HONG KONG -
The Great Chinese Land Grab is hurtling on, flouting
official diktats, benefiting the rich and robbing
poor farmers of cropland in a vast nation that has
relatively little arable land.
Over the past
seven years, China has lost 66,670 square kilometers in
arable land, according to the Ministry of Land
Resources, an estimate that many experts consider
grotesquely below the actual figure and not reflecting
desertification, poor management and unbridled illegal
land grabs. While China is a vast country, the amount of
arable land for a population of 1.3 billion, more than
800 million of them farmers, is relatively small and
intensely cultivated. The situation is getting worse;
China is now planning to lease cropland from Vietnam to
help feed the Chinese people.
In April Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao announced a series of measures to
curb widespread illegal land requisition nationwide,
both in an effort to rein in the red-hot real-estate
sector and to protect the lawful rights, interests and
livelihood of millions of farmers and others who depend
on the rural economy. It is these rural poor, already
missing out on China's new-found wealth, enjoyed by the
relative few, who bear the brunt of this nationwide wave
of land appropriation.
Industry experts consider
Wen's reining-in measures to be justified and timely,
even too late, in view of the over-supplied property
market with a recorded vacancy rate of 14% at the end of
2003. However, not all the subordinate provincial and
local governments dance to the premier's and the
economists' tune.
In coastal Jiangsu province's
Taizhou city, about 210 kilometers northwest of
Shanghai, Wen's orders are blatantly flouted and
ignored. Taizhou is the birthplace of reformist
President Hu Jintao. Vast amounts of land are still
being stolen from the people every day, found Asia Times
Online, which investigated the land grab in Zhangguo and
Dainan, towns under Taizhou's overall
administration.
Despite its limited
administrative capacity and functions and its medium,
modest revenue, Zhangguo boasts a total of 28 villas,
numerous high-end properties, entertainment facilities
and luxury hotels.
'Totally out of
control' A former communist cadre, who gave his
name as Chen and spoke on condition of anonymity, gave
vent to his indignation: "Totally out of control! All of
the land appropriation of 13,000 mu [865 hectares] over
the past decade was illegal. The land was once fertile
farmland and robbed from the local peasants." He
disclosed that locals had been consistently petitioning
the authorities to stop the practice and restore their
land, or make some restitution - to no avail.
The situation in Dainan, also under Taizhou
administration, is similar, if not worse. A small town
with a population of 92,000, it nonetheless has set up
eight industrial zones and a new economic development
zone. According to an informed source, also speaking on
condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, the land
for industrial use already tops 998 hectares, some of
which has been expropriated expropriated from local
farmers without due legal process. Authorization from
the town's party chief is required to bypass all the
required legal procedures and that authorization was
acquired.
In Chinese officialdom, this is not
surprising because many bureaucrats and local leaders
bend or break the rules to line their pockets and then
cleanse their public performance records. Many, as
acknowledged by Beijing government and party leaders -
and known by everyone - value big, window-dressing
projects and want to increase the value of investment,
whether a polluting chemical plant or a new factory on
land that once was tilled to feed the populace.
As in Zhangguo, petitions from locals go
nowhere.
The source revealed that last year the
provincial department on land use imposed a massive fine
of 40 million yuan (US$4.82 million) on these two towns
for land misappropriation, but the two have been
delaying payment.
The rush to grab land, whether
by expropriation or forced "purchase" at unfair
below-market prices, has reached virtual hysteria
proportions in Zhangguo. Some enterprises, quite upbeat
because of the likely appreciation in land prices, have
bought more land than they need for actual plant
construction, at about 15,000-30,000 yuan per hectare.
Those who had earlier purchased at only 4,500 yuan can
make a killing now.
Empty factories,
overgrown with weeds A brief tour of some
economic development zones reveals that many factories
are empty and overgrown with weeds. A young farmer
surnamed Zhang - he declined to give his full name - in
Zhangguo told Asia Times Online that the land would
become non-arable after being abandoned for a few years.
