Agro and Food Union

It is undeniable that China has made a leap forward in the economy. But there is still a rural outback, who lives in a completely different era. Moreover, that income of the villagers in the five to six times lower than that of the townspeople. The village recently excite the protests of peasants, whom the party and government officials deny the land.

Here’s what happened in Central China near the capital of Henan Province. Villagers Shitszyahe learned that the head of the party organization is going to withdraw their 80 acres of land. It turned out that the area held by each family, reduced by one third. This same secretary of rural Party cell in the last eight years has managed to expropriate from the public, that is, from six thousand, 250 acres of land. All of it was then resold for large amounts of urban businessmen.

Rubber bullets at the peasants

Initially, the village sent a deputation to the provincial capital. The complaint was left unattended. Then four petitioners were in the town and blocked traffic on a street. The peasants were persuaded to disperse, promising to send a commission. The result of the protest was zero. Then the peasants were announced: again tomorrow to hold a demonstration. Then authorities stirred. At night, more than five hundred police officers have in the village on BTRah. Addresses of the ringleaders were known. The doctor, 46 years old, who asked reporters not to be named, said that the guardians of order ousted in the house all the doors and windows before they managed to shove him and his son in the prisoner’s car.
The noise ran neighbors. Realizing that the leaders want to plant, they roused the whole village. Several hundred half-dressed peasants surrounded the three BTR and demanded to release the prisoners. In the police car and started throwing stones. Enforcer first fired into the air and then fired tear gas and rubber bullets. The crowd scattered in all directions.

The result of the massacre of dozens of wounded. However, the party leadership in the province chose not to whip up passions and ordered the release of all detainees “troublemakers”, except for one. City officials even visited the wounded in hospitals, gave them drugs, bags of rice and flour. Promised that “competent authorities” will explore the requirements of the villagers. In short, in Honan fight ended in a draw. However, in other provinces, farmers less fortunate. Alienation of agricultural lands for industrial parks, holiday villages, roads does not stop. In Beijing, the government in the know, and even publishes statistics on this score. Last year it recorded 168 thousand illegal land transactions. And the official newspaper China Daily reported that approximately one third of the existing 3,837 development zones and industrial parks established without the approval of relevant government bodies.

Redistribution in favor of new Chinese

In fact, today the village was the scene of a new stage of struggle for redistribution of land, that is something which is why more than half a century ago there was civil war. The Communist Party then won. Won, in particular, due to the fact that the land promised to the poor. After the founding of China’s land, as well as livestock, equipment seized from the landlords, were mostly divided among the poor and cadres – party members and their assistants. But soon the state was to drive the peasants into mutual aid teams and production cooperatives, that is transformed into disenfranchised workers on the public lands. The situation became even worse when on the orders of Mao Zedong began Communization village, in essence, the creation of collective farms.

After the death of Mao Zedong and the coming to power of Deng Xiaoping’s efforts to realize the communist utopia came to an end. In most provinces, the land of people’s communes had been divided among households. Yard, often received the same section, which handles up to collectivization, the contract with the production team, representing the State. It provided only the tax and the sale of the state of the crop. The owner of land remained state, but a row in some cases had a duration of 15 years, and places of the earth, in fact, turned into a hereditary possession of households. These reforms have been tantamount to revolution, agriculture has begun to develop the market path.

However, in land use to this day reigns inconsistency. In some cases the owner of the land is a state in the other – a change of district district councils. There are counties where the farmer can sell his land fellow villager in other counties such right had not. Finally, there are regions, especially in the Northeast, where the margin of communes have been successfully used tractors and combines. They did not divide the land, communities exist to this day.

Last year, Parliament amended the Constitution by approving the principle of inviolability of private property lawfully acquired. However, the land in the new law is not mentioned. Agricultural scientists and sociologists have been debates whether to give the peasants the right to privatize land.

Continued uncertainty in land rights plays into the hands of “Shame” – party-state officials and grassroots, and sometimes even provincial level. Moreover, the number of these officials is immense and the whole apparatus is supported by taxes collected from the peasants. “Shame” try move out, get a raise, taking the initiative to start new construction in the county, offering projects that will attract investment from outside. Here’s the background against which the rebellion broke out near the capital of Henan Province.