From Taishi village to Dongzhou – a dangerous step

Liang Jing

梁京：从太石村到东洲坑——更危险的一步

今年夏秋之间发生的太石村事件，是广东农民试图以法律为武器，用和平手段来维护自己土地权益的一个标志性事件。这个事件之所以得到海内外媒体和同情和支持农民维权的人士高度重视，而且，这个事件的政治锋芒所向，首先是地方权势集团，而非胡温。

The events at Taishi village taking place between summer and fall this year were an attempt by peasants in Guangdong to use the law as a weapon, a signal event in people using peace­ful methods to defend their land rights and interests. This incident drew sympathy from media at home and abroad and those who support farmer rights defence paid serious attention, because this was a major matter involving justice and rule of law. Moreover, the political targets under attack, were in the first place local power groups, not Hu and Wen.

自江朱以来，地方权势集团不仅利用了对农民极不公平的现行土地制度来剥夺农民的权益，而且，也大量使用了即便在大陆也是非法的手段来侵害农民以自肥。因此，如果胡温真心要实现公平和法治，他们与地方权势集团的矛盾其实是不可避免的。正因如此，包括太石村民在内的许多人认为，太石村事件给了胡温一个机会，让他们可以利用自己的政治权威，支持一切按照法律程序走，这样就可以达到既支持农民维权，又推进法治的效果。

Since the administration of Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji, local power and influence groups have not only taken advantage of a current land system which is extremely unfair to the peasants to deprive them of their rights and interests, but have as well extensively used methods, illegal even in the PRC, to abuse the peasantry in order to enrich themselves. Hence, if Hu and Wen sincerely want to realize equity and the rule of law, they must inevitably come into conflict with regional power and influence groups. This has led many people, Taishi villagers among them, to believe the Taishi incident has given Hu and Wen an opportunity, whereby they could use their own political authority to support everything being done according to legal process, and thus achieve the effect of both supporting the peasants’ rights defence, and advancing the rule of law.

现在看来，这种想法是太天真了。地方权势集团，也包括与他们密切勾结的中央权势利益集团非常清楚，一旦太石村农民获胜，就会产生多米诺骨牌效应，从根本上威胁到他们的既得利益。地方和中央的权势集团就太石村事件向胡温直接施加了何种政治压力，我们无从得知，但有一点是非常清楚的，权势集团公然纵容地方恶势力践踏法律，迫害维权农民，迫害支持农民维权的人士，而胡温对地方恶势力践踏法律却视而不见。这样，胡温就向著新的社会大动乱走近了一大步。胡温对地方恶势力明显的姑息，让地方权势集团更加无所顾忌，因此，无论胡温是否直接参与了东洲坑血案，他们都难辞其咎。

It seems now that this idea was too naive. The regional mafias, including the central power and influence special interest group who closely colluded with them, were extremely clear: if the Taishi village peasants were to win, there could be a domino effect, fundamentally threatening theirs vested interest. What political pressure the regional and central mafias directly exerted on Hu regarding the Taishi village incidents we have no way of knowing, One point is quite clear however: the power and influence groups tolerate the local mafias to blatantly trample the law, persecuted the peasants defending their rights and the public figures who support them, while Hu and Wen turned a blind eye to the evil regional forces who trample the law. Thus, Hu and Wen take a great stride towards a new social cataclysm. They are clearly appeasing the regional evil force, allowing the regional mafias to become even more ruthless. Thus regardless of whether Hu and Wen participated directly in the Dongzhou bloodbath case, they can hardly be absolved.

胡锦涛自己显然也意识到了，如果他不给地方恶势力一点压力，全国各地可能很快就会枪声大作，以至不可收拾。所以这一次他把射杀东洲坑村民的现场指挥关了起来。但是，如何向世界交待东洲坑村民的维权抗争呢？经过几天的沉默，胡锦涛终于决定，支持地方权势集团，丑化维权农民，反诬抗争的弱者是暴民。胡锦涛给整个大陆维权抗争的失地农民浇了一大盆冷水，朝著社会动乱迈出了更加危险的一步。

Hu Jintao evidently realized that if he did not place pressure on the regional mafias, the sound of gunfire may soon make break out all round the country, and be beyond recall. He therefore directed a shut-down regarding the present state of the Dongzhou villagers'. But, how was the resistance to the Dongzhou bloodbath villagers' rights defence to be conveyed to the world? After several days of silence, Hu finally decided to support the local mafias and influence groups, defame the peasants defending their rights, and slander the resisting disadvantaged as rioters. Hu Jintao has poured a basin of cold water on the land-losing peasants who are fighting to defends their right all around the PRC, and has taken a yet more dangerous step towards social turmoil.

