Tug-of-war over Pearl River Delta
By Cristian Segura and Wu Zhong
BEIJING and HONG KONG - Chinese civilization originated and flourished from the
middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in the north, and the country's
power center has traditionally been based in the north.
Places such as Guangdong, on the southern coast, were considered "barbarian"
and viewed with suspicion for their different cultural identity, while the
people from these areas also tended to distance themselves politically from the
power center.
In the late 1950s, though, chairman Mao Zedong launched a thorough reshuffle to
get rid of local officials from senior posts in the Guangdong provincial
government. This crackdown on
"regionalism" was the result of these officials not always following Beijing's
policies.
Since then, Beijing has seldom allowed a Guangdong native to hold the post of
Guangdong Communist Party secretary, the leader of the province. This was in
the hope that assigning a non-local person would bring the province under the
direct control of Beijing.
Despite this, there have always been differences between Beijing and Guangdong
in their approaches to economic development. Beijing prefers a centralized and
bureaucratic management, while Guangdong, which has bustling and thriving Hong
Kong as a neighbor and as a role model, is inclined towards a more liberal
society, with the economy led by private businesses rather than by state-owned
enterprises (SOEs).
The latest clash is over strategies for the economic and social integration of
the rich Pearl River Delta (PRD). One of the government's aims is to make the
delta more dynamic. It includes over 40,000 square kilometers and is home to
the two Special Administrative Regions of Macau and Hong Kong, and nine cities
in Guangdong province, including the capital Guangzhou. The area accounts for
approximately one quarter of China's total trade value.
Thirty years ago, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) chose the delta for the
start of the reform and opening-up process. Guangdong had advantages for this.
First, it was easier for Guangdong to adapt to a market economy, given its
proximity to what were then the capitalist colonies of Hong Kong (Britain) and
Macau (Portugal).
Second, there were fewer SOEs in Guangdong in comparison with the northern
provinces because Beijing had refrained from investing in Guangdong (and
Fujian) since 1949 in fear of a possible military invasion by rival Taiwan.
Fewer SOEs meant less resistance to market-oriented reforms.
The concern in Beijing is that the municipalities in the PRD are too
politically self-centered and defiant of higher authorities. Beijing believes
it can better control this "insurrection" through a gradual integration of the
main PRD cities into a "mega metropolitan area", with its development under
central government control.
Early this year, the State Council, China's cabinet, unveiled a development
plan for the PRD toward 2020, focusing on upgrading local industrial production
and economic integration. However, while paying lip service, Guangdong
provincial officials and most local party cadres in practice are trying to
skirt around Beijing's guidance. They prefer a softer intervention in the
economy and in society that allows greater freedom in decision-making
processes, both with regard to the economy and social issues. This is despite
the fact that such an approach has in the past resulted in "vicious
competition" between PRD cities.
Of the more than 100 million residents in Guangdong, more than 60 million are
Cantonese speakers who rarely watch China Central Television (CCTV) channels,
which are broadcast mainly in Putonghua, says Li Zhigang, an associate
professor at the Department of Urban Regional Planning of the Sun Yat-sen
University in Guangzhou. Most people in Guangdong watch Hong Kong television,
he says.
Like many other faculty members at universities in Guangdong, Li is not a
Guangdonger and he does not speak Cantonese; he is from northern Hubei province
and he moved to Guangzhou after receiving his PhD from the University of
Southampton in the United Kingdom.
Li tries to be neutral when analyzing the different approaches of Beijing and
Guangdong toward the PRD's development. He says the central government is
worried because city governments in Guangdong simply get round or defy
Beijing's policies as much as they can.
"The central government wants to see a coordinated development of PRD cities
under its guidance, as happened in the Yangtze River Delta, where Shanghai is
the undisputed leader. [But] in Guangdong, you have too many big cities which
are reluctant to accept Guangzhou or any other city as the leader of the PRD
region," says Li.
The Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily in February published a story on how the
Guangdong party chief, Wang Yang, a non-Guangdonger, had stirred up a fierce
debate. He asked PRD city mayors to acknowledge Guangzhou as their "big
brother". Wang stressed that local officials should team up "with a mentality
of [respecting] the big brother ... While competition of cities at an
appropriate level is encouraged, greater support must be given to their
cooperation ... so that they can make a greater contribution to the
modernization of the nation."
Joseph Cheng of the City University of Hong Kong and an expert on Chinese
politics says that Wang Yang, who was formerly party chief of Chongqing
municipality, "is having serious problems in gaining support from local
[Guangdong] officials. He has almost lost control. Conflicts between the
Guangdong party chief and local cadres are now commonplace, but Beijing will
not allow a Guangdonger to be party secretary because it may reinforce regional
power."
Until about six years ago, the central and Guangdong governments had the common
aim of delegating greater administrative autonomy to the cities. Free
competition among PRD cities had greatly revitalized and boosted their economic
development.
But this changed when Hu Jintao became president in 2003 and prioritized the
need for more balanced and coordinated economic development. The CCP wants to
accomplish its motto of an "harmonious society" by reducing competition between
regions. This competition is also seen as wasting economic resources.
Hence, all localities have been asked to first satisfy national interests
before realizing regional ambitions. This clearly impacts Guangdong and its
multiple power centers, as stated in the State Council's development plan for
the PRD.
The plan envisions that 10 years from now, the PRD will be assembled into three
main urban nodes, developed through mergers. Shenzhen and Dongguan will be a
center on the east bank of the Pearl River; the Zhuhai Economic Special Zone
will serve as the center for the urban areas on the west bank of the Pearl
River; and finally, Guangzhou and Foshan will be merged into a larger city.
