October Review schrieb: > Dear friends, > > > Please find below an article in the latest issue of October Review. > Please feel free to distribute or reprint it (with a reference to October > Review). > > > If you have problem receiving the article or do not wish to receive it in > the future, please tell us by email. > > > With best regards, > > October Review, Hong Kong. > > > mail address: October Review, G.P.O.Box 10144, Hong Kong > > e-mail address: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > <fontfamily><param>Courier New</param>CHINA > > </fontfamily><fontfamily><param>·s²Ó©úÅé</param> > > </fontfamily>Peasants, agriculture and the rural in China today > > > Zhang Kai > > > The questions of peasants, agriculture and the rural in China today have > aggravated to a point of crisis though official economic figures seemed > to fare well. In 2000, the state revenue had rapidly increased, with the > rate of increase being three times that of economic growth, and Premier > Zhu Rongji reported that the per capita net income of the rural > population was 2,253 yuan, a real increase of 2.1% over the preceding > year. He also reported that the average annual increase in the last five > years was 4.7%. However, there appear to be many discrepancies with > reports by experts and researchers, as well as the fact that there has > been a drop in the cultivated area, output and prices. > > 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 > > A tragedy which broke out in Fanglin Village, Wanzai County, Jiangxi > Province reveals the plight in the rural scene. An explosion took place > in a primary school in the village on March 6, 2001, reportedly killing > 41 teachers and pupils, and injuring 27. Wen Wei Po reported that the > school had the pupils work on fireworks in order to earn money for the > school. 50 kilograms of saltpeter was reported to be stored in the > school, material for making the fireworks. According to Sing Tao Daily > News, a person from the management of a fireworks factory said that it > was a prevalent practice for rural schools or households to be producing > fireworks or firecrackers in violation of safety regulations. With annual > income from farming amounting to only about 1,000 yuan, the income from > working on fireworks would be 5-6 yuan a day. On the day of explosion in > the Fanglin school, two classes of primary three pupils were working on > the fuse of the fireworks. It was mandatory for pupils to do such work, > or else they would have to pay a penalty of 2 yuan a day. The government > later denied that the primary school was engaged in the processing work > of fireworks, and attributed the incident to the sabotage of a lunatic Li > Chuicai. However, some German journalists interviewed Li{SYMBOL 146}s > former classmates who said that Li was a worker responsible for > transporting the saltpeter and fireworks between the factory and the > school. He also died in the explosion.3 > > 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. > > > March 20, 2001 > > > 1 See Dushu, No.5 of 2000.0 > > 2 Apple Daily April 14, 2001. > > 3 See Apple Daily March 10, 2001. > > > October Review Vol.28 Issue 1 2001.3.31 > > > > _________________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com > _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international