The Great Chinese Land Grab is on

The Great Chinese Land Grab is on
By Xia Yunfan

HONG KONG - The Great Chinese Land Grab is hurtling on, flouting official diktats, benefiting the rich and robbing poor farmers of cropland in a vast nation that has relatively little arable land.

Over the past seven years, China has lost 66,670 square kilometers in arable land, according to the Ministry of Land Resources, an estimate that many experts consider grotesquely below the actual figure and not reflecting desertification, poor management and unbridled illegal land grabs. While China is a vast country, the amount of arable land for a population of 1.3 billion, more than 800 million of them farmers, is relatively small and intensely cultivated. The situation is getting worse; China is now planning to lease cropland from Vietnam to help feed the Chinese people.

In April Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao announced a series of measures to curb widespread illegal land requisition nationwide, both in an effort to rein in the red-hot real-estate sector and to protect the lawful rights, interests and livelihood of millions of farmers and others who depend on the rural economy. It is these rural poor, already missing out on China's new-found wealth, enjoyed by the relative few, who bear the brunt of this nationwide wave of land appropriation.

Industry experts consider Wen's reining-in measures to be justified and timely, even too late, in view of the over-supplied property market with a recorded vacancy rate of 14% at the end of 2003. However, not all the subordinate provincial and local governments dance to the premier's and the economists' tune.

In coastal Jiangsu province's Taizhou city, about 210 kilometers northwest of Shanghai, Wen's orders are blatantly flouted and ignored. Taizhou is the birthplace of reformist President Hu Jintao. Vast amounts of land are still being stolen from the people every day, found Asia Times Online, which investigated the land grab in Zhangguo and Dainan, towns under Taizhou's overall administration.

Despite its limited administrative capacity and functions and its medium, modest revenue, Zhangguo boasts a total of 28 villas, numerous high-end properties, entertainment facilities and luxury hotels.

'Totally out of control'
A former communist cadre, who gave his name as Chen and spoke on condition of anonymity, gave vent to his indignation: "Totally out of control! All of the land appropriation of 13,000 mu [865 hectares] over the past decade was illegal. The land was once fertile farmland and robbed from the local peasants." He disclosed that locals had been consistently petitioning the authorities to stop the practice and restore their land, or make some restitution - to no avail.

The situation in Dainan, also under Taizhou administration, is similar, if not worse. A small town with a population of 92,000, it nonetheless has set up eight industrial zones and a new economic development zone. According to an informed source, also speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, the land for industrial use already tops 998 hectares, some of which has been expropriated expropriated from local farmers without due legal process. Authorization from the town's party chief is required to bypass all the required legal procedures and that authorization was acquired.

In Chinese officialdom, this is not surprising because many bureaucrats and local leaders bend or break the rules to line their pockets and then cleanse their public performance records. Many, as acknowledged by Beijing government and party leaders - and known by everyone - value big, window-dressing projects and want to increase the value of investment, whether a polluting chemical plant or a new factory on land that once was tilled to feed the populace.

As in Zhangguo, petitions from locals go nowhere.

The source revealed that last year the provincial department on land use imposed a massive fine of 40 million yuan (US$4.82 million) on these two towns for land misappropriation, but the two have been delaying payment.

The rush to grab land, whether by expropriation or forced "purchase" at unfair below-market prices, has reached virtual hysteria proportions in Zhangguo. Some enterprises, quite upbeat because of the likely appreciation in land prices, have bought more land than they need for actual plant construction, at about 15,000-30,000 yuan per hectare. Those who had earlier purchased at only 4,500 yuan can make a killing now.

Empty factories, overgrown with weeds
A brief tour of some economic development zones reveals that many factories are empty and overgrown with weeds. A young farmer surnamed Zhang - he declined to give his full name - in Zhangguo told Asia Times Online that the land would become non-arable after being abandoned for a few years.

In the previous decade, the cultivated land per capita in the two towns has already shrunk from 1,335 square meters to about 650, and officials denied compensation to those whose land was appropriated. Instead, numerous locals attest, officials forced other farmers to offer their farmland for sale at unfairly low prices, making very large parcels available. If the trend continues, no land will be available for tillage in these areas the foreseeable future.

For some - but clearly not all - in the town of Zhangguo, this seems the best of times. After 10-odd years of expansion, its acreage has increased 19 times to 17 square kilometers and the population has also risen fivefold to more than 30,000. It has nearly 30 villas, fancy hotels and entertainment facilities, with more construction under way.

Since China's red-hot economy has been growing at breakneck speed for nearly two decades - with dangerous consequences - the government and Communist Party have called for a slow down, curbing investment in key sectors, including real estate. But those mandates from Beijing against reckless land purchase and speculation have fallen largely on deaf ears, more attuned to the prospects of immediate profits.

For local farmers, it could be the worst of times. Plagued by almost constant and illegal land requisition, they have almost lost their most-treasured asset and for most their sole source of livelihood, their cropland. Inhabitants disclosed that more than 800 farming hectares were illegally expropriated over the past decade - for non-agricultural uses.

