Land conflicts, unstable prices and backward conditions in China's farm sector are threatening the country's stability and its food supply, Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) said in unusually blunt remarks published yesterday.
Sustainable development and national stability depend on resolving such problems, Wen said in the text of a speech carried in major state-run newspapers.
His comments underscore rising concern over lagging economic growth in the countryside, home to at least two of every three Chinese. Stagnating rural incomes have created an underclass of impoverished farmers lacking affordable access to basic public services such as health care and education.
One of the greatest threats to stability stems from seizures of farmland for property development and other construction projects, Wen said.
"In some areas, illegal seizures of farmland without reasonable compensation and resettlement have provoked uprisings; this is still a key source of instability in rural areas and even the whole society," Wen said.
Such seizures are draining the supply of farmland in a country where even with bumper harvests grain output is failing to keep pace with rising demand.
Just as significantly, seizures have provoked thousands of protests among farmers outraged over the loss of what they viewed as their most fundamental asset -- the means to make a living.
Such protests have grown increasingly widespread and violent in recent years, despite the central government's demand for local officials to end abuses and resolve conflicts peacefully.
Even the abolition of centuries-old taxes, ostensibly a huge relief for struggling farmers, could fail if local authorities boost so-called "arbitrary fees," Wen warned.
Incomes in rural areas average about US$300 a year, compared with urban incomes averaging about US$1,000. Most rural residents also lack access to affordable schooling and health care.
Since taking power three years ago, China's leaders have stressed their commitment to bettering incomes and living conditions for the rural population who helped bring the Communists to power in 1949.
But it is unclear how much progress has been made, given rampant corruption and vested interests at the local level, where officials often can reap huge profits from lucrative property deals.
Wen warned that such issues also influence China's ability to feed its 1.3 billion people, despite bumper harvests that raised grain production to an estimated record 440 million tonnes last year.
"In 2006, grain production will encounter adverse circumstances such as unstable grain prices, arable land shrinkage and an unpredictable climate," Wen said.
Wen called for keeping grain prices steady, while curbing "excessive" increases in the prices of farming inputs.
He said the government will focus in coming years on improving living and working conditions in rural areas, boosting spending and doing more to protect migrant workers who face unsafe and unstable working conditions and are often denied fair wages.
Rural public schools, hospitals and cultural facilities also must be improved, Wen said.
"In the final analysis, we must protect the democratic rights and provide material benefits to rural citizens," he said. "Improving rural quality of life and ensuring social fairness and justice are extremely important and urgent tasks."
REVENGE: Trump said he had the support of the Syrian government for the strikes, which took place in response to an Islamic State attack on US soldiers last week The US launched large-scale airstrikes on more than 70 targets across Syria, the Pentagon said on Friday, fulfilling US President Donald Trump’s vow to strike back after the killing of two US soldiers. “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on social media. “Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue.” The US Central Command said that fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery targeted ISIS infrastructure and weapon sites. “All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned
‘POLITICAL LOYALTY’: The move breaks with decades of precedent among US administrations, which have tended to leave career ambassadors in their posts US President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered dozens of US ambassadors to step down, people familiar with the matter said, a precedent-breaking recall that would leave embassies abroad without US Senate-confirmed leadership. The envoys, career diplomats who were almost all named to their jobs under former US president Joe Biden, were told over the phone in the past few days they needed to depart in the next few weeks, the people said. They would not be fired, but finding new roles would be a challenge given that many are far along in their careers and opportunities for senior diplomats can
Seven wild Asiatic elephants were killed and a calf was injured when a high-speed passenger train collided with a herd crossing the tracks in India’s northeastern state of Assam early yesterday, local authorities said. The train driver spotted the herd of about 100 elephants and used the emergency brakes, but the train still hit some of the animals, Indian Railways spokesman Kapinjal Kishore Sharma told reporters. Five train coaches and the engine derailed following the impact, but there were no human casualties, Sharma said. Veterinarians carried out autopsies on the dead elephants, which were to be buried later in the day. The accident site
RUSHED: The US pushed for the October deal to be ready for a ceremony with Trump, but sometimes it takes time to create an agreement that can hold, a Thai official said Defense officials from Thailand and Cambodia are to meet tomorrow to discuss the possibility of resuming a ceasefire between the two countries, Thailand’s top diplomat said yesterday, as border fighting entered a third week. A ceasefire agreement in October was rushed to ensure it could be witnessed by US President Donald Trump and lacked sufficient details to ensure the deal to end the armed conflict would hold, Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow said after an ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The two countries agreed to hold talks using their General Border Committee, an established bilateral mechanism, with Thailand
RSS