China: June 1, 2002

Archives

:

The 29 May issue of the New York Times reported on incidents of widespread lawlessness in many of China's rural towns and villages that have grown in the last two decades. The once stringent Maoist discipline has withered and often been replaced by an economic free-for-all devoid of public cohesion or shared ideals that reads like something out of a "MAD MAX" movie.  In late 1998, a schoolboy fight rekindled an old clan enmity and hot words led to open preparations for battle, with villagers building earthen ramparts and gun emplacements. They also constructed six-foot cannons from empty gas cylinders and cantaloupe-size projectiles from scrap metal. For months the Lanshan County authorities did nothing. Finally the villages began shelling each other across a half-mile of rice paddies in two daylong battles, one in December 1998 and the second the next month: 12 villagers were killed and 60 homes destroyed. A truce was called only after a volley hit the wrong village, killing four more locals. 

A Chinese Academy of Social Sciences political scientist studying 40 villages described as "out of control" in southern Hunan (near Lanshan) concluded that the criminal infiltration of the police and the government in the region was pervasive and "a massive social threat." - Adam Geibel 

 

Article Archive

China: Current 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 


X

ad
0
20

Help Keep Us Soaring

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month.

Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage. A contribution is not a donation that you can deduct at tax time, but a form of crowdfunding. We store none of your information when you contribute..
Subscribe   Contribute   Close