Farmers 'forced' to pay luxury school fees
As if to rub salt into the farmers' wounds, officials even try to force them to send their children to a luxury school requiring an annual tuition of 4,500 yuan ($542), according to town inhabitants and farmers who spoke on condition of anonymity. This despite the fact that most farmers earn only 1,500 yuan a year. Some do earn more, some less; some must borrow and go into debt.

Covering an area of 53 hectares, construction of this deluxe school has not yet been completed. Zhou, father of a primary school student, confirmed that teachers had been always lobbying students to enroll in the luxury school. This kind of luxurious education is hardly affordable for ordinary farmers who solely live by agriculture, he complained. Like others, he spoke on condition of anonymity.

Another resident, Zhao, whose child attends an ordinary middle school, told Asia Times Online that the official numbers for local annual income are just smoke and mirrors. "Our annual income per capita is exaggerated by officials to be over 6,000 yuan. It is not true at all," he said. "Officials have manipulated such a figure to whitewash their performance record. They include the income of our fellows doing business in developed regions and add it to ours. In this way, our annual income has been hyped to more than 6,000. The actual figure should be around 1,500. I know what these fat cats want. They want us farmers to pay more agricultural taxes," Zhao said.

China's government and the Chinese Communist Party, recognizing - at least officially - the plight of the Chinese peasant, have called for slashing agricultural taxes and fees and eliminating levels of bureaucracy in an effort to improve the livelihood of China's poorest people.

Taizhou patronized by Jiang Zemin
Both Zhangguo and Dainan towns are under the administration of Taizhou, previously included in Yangzhou city, the birthplace of former president Jiang Zemin, now the chairman of the party's powerful Central Military Commission. In 1996, Taizhou was separated from Yangzhou and upgraded to higher administrative status, making it eligible for more state funds, investments and a three-year exemption of revenue taxation.

Jiang is a big patron of Taizhou: From 1990-2000 he visited Taizhou several times. The city also benefited from many favorable policies from the central government and achieved its economic liftoff during Jiang's tenure as president. The nation's railway network was extended to Yangzhou on April 18 and then to Taizhou, which has long been pressing for a better transportation network for the goods from factories on lands seized from farmers.

Jiang also established his clique in Taizhou. Because of Jiang's influence as chairman since 1990 of the country's highest military body, two local officials, including Taizhou Mayor Xiaming, were elevated in 2003 to provincial positions despite what was widely considered to be their mediocre performance.

One wonders whether Jiang's patronage has enabled the two small towns to dare defy President Hu Jintao's and Premier Wen Jiabao's orders to cool down the economy, especially the real-estate sector, and to grab the farmers' land.

The loss of arable land has resulted from a drought (strictly natural in origin -- humans don't control rainfall) which will be ameliorated by the Three Gorges dam project. Looks like the Chinese and American people have a common enemy though:

STOP the Contruction of the Three Gorges Dam!
A joint report by Friends of the Earth UK, Free Tibet Campaign, Students for a Free Tibet, and International Rivers Network released at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. Annual General Meeting, London, UK... Morgan Stanley underwrites stocks and bonds, and is one of the 10 largest asset managers in the world. Morgan Stanley also owns Discover Financial services which offers loans, credit, and insurance. We welcome you to Discover the environmental and social impacts of projects Morgan Stanley chooses to finance... The massive Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in China will create close to 1.9 million project refugees, flood homes and cultural treasures, and endanger human health. Neither the World Bank nor the US Export Import Bank are willing to finance the dam. Ignoring warnings of project critics, Morgan Stanley helped underwrite $830 million in bonds for the China Development Bank (CDB) in Jan 1997 and May 1999. The CDB lists the Three Gorges Dam as its top loan commitment. In addition, China International Capital Corporation (CICC), managed and 35% owned by Morgan Stanley, serves as the Three Gorges Project Corporation's advisor on overseas capital raising.

IOW, private capital formation will have contributed more toward the feeding of China's billion+ people than the World Bank. Gee, what a surprise. It's almost as if the World Bank's goal is to destroy rather than to build. There's a picture gallery on that site.

The Yellow River’s desperate plight
by Kari Huus
The Yellow River — China’s legendary cradle of civilization — is drying up. One day in 1972, as irrigation and industries in the north siphoned off more of its waters, the river failed to reach the sea. It wasn’t a permanent situation, but by 1997, the river was reaching the sea only one-third of the year. If the Yellow becomes an inland river, experts say, it could turn downstream provinces into desert. Faced with this grim prognosis, Beijing is considering drastic measures. Beijing appears set to launch a project to transport water from the overflowing Yangtze River in the south, to the Yellow River, some 750 miles away.

That's from MSNBC, but the link still works. Another phenomenon has been the emigration of Chinese into former Soviet territories (now Russian) in NE Asia. I'd guess that, eventually, there will be a shooting war over that.

