HONG KONG
- Located in east central China, Henan is a landlocked,
impoverished province almost paralyzed by the rampant
AIDS epidemic because poor farmers sold their blood at
unhygienic local collection centers supported by local
authorities. Recently, the misery-haunted region
has again hit the headlines with grim reports of
violence, accidents and ethnic strife - published at
home and abroad and stirring up a national debate: Is
Henan being demonized and vilified - libeled, some might
say - or has it already been deserted by the gods, the
political powers that be and the local government? Henan
is China's most populous province with more than 92.5
million, and it is also the most densely populated. With
so many people crammed together and with so many years
of official neglect, illness, misery and rumor spread
fast.
On October 20, an explosion occurred in a
coal pit situated in Xinmi City, Henan province, causing
141 deaths; seven workers were reported missing. That's
the highest number of causalities caused by a coal mine
accident since January this year.
On October 27,
an armed scuffle broke out in Zhengzhou City between the
Han nation, the largest ethnic group in China, and the
Hui nation, a large ethnic Muslim minority. A Hui driver
struck and killed a Han girl by accident, triggering a
blood-letting that involved around 5,000 people. The New
York Times said 148 were killed.
Earlier in
October, two scandalous and widely published news
stories - that proved to be distortion and exaggeration
- had already dragged Henan province's far from good
name through the mire.
First, the whitening
agent in the flour produced by a manufacturer in
Huangshi City was alleged to far exceed the standard
safety limit. As a result, all flour producers in Henan
province suffered a drastic sales slump and a subsequent
huge financial loss. The Zhengzhou Evening News, a
popular local newspaper, later conducted a thorough
investigation and reported that the allegation about the
unsafe whitening agent was caused by a miscalculation of
the safety standard. But the damage was done.
Then, a well-regarded tabloid in Beijing
published a special feature about well-off moochers from
Henan. "The beggars roving about [Beijing's] subway
stations are mostly from Lankao County and Minquan
County of Henan province. They kowtow for alms in the
city only in order to build nice mansions back in the
hometown," the news report said. But the enterprising
and determined journalists of Zhengzhou Evening News
visited the two counties later and found the report to
be untrue.
Thereafter, the Zhengzhou Evening
News, together with Sina.com, one of the largest portal
websites in China, inspired a nationwide discussion in
the cyber world over what some called the demonization
of Henan.
"Henan never makes a favorable
impression on the general public, and the root cause
boils down to only one word: 'poverty'," a online
opinion poll points out. According to statistics from
the Poverty Alleviation and Development Office under the
State Council, China's cabinet, the "poverty-stricken
population" from 1980 to 2000 increased by 530,000. This
can be compared to the figure of "poverty-stricken
population" in the rest of the country, which increased
by 270,000 during the same period. "Poverty-stricken
population" means that the gross domestic product (GDP)
per capita is 637 yuan (US$77), according to the Chinese
government.
Further, the devil seems to make
work for idle hands, as the severe chronic deprivation
and unemployment gives rise to social unrest. If the
wretched land has not been deserted by the gods, then it
must have been abandoned by the local government.
Back in the early 1990s, illegal and unsanitary
blood-collecting businesses prevailed in Henan's rural
areas, where thousands of farmers living in destitution
flocked into private blood stations and sold their blood
for subsistence money. The sale has since been outlawed.
Before the ban and with the connivance of local
authorities, however, the situation got completely out
of hand, and HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), which
leads to AIDS, spread through the use of unsterilized
needles, cross infections as well as unchecked
prostitution. After the outbreak of the first confirmed
HIV and AIDS cases, the local authorities swept the news
under the carpet so that no immediate measure was taken
to curb the spread of the lethal virus. Today, China has
more than 1 million AIDS carriers at a conservative
estimate, a vast number of them in Henan.
Therefore,
the current Henan administration is not trusted to
handle the social crisis, to reconcile the ethnic
conflict and fundamentally to relieve the massive
poverty. Some skeptics say the local governments in
Henan ignore the call to "serve the people" reported
over and over by moderate reformist President Hu Jintao.
If these officials don't have the faintest idea what it
means to serve the people, they had better learn right
now.
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the misery-haunted region
has again hit the headlines with grim reports of
violence, accidents and ethnic strife - published at
home and abroad and stirring up a national debate: Is
Henan being demonized and vilified - libeled, some might
say - or has it already been deserted by the gods, the
political powers that be and the local government? Henan
is China's most populous province with more than 92.5
million, and it is also the most densely populated. With
so many people crammed together and with so many years
of official neglect, illness, misery and rumor spread
fast. 