In the previous decade, the cultivated land per
capita in the two towns has already shrunk from 1,335
square meters to about 650, and officials denied
compensation to those whose land was appropriated.
Instead, numerous locals attest, officials forced other
farmers to offer their farmland for sale at unfairly low
prices, making very large parcels available. If the
trend continues, no land will be available for tillage
in these areas the foreseeable future.
For some
- but clearly not all - in the town of Zhangguo, this
seems the best of times. After 10-odd years of
expansion, its acreage has increased 19 times to 17
square kilometers and the population has also risen
fivefold to more than 30,000. It has nearly 30 villas,
fancy hotels and entertainment facilities, with more
construction under way.
Since China's red-hot
economy has been growing at breakneck speed for nearly
two decades - with dangerous consequences - the
government and Communist Party have called for a slow
down, curbing investment in key sectors, including real
estate. But those mandates from Beijing against reckless
land purchase and speculation have fallen largely on
deaf ears, more attuned to the prospects of immediate
profits.
For local farmers, it could be the
worst of times. Plagued by almost constant and illegal
land requisition, they have almost lost their
most-treasured asset and for most their sole source of
livelihood, their cropland. Inhabitants disclosed that
more than 800 farming hectares were illegally
expropriated over the past decade - for non-agricultural
uses.
Farmers 'forced' to pay luxury school
fees As if to rub salt into the farmers' wounds,
officials even try to force them to send their children
to a luxury school requiring an annual tuition of 4,500
yuan ($542), according to town inhabitants and farmers
who spoke on condition of anonymity. This despite the
fact that most farmers earn only 1,500 yuan a year. Some
do earn more, some less; some must borrow and go into
debt.
Covering an area of 53 hectares,
construction of this deluxe school has not yet been
completed. Zhou, father of a primary school student,
confirmed that teachers had been always lobbying
students to enroll in the luxury school. This kind of
luxurious education is hardly affordable for ordinary
farmers who solely live by agriculture, he complained.
Like others, he spoke on condition of anonymity.
Another resident, Zhao, whose child attends an
ordinary middle school, told Asia Times Online that the
official numbers for local annual income are just smoke
and mirrors. "Our annual income per capita is
exaggerated by officials to be over 6,000 yuan. It is
not true at all," he said. "Officials have manipulated
such a figure to whitewash their performance record.
They include the income of our fellows doing business in
developed regions and add it to ours. In this way, our
annual income has been hyped to more than 6,000. The
actual figure should be around 1,500. I know what these
fat cats want. They want us farmers to pay more
agricultural taxes," Zhao said.
China's
government and the Chinese Communist Party, recognizing
- at least officially - the plight of the Chinese
peasant, have called for slashing agricultural taxes and
fees and eliminating levels of bureaucracy in an effort
to improve the livelihood of China's poorest people.
Taizhou patronized by Jiang Zemin Both
Zhangguo and Dainan towns are under the administration
of Taizhou, previously included in Yangzhou city, the
birthplace of former president Jiang Zemin, now the
chairman of the party's powerful Central Military
Commission. In 1996, Taizhou was separated from Yangzhou
and upgraded to higher administrative status, making it
eligible for more state funds, investments and a
three-year exemption of revenue taxation.
Jiang
is a big patron of Taizhou: From 1990-2000 he visited
Taizhou several times. The city also benefited from many
favorable policies from the central government and
achieved its economic liftoff during Jiang's tenure as
president. The nation's railway network was extended to
Yangzhou on April 18 and then to Taizhou, which has long
been pressing for a better transportation network for
the goods from factories on lands seized from farmers.
Jiang also established his clique in Taizhou.
Because of Jiang's influence as chairman since 1990 of
the country's highest military body, two local
officials, including Taizhou Mayor Xiaming, were
elevated in 2003 to provincial positions despite what
was widely considered to be their mediocre performance.
One wonders whether Jiang's patronage has
enabled the two small towns to dare defy President Hu
Jintao's and Premier Wen Jiabao's orders to cool down
the economy, especially the real-estate sector, and to
grab the farmers' land.
(Copyright 2004 Asia
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