Beyond that, further cooperation should lead to deeper regional integration, as
the government's plan assesses, "Under the unified leadership and coordination
of the provincial government, the cities will establish multi-stratum
cooperation mechanisms ... Following the example of Guangzhou-Foshan
integration and starting with the integration of transportation
infrastructures, a situation of unified development [will be reached] where
urban planning is integrated, infrastructure is commonly built and used,
industries are developed through win-win cooperation, and public affairs are
coordinately administered."
The Bauhinia Foundation, a policy think-tank for the Hong Kong government,
published a study this year defending a merger of Hong Kong with a projected
"world-class Pearl River Delta metropolis". In 2007, the foundation published a
report recommending a merger between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, once the former
British colony is fully part of China, in 2047.
The Shenzhen municipality said in a working paper in 2006 that the city "will
position itself as part of an international metropolis with Hong Kong".
Shenzhen is considered the most pro-Beijing city in Guangdong. It emerged 30
years ago and its success is a result of the blessing given to it by Deng
Xiaoping. Moreover, its population is almost entirely made up of migrants from
other provinces who have few links with Cantonese society.
According to Bauhinia, the PRD metropolis should comprise the nine cities
mentioned in the central government's plan - Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan,
Zhongshan, Jiangmen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou and Zhaoqing - plus Hong Kong and
Macau. Bauhinia estimates that this mega-metropolitan region would by 2038 be
the world's biggest in terms of gross domestic product.
The Cantonese establishment, however, is against this merging process, and
Bauhinia warns that "there are some problems in the Guangdong-Hong Kong
integration process that need to be resolved". Bauhinia considers the risks of
"competition and conflicts of interest among cities in the region" and
emphasizes that if the PRD is to be a "unified territory", it will need to
follow the State Council's plan.
Bauhinia has this to say of the Cantonese identity: "These ethnic and
geographical ties are sure to grow even closer. The close relationships are
reflected not only in economics, but in all facets of the economy, community,
culture and livelihood. The close interactions between the people of Guangdong
and Hong Kong are an undercurrent in the development of the relationship
between the two territories. Indeed, this thread is becoming increasingly
important."
Supporters of the idea for the PRD's unification point to Tokyo and London as
examples. Professor Li, though, is skeptical of a complete merger happening.
"There are too many political differences among the metropolitan entities."
At the 2005 annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), pro-Beijing
Shenzhen representatives proposed to introduce on the agenda a discussion on a
hypothetical future merger with Hong Kong, but Guangdong deputies blocked it.
Since then, this topic has been avoided by the NPC, the highest state body and
the only legislative house in the mainland, said a source in Hong Kong who
wished to remain anonymous.
Christine Loh, chief executive officer of Civic Exchange, a public policy
think-tank in Hong Kong, reported in 2007 that the Guangdong government
"applied for the designation of a Guangzhou Development Zone" to compete with
Shanghai and Tianjin, the port city south of Beijing. "Guangdong is highly
political: it pursues every chance to assert itself."
The bottom line is that Guangdong has a more business-minded society than the
rest of the country and is reluctant to accept intrusion by the mandarins,
especially those from distant Beijing. In earlier times, Guangdong served as a
base for strong federalist movements, but these were ultimately crushed by the
military intervention of Sun Yat-sen, the foremost pioneer of republican China,
in 1923.
The State Council's plan for the PRD does acknowledge the democratic role
Guangdong has played for the country, "The Pearl River Delta, especially the
special economic zones in the region, will continue to serve as an experimental
field and demonstration area, deepen reform of the economic system and social
administration system, advance the development of democracy and the rule of
law." At the NPC's meeting in 2008, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao asked "people in
Guangdong to further free their minds and continue to take the lead in the
modernization process".
Despite this, there is a scarcity of Cantonese staff at Guangdong's
universities and academic institutes. Twenty years ago, the majority of
teachers at Jinan University were Cantonese. "Nowadays, they are the minority,"
says Shao Yi, a professor at the Institute for Chinese Dialects at Jinan
University, in Guangzhou. Although the institute is focused on the study of
native languages in Guangdong, about 90% of its researchers come from other
provinces. Only Mandarin is used throughout the whole educational structure in
Guangdong because the law requests it, says Shao.
Cheng, of the City University of Hong Kong, believes Cantonese is not promoted
because the central government sees it "as a transmission channel for
democratic ideas from Hong Kong".
The issue of Cantonese identity is sensitive. Six experts on Cantonese culture
involved in the preservation of local languages and social traditions declined
to be interviewed for this article.
Wu Wei, director of the Institute of Chinese Dialects, is confident that
Cantonese will not disappear because it is used by the media and is a strong
language that has been replacing local minority languages faster than Mandarin.
But Li Zhigang says society in Guangdong "is being split into two worlds with
no connections". That is, the local community and the booming migrant group.
"Hong Kong is what makes Guangdong special, more than their cultural identity.
It helped the province to develop faster and more democratically," says Li.
People in favor of Cantonese singularity see the merging of PRD cities as a
threat, especially a merger of Hong Kong with an expanding Shenzhen, or even
worse, with a PRD mega city. In that scenario, Hong Kong would become a minor
partner and lose its influence as an agent for modernization.
Cristian Segura is a European journalist based in Beijing. Wu Zhong
is China Editor of Asia Times Online.
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