China faces a second land revolution
By Kent Ewing
HONG KONG - Fed up after their land was seized and their protests ignored,
farmers have taken to the Internet to declare an end to collective land
ownership in China. What began as an isolated protest last month has turned
into a movement that has spread to three provinces and one municipality. So
far, the central government has largely ignored the farmers' bold declarations,
which most analysts think will come to naught.
But, while it is true that this cyber revolt will probably pay no dividends in
the short term, it could eventually lead to a long-overdue second land
revolution as China faces the need to
modernize its agriculture in the same way it is modernizing other industries.
Such a revolution may not end with private ownership of farmland - which would,
after all, contradict one of the core principles of Communist Party rule - but
it could provide farmers with land-use rights strong enough to protect them
from the continuing onslaught of greedy developers and corrupt local officials
who routinely conspire to seize farmland for profitable commercial development.
Theoretically, collective ownership means that farmland is owned by an entire
village or township; in practice, however, the land winds up in the hands of a
few representatives who can easily expropriate it for lucrative private
development. Indeed, the scam has become so commonplace that Land and Resources
Minister Xu Shaoshi recently warned that China's rapidly disappearing
agricultural landscape could endanger the country's food supply and lead to
social unrest.
Mao Zedong launched radical land reforms shortly after the communist revolution
in 1949. Before then, thousands of years of feudalism had left most land in the
hands of a small, self-perpetuating gentry while peasants were doomed to lives
of dire poverty. Mao seized land - often violently - from the gentry for
redistribution among the peasants, and collectivization was born. Now
collective ownership of rural land is a key tenet of Communist Party rule
enshrined in the party's constitution. That is what makes the new movement so
bold.
There is, however, precedent for the farmers' challenge. In 1978, peasants in
the village of Xiaogang, located in eastern Anhui province, took farmland from
their communes and divided it among themselves. Their action was allowed by the
central government and, in the end, led to land reform nationwide. But there is
a big difference between what the Xiaogang villagers wanted and what farmers
are now demanding. The land reform that started in Xiaogang gave farmers the
right to use land but not to own it. The new movement is making an unequivocal
call for private ownership. For the present, such demands cannot be tolerated
in Beijing.
No doubt in response to the farmers' protests, a senior party official last
week reaffirmed Beijing's support of collective ownership and opposition to any
form of privatization of rural land.
"For thousands of years," said Zheng Xinli, deputy director of the Research
Institute of the party's central committee, "private ownership of land was
recognized and practiced in China. The result was that land eventually became
concentrated in a few hands. Most farmers had no land and had to struggle for a
living ... It is the historic lesson, China's socialist system and the
constitution have ensured the collective ownership for rural land."
To underscore Zheng's point, police have reportedly stopped land redistribution
and arrested the movement's leaders. It remains to be seen, however, whether
these moves will staunch the sincere and increasingly assertive call for
private ownership among China's farmers. If you believe the organizers, the
four separate declarations last month represent as many as 120,000 farmers.
While that figure is probably hype, there is no question that the protests have
struck a chord.
It all started on December 9 in the hinterlands of northeastern Heilongjiang
province when 40,000 farmers in the 72 villages of Fujin city issued a
proclamation declaring their ownership rights to 250,000 acres of land that
they claim local officials have stolen from them since 1994. In the village of
Dongnangang, 900 farmers actually started to redistribute some of the land
among themselves. The redistribution has been halted, however, and the farmers'
leader, Yu Changwu, arrested. Yu, 53, a well-known figure in Heilongjiang, has
been a thorn in the side of local authorities for more than a decade.
A second declaration, claiming to represent 70,000 farmers in Dali county,
Huayin city and Tongguan county, all located in north-central Shaanxi province,
was issued on December 12. Police have since arrested three of the farmers'
leaders.
"We throw away the collective ownership of this land," the farmers wrote. "We
have permanent ownership of 24,710 acres, which are currently used by all the
villages. We also have permanent ownership of another 24,710 acres, which the
State Council has given farmers the right to use, but the land is being used by
officials at various levels. We will organize and divide this land evenly among
farmers for them to own it forever, and end the illegal occupation of land by
officials."
Similar pronouncements have followed from farmers in eastern Jiangsu province's
Yixing city and from Wuqing district in the municipality of Tianjin. Numerous
websites inside the country have posted the four declarations.
It is hard to know how many farmers are actually involved in the protests, but
the numbers claimed in the declarations should be taken with a grain of salt.
No matter their numbers, however, the Internet has turned the farmers'
grievances - with which most of the country's 750 million rural dwellers surely
sympathize - into a cause celebre.
In the end, don't expect the Communist Party to renounce collective ownership
any time soon. But it is clear that land-use policy needs to change, and the
farmers' protests - along with the myriad other confrontations of recent years
over land seizures, many of the them violent and bloody - may very well lead to
a rethink at the top tiers of government.
Indeed, this had already started at last October's party congress, where
leaders discussed the idea of permitting farmers to sell land-use rights to
other farmers. Such a change would still be in keeping with the principle of
collective ownership but would also help to maintain farmland as some farmers
choose to abandon the countryside in pursuit of a better life in China's
booming cities.
The problem is compounded by a weak anti-corruption campaign that needs to stop
talking and start acting to crack down on local officials who collude with
developers to steal farmers' land. China will have to bite the bullet and allow
private ownership of rural land. That will be the best way to ensure the
modernization of the country's agriculture.
Kent Ewing is a teacher and writer at Hong Kong International School. He
can be reached at kewing@hkis.edu.hk.
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
