July 18, 2006
I'VE GOT A TIGER BY THE TAIL IT'S PLAIN TO SEE:
Rural China: Too little, too late (Swati Lodh Kundu, 19 July 2006, Asia TImes)
Using the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) in March as its stage, the ruling Chinese Communist Party with much fanfare launched a package of rural policies with the expressed aim of building a "new socialist countryside"...
And why not? The top Chinese leadership is clearly alarmed by an upsurge in peasant protests unprecedented in China's post-1949 history. Last year, 87,000 "mass incidents" ripped across the country. Remote towns such as Huaxi, Taishi and Shanwei broke into the news and became symbols of China's "new rebellious countryside"...
After three decades of pro-capitalist reform, rural China faces a catastrophe: massive environmental degradation, falling living standards and a creeping takeover of villages by clans and gangsters. The income gap between urban and rural Chinese is officially 3:1, one of the largest disparities anywhere in the world. But Chinese Academy of Social Studies calculations put the difference at 7:1 when such factors as social services, health care and education are taken into account.
MORE:
Economy grows 10.9% in first half (19 July 2006, Asia Times)
The Chinese economy surged 10.9% year-on-year in the first half of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed on Tuesday, roaring ahead despite a range of measures imposed by the government to ease investment growth...
The six-month growth was driven by 11.3% growth in the second quarter - the fastest pace in a decade...
China's macro-economy presents "obvious overheating of investment" in the first half of this year, Wang Xiaoguang, a macroeconomics professor at the economic research institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, told Xinhua.
And I won't be much when she get's through with me....
Posted by Pepys at July 18, 2006 7:38 PM
Just one word:
"Ceausescu"
Not only that, but the temptation to continue to grow the economy (a good proxy for relaxing the reins on society) has other implications, as Gorbachev found out.
Posted by: Bruce Cleaver at July 18, 2006 8:09 PM"You ain't walked the streets of Bakersfield."
Posted by: jdkelly at July 18, 2006 8:41 PMShow of hands. Who believes the stats?
Posted by: Bob at July 18, 2006 8:49 PMThey are all understated.
Posted by: Pepys at July 18, 2006 11:23 PMThis is one of the few stats out of China that is probably accurate. I do not think the government is all that alarmed; I think they are using these stats in an effort to reduce the power of the local party hacks.
Posted by: China Law Blog at July 19, 2006 12:21 AMChina can't keep the economy growing at 10% a year - they're already having local labor shortages, especially of skilled workers.
Posted by: Noam Chomsky at July 19, 2006 1:03 AM"After three decades of pro-capitalist reform, rural China faces a catastrophe: massive environmental degradation, falling living standards and a creeping takeover of villages by clans and gangsters."
Because before the recent "pro-capitalist reform", China was a paradise of pristine environmental preservation, uniformly high wealth, and wonderful egalitarianism.