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Peasants, agriculture and the rural in China today - Zhang Kai. March 20, 2001 |
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October Review, Hong Kong.
According to the statistics announced by the State Statistics Bureau,
grain output for 2000 decreased by 9% as compared to 1999. The direct
factor for this was a 5.3% decrease in the cultivated area. 2000 was
the first year since 1949 when the cultivated area was smallest,
dropping to below the warning level of 110 million hectares. The
Statistics Bureau estimated that there would be a further decrease in
2001 of 1.7% of the cultivated land, which means cultivated land will
drop to 107 million hectares.
The main reason for the severe reduction of farmland is because
peasants find farming unprofitable under the many heavy tariffs.
Farmland has been abandoned. The Wen Wei Po in Hong Kong reported on
February 19 that even in some key farming areas in the Dongting Lake
area, which has traditionally been endowed with fertile land and good
harvests, large areas of good land have been abandoned in recent
years. In Nan County, up to September 2000, only 50% of land has been
re-contracted by peasants. In some villages, over 70% of farmland has
been abandoned. Peasants pointed out directly that they did so in
order to avoid having to shoulder heavy agricultural and rural
tariffs.
These problems have drawn the concern of many experts in the PRC.
Below are excerpts taken from an essay written by the scholar Lu Xueyi,
entitled {SYMBOL 147}Finding a way out of the urban-rural segregation,
and two policies for one country{SYMBOL 148}.1 He said, the purchasing
power of rural residents had been on the decrease for several years
despite good harvests since 1996. After the winter of 1996, peasants
had experienced difficulties in selling grain and cotton, and after
the summer of 1999, in selling almost all major agricultural products.
The per capita income from growing grain had dropped by over 300 yuan
in 1999 as compared to 1996. In 1996, per capita income of peasants
from growing cotton was 68.07 yuan, but it dropped to 36.68 yuan in
1999. Yet, income from grain and cotton made up the major income of
agricultural products, especially in central and western regions.
Within three years from 1997 to 1999, the prices of grain and cotton
had dropped by 30-40%.
During the same period, rural industries were also experiencing
difficulties, and about 40% were in a state of production stagnation
or semi-stagnation. At the same time, peasants working in urban areas
were being laid off as restrictions were imposed on the employment of
rural workers to ease the unemployment of the urban folk. In 1995, it
was estimated that rural workers amounted to 80 million, and in 1999,
it was estimated at 60 million. If on average a rural worker{SYMBOL
146}s net annual income in the cities was 2,000 yuan, it meant a
decrease of 60 billion yuan of cash income for the countryside in a
year.
Another scholar Wen Tiejun, when answering questions from the
journalists in an article {SYMBOL 147}Resolving the three rural issues
by integrated reform{SYMBOL 148}, pointed out that the problem of
inflation of rural organizations had been prevalent. He said that in
the early 1980s, a township would pay the wages of 8 cadres. By mid
80s, the establishment increased to about 30 people. Now, the usual
number was 300. In some advanced regions, the towns would have an
establishment of 800-1000. But in recent years, the rural economy ran
badly, more rural industries had gone bankrupt, and the townships and
villages were burdened with heavy debts. According to a survey of the
Ministry of Agriculture in 1997 on ten provinces, the average debt of
a township was 4 million yuan, and a village 200,000 yuan. Now, some
townships had a heavy debt of 40 million yuan. This meant much of the
brunt would be borne by peasants, and usury would be flagrant.
This is the reason for the continued exploitation of peasants despite
repeated orders and decrees from the central government on alleviating
the burdens on peasants.
The poverty in the countryside may be seen in the deterioration of
rural education. Outbreaks of protests have taken place by parents and
pupils against the heavy fees. For example, on February 11, 2001, in
Xiantao Town, Chaoyang County, Guangdong Province, about 800 primary
school pupils took to the street, attacked the government building,
and burnt the furniture and files in a protest against the levying of
supplementary fees in education.2
There has been more voicing of dissent and criticism of the policies
on peasants, agriculture and the rural, and some come from within the
government and the Party. However, some of those that have made their
criticisms have encountered revenge and blows. One example is Li
Changping, a township party secretary who petitioned the central
government on these issues, but due to his outspokenness, he was
forced to resign in September 2000, after which he found a job in
Shenzhen. Yet, his popularity can be seen in his being elected by
about 30,000 votes on the internet and letters by the Nanfang Zhoumo
Newspaper as the Man of the Year, as hope and conscience of China. His
case indicates the public opinion against bureaucratic control and
privileges, and in sympathy for the plight of the peasants. |
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