This paper, through the lens of land finance, analyzes the causal links between Chinese local government's land expropriation behavior and peasants' right self-protection movement. Many local governments take the advantage of the dual ambiguity of property rights and public interests as well as distort the application of expropriation laws so as to expropriate farm land. For the purposes of competition, financial needs, and performance and promotion of officials, these government behaviors include fractionizing the target land, embezzling, reserving, and distorting the compensation fees or cross-using legitimate violence and local gangsters to oppress peasants' self-protection movement. The counter strategies from peasants' side are to strengthen their legitimacy and high moral ground by amplifying disadvantageous image, seeking support from social elites, and recall officials, and appeal to the law.