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sundawu3 孙大午
"I now think to oppose all violence and all wars. I am unable to tell the difference between a just and unjust war since the common people meet disaster in each" Sun Dawu 孙大午, My Two Dreams
Speaking Out
Dec 30th 2003 | BEIJING AND XUSHUI
From The Economist print edition
Businessmen are starting to challenge the authorities
CHINA'S first communist leaders once declared that Xushui county in the northern Chinese plain would be a trailblazer in the country's progress from socialism to full communism. They ordered Xushui to complete the transition in just five years, by 1963, but the experiment, part of the Great Leap Forward, ended in famine and economic ruin. Today Xushui is awash with capitalism, with a myriad of privately-run restaurants (many of them specializing in donkey-meat, for which the county is famous) and an agricultural conglomerate that ranks as one of the biggest private enterprises in China. All the same, Sun Dawu, the conglomerate's millionaire owner, has learnt the hard way that private businessmen like him must still tread a careful line
In May 2003 Mr Sun received a telephone call from a friend saying the newly-appointed Communist Party secretary of Xushui wanted to have lunch with him at a hotel in the county town. When Mr Sun arrived he was arrested by plain-clothed police. He was tried by a county court in October, and convicted of illegally accepting $1.6m in deposits from local residents.
Mr Sun's real sin had been to stand up for his business. The troubles faced by a deposit-taking scheme run by his Dawu Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Group highlight the difficulties many private businesses face raising funds from state-owned banks. The party claims to encourage private business these days, but the banking system is heavily biased in favour of state-owned enterprises. In a speech at the Beijing Institute of Technology a few weeks before his arrest, Mr Sun complained that the system forced many private businesses to take either what he called the ¡¡ãred road¡¡À (red denoting the mandarinate) since the time of the Qing dynasty) of bribing officials for loans and other benefits, or the illicit ¡¡ãblack road¡¡À of producing fake or shoddy goods. At Peking University in March, Mr Sun boldly accused rural state-owned banks and credit co-operatives of ¡¡ãfinancial oppression¡¡À, with lenders demanding kickbacks of10% to 15% of loans.
Many private businesspeople in China make such complaints in private. But by delivering his speech in universities (where the authorities are still likely to be haunted by memories of the student-led protests of 1989), Mr Sun strayed beyond the line of acceptable behaviour in the eyes of party officials. ¡¡ãDo you think Peking University is like your home where you can say what you want?¡¡À asked one of Mr Sun's police interrogators, he says.
Yet at Mr Sun's trial something remarkable happened. The judge let him off with only three-year suspended sentence and a fine of $12,000. Lobbying on his behalf by Chinese intellectuals may have helped. Even the state-controlled newspapers were favorable towards him, not by order of the party but because the journalists sympathized with him.
Such independence is growing as the Chinese media become less dependent on government subsidies. The sweeping leadership changes since late 2002 may have also played a part. The new leaders are trying to appear more in tune with the downtrodden. Imprisoning a personality who is also known for articulating the grievances of peasants would not help them.
Since his release, Mr Sun has become a bit more wary. He has turned down invitations to give speeches and devoted more time to entertaining local officials. In recent months Dawu has been setting up a Communist Party committee, a feature common to large enterprises in China but a first for Dawu. And Mr Sun is scaling down his deposit-taking operation, restricting it now to company workers.
But will all this help Mr Sun at last get his bank loan? About that he remains doubtful. He says he has been told he can apply for one in 2004, but has been given no indication whether it will be successful.
Mr Sun reckons it will take months to repair the damage inflicted on his business by his six-month internment. But he says he has received considerable support from other leading private businessmen around China, including letters from 30-40 big companies. Liu Chuanzhi, chairman of Legend, China's biggest computer-maker, which is listed in Hong Kong, publicly congratulated him on his release. Mr Sun says entrepreneurs tell him that his remarks reflect their own ¡¡ãhidden sufferings¡¡À.
For all his troubles, Mr Sun still has ambitious plans. He already runs primary and secondary schools, and a small hospital, which he says are profitable. He wants to add a university in the next two or three years, as well as a park dedicated to famous world figures (he offers Abraham Lincoln and Jesus as examples). But he may not be speaking out as much. ¡¡ãThere are many Sun Dawus in China. But they work, they don't speak.¡¡À For now.
http://www.economist-japan.com/2004/20040103/cont_e01.html
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Document Seeks Forgiveness For Original Sin
People's Daily Online February 09, 2004
from China Daily
A month before the National People's Congress convenes to discuss amending the Constitution to cement the inviolable status of private properties, bosses of private firms have come under the spotlight as an official document in North China's Hebei Province goes even further, seeking forgiveness for their so-called "original sin."
The document was drafted by the political and legal affairs committee of the provincial committee of the Communist Party of China and issued by the Hebei provincial government.
It says that the authorities should not prosecute bosses of private firms if crimes committed in the initial stages of development exceeded the statute of limitation stipulated in the Criminal Code.
Even during prosecution, the provincial authorities suggest lenient or suspended sentences according to the law, depending on the nature and scale of the crimes, their consequences and the repentance of offenders....
If private entrepreneurs are investigated even if their irregularities exceeded the statute of limitation, it may lead to disastrous results for their businesses, according to Chen Zexian, a professor of criminal law with the Institute of Legal Study under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).
