A Final Settlement?

The nail house was finally demolished after the couple of Yang Wu and Wu Ping settled down with developer by accepting the offer of resettlement to a house in inner city. As Zhou Shuguang said, it is a happy ending. Wow! What a "Harmonious Society" promoted by Hu Jingtao and Wen Jiabao. But is it a happy ending for other urban residents suffering dramatic urban renewal aand forced eviction?

The demand of Yang and Wu is so natural and reasonable. Why did it take so much time, so much effort and nationwide media attention to get their reasonable rights?

Photo from Zola

China Bloggers: Let's go to Chongqing!

I really want to write something about Zhou Shuguang, a blogger from Hunan.

From QianTu's WeBlog, I learnt about Zhou's blog. Zhou seems to be an ordinary blogger who works very hard in his blog. He has a strong motivation. As he said, he stopped writing blog for a few days and travelled from Loudi city to Chongqing quietly. He wanted to cover the story of Wu Ping and Yang Wu, "The Strongest Nail Household in China". He also took a lot of pictures.

His reports give us a strong feeling about that place. He wrote down most what he saw. He met a lot of evictees all over the country, from Shanghai, Zhuhai, Guangzhou, Xian, etc. The wanted media to cover their stories. In the Jiulongbo district, there are also a lot of media workers and foreigners. All people suffering demoliton and relocation came to this place, like a "Festival of Eviction".

Zhou's writing is not very professional. But he emphasizes the process. He compares different versions from different people. He is very reflexive. He argues that Wu Ping and Yang Wu should not be called "nail house". This is stigmatization by government. He suggests "Household of Fighting for Civil Rights" (Weiquan Hu)

It is so exciting and lively. Zhou's each entry could attract hundreds of comments. There are also many people around the "nail house". Yet I am afraid that this scene (or movement?) on internet or in reality would be repressed by government. But Li Datong (former editor of "Bingdian" of China Youth Daily) is right. The more the government controlled the news, the more difficulties in controlling it has. I hope this media and social spectacle could last longer.

Zhou is an honest guy. He told readers that he did it not only for social justice. He wants to be famous. I like his honesty. He is not like some Hong Kong so-called "professional journalists". They become TV stars but still hide their lust for fame and money by pretending to be professional. Our citizen reporter Zhou Shuguang honestly loves fame and justice as well.

I've just came across one more blogger who covers the story in Chongqing. His/her name is hidecloud. He clarifies some misconception of the nail household. For example, this couple is not greedy at all. What they need is their legal right.

Photo from Zhou Shuguang

Mao on Demolition and Relocation (November 15, 1956)

Note: I read it from Qian Tu's WeBlog. Mao is always quoted for critique of Chinese government.

A few years ago, there was an airport to be built in a place of Henan province. No resettlement was granted to the peasants and the government did not negotiate with and explained clearly to them. But it attempted to evict the people forcefully. As the peasants of that village said, if you used a stick to topple down the bird nest to the earth, the birds would voice out. You Deng Xiaoping also has a “nest” (home). If I destroyed your “nest”, would you voice out? The people of that place set up three defense lines. The first one was children. The second one was women. The third one was male and young people. Those sent to there to survey was forced away. The peasants won the battle. Later on, the government explained to the peasants clearly and made arrangements for them. They moved their homes and the airport was built finally.

There are many incidents like this. Now there are some cadres who seem to rule the country and are no longer scared of anything. They believe that they could bully everyone and everywhere they want. The people oppose them by throwing stones to them and beating them with hoe. The cadres deserve it. I welcome it. Sometimes, only fighting could solve the problem. The Communist Party should learn its lesson.

Student and workers took to the streets. Our comrades should see anything like this as good thing. There are more than one hundred students going to Beijing for petition. The train with students on board was stopped at the station of Guangyuan, Sichuan province. Another group of students on the train was also stopped in Loyang. My opinion is that rally and protest are allowed according to constitution. I suggest we revise our constitution by adding freedom of strike. Workers' strike should be allowed. This is good for the government and managers to solve their conflicts with the people. Conflict or contradiction is not a big deal. The world is full of contradictions. Democratic revolution has solved the contradictions with imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic red tap. Now, in terms of ownership, our contradictions with national capitalism and petty production are basically solved. But some other contradictions come out. New contradictions happen. There are a few hundred thousand cadres above the level of county and the destiny of this country is in their hands. If you do something wrong and do not work hard, workers, peasant and students have the right to disagree with them.

We should be alert to it. Do not allow bureaucratic red tape to breed. Do not become an aristocratic stratum alienated from the people. The people have reasons to get rid of whoever commits the mistake of bureaucratic red tape, whoever refuses to solve people's problems, whoever scolds and represses the people and whoever refuses to correct their own mistakes. It is good to get rid of this kind of cadres. They should be got rid of.

(Selected Works of Mao Zhedong, Vol 5. People's Publishing, 1st edition, April, 1977, pp. 313-329)

Photo: nataliebehring.com