised by Gaomi City, promised 20 families new residential apartments when it took 66 hectares of farmland in 2006, but they never received these.

"You deprived us of land without any compensation. How can we live? Do you expect us to live on nothing?" asked the farmer in the call.

In response, Gong, the village's Party Secretary, said, "I, as a party secretary, do want you to live on nothing."

The clip led to fierce criticism on the Internet.