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Beijing's Denial about the New Socialist Countryside
As noted on this blog back on February 8, some Bejing officials are in deep denial about the numerous social problems facing the Middle Kingdom's countryside. Today, Josephine Ma reports in the South China Morning Post:
A Communist Party official denied yesterday that any rural riots had taken place on the mainland as the party launched a massive education campaign for grass-roots cadres in an attempt to tighten its faltering grip in the troubled countryside.
Ouyang Song , a deputy head of the party's Central Committee's Organisation Department, also denied the protests were rising.
"In our country, we have not heard of riots occurring in any place until now. Even mass incidents are not on the rise," he said.
"China is the most stable country in the world. This is acknowledged by the international community. It is not strange for a vast country to experience some mass incidents at a time of rapid development."
His remark contradicted statistics released earlier by the Ministry of Public Security that showed "mass incidents" up 6.6 per cent to number 87,000 last year.
In mainland official jargon, the term "mass incidents" is used to replace the more politically sensitive terms such as protests, demonstrations, picketing and group petitioning.
However, Mr Ouyang admitted that the recent development of rural policies of scrapping agricultural tax and building a "new socialist countryside" - a campaign to narrow the urban-rural gap by funnelling more public funds to the countryside - were a response to mass incidents among disaffected village communities in the countryside.
"The party and the government are still very concerned about the mass incidents in a small number of places. In recent years, the party and the government have been taking measures such as scrapping agricultural tax," he said.
To read more: ($$ required)
As noted on this blog back on February 8, some Bejing officials are in deep denial about the numerous social problems facing the Middle Kingdom's countryside. Today, Josephine Ma reports in the South China Morning Post:
A Communist Party official denied yesterday that any rural riots had taken place on the mainland as the party launched a massive education campaign for grass-roots cadres in an attempt to tighten its faltering grip in the troubled countryside.
Ouyang Song , a deputy head of the party's Central Committee's Organisation Department, also denied the protests were rising.
"In our country, we have not heard of riots occurring in any place until now. Even mass incidents are not on the rise," he said.
"China is the most stable country in the world. This is acknowledged by the international community. It is not strange for a vast country to experience some mass incidents at a time of rapid development."
His remark contradicted statistics released earlier by the Ministry of Public Security that showed "mass incidents" up 6.6 per cent to number 87,000 last year.
In mainland official jargon, the term "mass incidents" is used to replace the more politically sensitive terms such as protests, demonstrations, picketing and group petitioning.
However, Mr Ouyang admitted that the recent development of rural policies of scrapping agricultural tax and building a "new socialist countryside" - a campaign to narrow the urban-rural gap by funnelling more public funds to the countryside - were a response to mass incidents among disaffected village communities in the countryside.
"The party and the government are still very concerned about the mass incidents in a small number of places. In recent years, the party and the government have been taking measures such as scrapping agricultural tax," he said.
To read more: ($$ required)
Of course, my favorite line is: "This is acknowledged by the international community." You have no idea how many times I've heard some version of this one during my time in China. Sadly, this is the type of stuff still being taught in Chinese schools all the way up to the university level.But seriously, this doesn't necessarily mean that the government is ignoring the problem. I'm sure they are well aware of how bad the situation is. However, it still demonstrates its concern for its image domestic and international, which, given this type of statement is clearly, declining. Unfortunately, more comments like this will only further encourage the idea that China hasn't changed much from its revolution days.
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