The Hindu : International : Chinese House approves ambitious rural initiative

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006

International

International

Chinese House approves ambitious rural initiative

Pallavi Aiyer

Premier says India, China could herald the dawn of an "Asian century"

Beijing: Echoing the sentiments of former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, China's Premier Wen Jiabao said on Tuesday that once both India and China realised their full potential it would herald the dawn of a new "Asian century."

Addressing the press at the end of the annual meeting of the National People's Congress (NPC) — China's legislature — Mr. Wen called for greater cultural exchanges between the two neighbours and said that he believed that Sino-Indian relations had "entered a new historical stage".

Intense debate

Mr. Wen answered a wide range of questions from Chinese and foreign reporters on topics from cross-straits relations to fiscal policy.

He admitted that China's skyrocketing economic growth had been accompanied by a "high concentration of all kinds of acute problems," including corruption by some officials who "have violated the rights of the people."

Earlier, the NPC approved a plan to close the gap between China's urban rich and rural poor following some of the most intense debate over the pace of reform seen in the country in the last decade.

The rural initiative, dubbed "the creation of the new socialist countryside", comes at a time when the Government is alarmed by the escalation in the number of peasant protests over the last few years.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, there were a total of 87,000 mass protests in 2005 across the country, a majority of these related to official corruption and illegal land seizures.

Under the Chinese Constitution, farmland is held collectively by the villages, so that individual farmers who have leases are easily exploited by local officials claiming the land for development projects.

Farmers are usually given woefully inadequate compensation in return. Government studies show that at least 40 million farmers have been left landless in recent years.

The Premier said "the land issue" is in fact one of the most crucial questions facing the country today. But he fell short of guaranteeing that any changes would be made in the system of land ownership, giving farmers more control over the sale of their leased farmland.

Mr. Wen said better enforcement is needed to ensure that farmers' land rights are protected and that they are paid fair compensation when their land is confiscated. But he praised the current policy as a pillar of China's quarter century of reforms.

Commenting on the foreign policy, Mr. Wen said the country "does not define friends and foes on the basis of ideology." Reflecting the pragmatism of the new Chinese leadership, he said China wanted friendly relations with all countries.

Taiwan leader criticised

The Premier criticised Taiwan's President Chen Shui Bian for having recently shut down the National Unification Council, a somewhat defunct government agency involved with studying reunification between Taiwan and mainland China.

But his broader tone was restrained. Mr. Wen said the Chinese Government would be willing to hold talks with any Taiwan individual or political party under the "one China" principle which dictates that both the island and the mainland are part of a single country.

On the question of further revaluation of the Chinese currency, Mr. Wen said there would be "no more surprises or one-off administrative appreciation or depreciation." He said China would expand its currency market and allow the yuan to fluctuate more freely.

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