Chen says that some damage might be done to their reputation even if they are proved innocent....
Sun Dawu, chairman of the Dawu Agriculture & Animal Husbandry Group in Langwuzhuang of North China's Hebei Province, says he is puzzled about the document.
"I can see the aim of the document is to provide a better policy environment for us, but I can't see the specific benefit, at least not now," Sun says.
Sun was convicted last year of illegally accepting almost US$20 million in deposits from farmers in the area. He was sentenced to three years' jail with a suspension of four years and a fine of roughly US$12,000. His business was ordered to pay a separate fine of US$36,000. Sun sought to raise money on his own when he failed to get loans from local banks.
"I don't know whether that can be classified as original sin," Sun says. "I will further study the document and try to understand more."
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200402/09/eng20040209_134304.shtml
The Growing Influence of China's Capitalists
China Strategy Volume 1 January 30, 2004
Decision Making under the New Leadership
CSIS International Security Program and Chinese Media Net Inc.
Hu Xingdou, Professor of Economics at the Beijing Natural Science University (Ligong Daxue) calls Sun Dawu "the most remarkable entrepreneur in China and the conscience of the Chinese entrepreneurs)" In a commentary published on November 6, 2003 in the Guangzhou-based Southern Weekend, reporter Wan Jingbo writes: "At a time when the reputation of Chinese entrepreneurs is at an all time low, the emergence of Sun Dawu is a miraacle." This commentary expresses the current popular view of Sun Dawu as one of few entrepreneurs in China who dare to challenge the status quo.
It's official: China will bless private property Antoaneta Bezlova March 05, 2004
BEIJING - A prominent feature of communism will be laid to rest at the upcoming annual session of China's National People's Congress (NPC), opening Friday: China will constitutionally guarantee - enshrine - the right to hold private property. This would mark the first time China has taken this formidable reform step since the 1949 communist revolution declared all land to be state-owned.
Nevertheless, the dominance of the rural agenda at this NPC session is more than just a political step aimed at consolidating the power base of the new ruling team. Growing problems in the countryside are threatening to hold back the buoyant Chinese economy and could make sporadic bursts of social unrest more common and widespread.
Stagnating rural incomes have dampened peasants' enthusiasm for farming, causing a five-year fall in grain harvests. Grain shortages have alarmed state planners. China harvested 430.6 million tons of grain in 2003, down 5.8 percent from 2002, and this is still short of the country's demand.
With little growth in buying power compared to their more affluent urban cousins, peasants have failed to contribute to domestic consumption that Chinese economists see as essential in fueling economic growth. Average rural incomes last year grew by 4.3 percent, five percentage points lower than that of urban residents, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
As China's 900 million peasants account for nearly 70 percent of the population, addressing grievances from the countryside has now become a matter of urgency. "The large population of farmers means that if they fail to earn money, the whole country will not achieve prosperity," Chen Xiwen, deputy director of the Office of Central Financial Work Leading Group, said recently.
A significant chunk of the budget would be used to develop secondary and tertiary industries in the countryside that would alleviate poverty and create employment opportunities for the millions of migrant laborers flocking to the cities.
By curtailing levies on grain (about one percent off the current 8.4 percent) and setting up special grain production bases, Beijing hopes to arrest the decline in harvests and achieve target grain output of 455 million tons in 2004. All other taxes for commercial crops, except for tobacco, will be abolished.
Fiscal incentives to boost rural economy would be matched with rigorous new measures to end social injustices affecting peasants and migrants. Anti-corruption investigators have been instructed to switch from mainly probing big cases to addressing complaints over illegal acquisition of farmland, wages withheld from migrant workers and unauthorized fees and charges.
Under the new banner of taking rural interests and grain safety to heart, Beijing is also expected to intensify its crackdown on the illegal acquisition of land. China's arable land has shrunk by an average of 667,000 hectares annually over the past seven years, as local governments have tried to cash in on a nationwide real estate and development boom.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/FC05Ad05.html
Inter Press Service)
A Yawning Urban-Rural Income Gap By Li Shi, Yue Ximing
The Survey on Urban and Rural Income Disparity in China organised by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) shows that China's urban-rural income gap has continued to widen. In 2001, per capita income of urban residents was nearly three times that of people from rural areas. In 2002, the ratio of urban-rural income was 3.1 to one, up from 2.8 to one in 1995. It was 1.8 to one in the mid 1980s. If non-currency factors are taken into consideration, China's urban-rural income gap is the widest in the world.
The survey pointed out that the rapidly widening income gap is a crucial issue for China. An excessive income gap will adversely affect economic efficiency and, more importantly, will threaten social stability.
Such central government policy coincides with the conclusion of the survey. However, the survey raised a new issue regarding the wellbeing of rural labour working in urban areas. China's current resident registration system divides the total population into two main categories: the rural people and the urban residents. Within such a system, rural people working in the cities cannot change their status. As long as they continue to be categorised as rural people, they cannot enjoy the social benefits designed for urban residents, including education, medical care, and pension. Measures must be taken to prevent rural labour from forming new slums in cities. The first generation of immigrants generally do not change in social status, but if their children face discrimination in terms of education.
http://www.caijing.com.cn/english/2004/040220/040220coverstory.htm
sundawu4 孙大午
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