Three Gorges Dam Project
China Online
Sun Yatsen first proposed building a dam on the Yangtze River in 1919 for power generation purposes, but the idea was shelved due to unfavorable political and economic conditions. Major floods resurrected the idea and the government adopted it in 1954 for flood control... The idea resurfaced in 1963 as part of the new policies to build a "third front" of industry in southwest China. But the Cultural Revolution erupted in 1966, and in 1969 the fear that the dam would be sabotaged by the Soviet Union, now an enemy, resulted in a construction delay... The economic reforms introduced in 1978 underlined the need for more electric power to supply a growing industrial base, so the State Council approved the construction in 1979. A feasibility study was conducted in 1982 to 1983 to appease the increasing number of critics, who complained that the project did not adequately address technical, social, nor environmental issues... Environmentalists at home and abroad began to protest more vociferously. Human rights advocates criticized the resettlement plan. Archeologists balked at the submergence of a huge number of historical sites. Many mourned the loss of some of the world’s finest scenery... In the face of a lot of domestic and international pressure, the State Council agreed in March 1989 to suspend the construction plans for five years. After the Tiananmen Square massacre in June 1989, however, the government forbade public debate of the dam, accused foreign critics of ignorance or intent to undermine the regime, and imprisoned Dai Qing and other famous critics. Former Premier Li Peng crusaded for the dam and pushed it through the National People’s Congress in April 1992 despite the opposition or abstention from one-third of the delegates. Such actions were unprecedented from a body that usually rubberstamped all government proposals.

Lyndon LaRouche is the publisher of the next one, and he's a classic Jew hater. And, while the mag's articles on the global warming scam have been numerous, the current issue has an article on the use of so-called greenhouse gases to "terraform" Mars, so there's a bit of incoherence. Be that as it may...

Three Gorges Dam: The TVA on The Yangtze River
by William C. Jones and Marsha Freeman
The idea of building a dam in the gorges has a long history. In 1919, in an article titled "Industrial Plan," Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of modern China, saw the tremendous economic benefits of building a dam on the Yangtze as a part of his economic development plan for China. Dr. Sun was particularly interested in using the vast hydropower resources of the river to produce the electricity needed to build factories for making artificial fertilizer, the only means he could envision for China to make the leap in agricultural productivity needed to feed its growing population... For years, opponents of the dam have thrown up "environmental" objections to the project, or questioned its "viability." But it is clear that much of the opposition, especially outside China, has been driven by opposition to the economic development policies of the government, more than to the dam itself.

The Chinese have included a lower gate with which they can deal with the sediment problems behind the dam. Basically, they'll be able to blow out the sediment from time to time. That will prevent the basin behind the dam from silting up. A similar silting problem potentially exists for large dams in the southwestern US. But the biggest dams there won't silt up for centuries.

Millions Face Water Shortage in North China, Officials Warn
by The Associated Press
June 6, 2003
Millions of people in northern China face water shortages this summer as the Yellow River falls to its lowest level in 50 years, environmental officials warned today. In addition, more than half the watersheds of China's seven main rivers are contaminated by industrial, farm and household waste, the officials said in a bleak annual report on the nation's environment... Only one-quarter of the 21 billion tons of China's annual output of household sewage is treated, Mr. Xie said. Treatment plants are being built, but will still handle only half of all city sewage, leaving rural waste water untreated. The government has forecast an annual water shortfall of 53 trillion gallons by 2030 — more than China now consumes in a year. In the north, drought and overuse have left the Yellow River so drained that in recent summer low seasons it has dried up before reaching the sea... The 3,415-mile Yellow River winds its way from the mountains of western China to the Bohai Sea in the east, providing water to 12 percent of China's population... The release of the report follows the start last weekend of filling the vast reservoir of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in central China -- the world's biggest hydroelectric project.

That came from the NYtimes.

China's Water Shortage Could Shake World Food Security
by Lester R. Brown
and Brian Halweil
China depends on irrigated land to produce 70 percent of the grain for its huge population of 1.2 billion people, but it is drawing more and more of that water to supply the needs of its fast-growing cities and industries. As rivers run dry and aquifers are depleted, the emerging water shortages could sharply raise the country's demand for grain imports, pushing the world's total import needs beyond exportable supplies.

There used to be a divide between radical environmentalism and mainstream environmentalism. Now the divide is between eco-terrorism and radical environmentalism. Mainstream environmentalism is gone as more and more just believe whatever they're spoon fed by the garbage wrapper publications of the various former environmental organizations. The Three Gorges dam was predictably attacked by the tree huggers.

Decades ago Isaac Asimov wrote a series of science fiction detective stories (perhaps under an assumed name, don't recall, but they were later republished) and his fictional deductive genius was Wendell Urth. In one of the stories an insanely elitist political movement had sprung up in an otherwise peaceful and unified world. The members wanted to reduce the human population of the world to a few million, by any means necessary, and were referred to as the Ultras. Regardless of whatever political metaphor he thought he was trying to express, the applicability of the story in the here and now is obvious.

George W. Bush will be reelected by a margin of at least ten per cent

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