从太石村到东洲坑，人们越来越清楚，大陆的政治危机比许多人认识到的要严重得多。胡锦涛像中国许多末代君王一样，被夹在了地方豪强与受剥夺的激愤的百姓之间，地方权势集团把皇帝和百姓都变成了自己的人质。对付老百姓，地方权势利益集团挟持皇权，在“稳定压倒一切”的借口下，操纵国家机器来大肆掠夺民众；对付皇帝，地方权势利益集团又以民生不举百姓要造反为由，掩护自己的掠夺行径。胡锦涛虽然对地方权势利益集团这一套把戏心知肚明，却无可奈何。两害相权，胡锦涛更害怕的是农民造反。但中国的历史一再告诉我们，姑息地方恶势力的膨胀，最终的结果是更大规模的官逼民反，是社会在暴政与暴民的二重奏中玉石俱焚，政权在以暴易暴中改朝换代。难道这就是中国的宿命吗？许多人现在都在想这个问题,希望中国能够找到摆脱这一宿命的出路。在这个意义上，绝大多数中国人还是不希望胡锦涛继续朝著危险的方向走下去。

From Taishi village to Dongzhou bloodbath, the people are more and more clear, the main­land political crisis is much more serious than many realised. Hu Jintao likes the Chinese many last years kings to be same, is clamped in the place powerful bullies with between the indignant common people which deprives, the local mafias have made both emperor and common people into their hostages. To deal with the common people, regional mafias and special interest groups cling to imperial authority, under the pretext that "stab­ility overrides all other considerations" they manipulate the state apparatus to wantonly plunder the popu­lace; to deal with the emperor they shield their rapacity on the grounds that if they don’t raise the common people’s livelihood they will revolt. Although well aware in his mind of the games of the regional mafias, Hu Jintao in fact has no alternative. Weighing up the two evils, he is more afraid of peasant revolts. But China's history tells us repeatedly, the final result of appeasing the inflation of regional mafias, is when officials oppression leading to popular revolt on a larger scale, is to see all elements in society consumed in this duet of tyranny and revolt, and the dynastic cycle where violence leads to more of the same. Is this China's fate? Many people are pondering this at present, hoping that China can find a way to avoid such a fate. In this sense, the overwhelming majority of Chinese hope Hu Jintao will halt in his moves in the direction of danger.

太石村事件和东洲坑事件一方面反映了亿万农民要求结束大陆现行土地制度的强烈愿望，同时，地方权势集团对农民维权的疯狂反抗，也从一个侧面说明，现在的政治制度和现在的土地制度一样，根本无法支持在法治的框架内达成各方利益的妥协与平衡。因此，如果大陆中央当局不主动地发动政治制度和土地制度的改革，而仅仅是强调在现存体制下尊重法律程序，不仅行不通，根本就是虚伪的。

The Taishi village incident and the Dongzhou bloodbath on the one hand reflect 100 million peasants’ fervent demands for an end to China’s present land system, while at the same time the regional mafias crazed resistance to peasants’ defence of their rights, also tangentially shows, the present political and land systems are alike in being basically unable to support the interests of all quarters achieving compromise and balance in the rule of law frame. Hence, it is not only unworkable but radically hypocritical for the central authorities in the PRC not to initiate institute reform of these systems themselves, but merely stress respect for legal process under the existing system.

太石村和东洲坑事件提出的问题，不仅是胡锦涛能否认识到这一点，而且还有一个更尖锐的问题，那就是胡锦涛是否有能力推动这样根本性的改革？或者说，大陆现在的权力格局，能否支持这样的改革？

The Taishi Village and Dongzhou bloodbath events not only raise the question of whether Hu Jintao can see this point: there is a more incisive question, that is, whether he has the ability to initiate such fundamental reforms. In other words can the PRC’s present regime supports such reforms?

在全世界关注中国当局如何处置东洲坑流血事件的众目睽睽之下，胡锦涛却若无其事似地发起了一场所谓“送温暖”活动，指示那些占够了农民便宜的大陆官员们，假惺惺地去给被剥夺的穷人“送温暖”，以体现他的“和谐社会”理想。难道他真的不明白，这种刚刚送过子弹，又来“送温暖”的毫无羞耻感的政治秀，只能让全世界都对中国领导人倒吸一口凉气吗？！

While the collective gaze of the world is trained on how the Chinese authorities handle the Dongzhou bloodbath, Hu Jintao calmly initiates a movement to "deliver kind feelings" as if nothing at all was the matter, instructing those officials who have occupied their fill of the farmer's interests to realise his ideal of a "harmonious society" by hypocritically "delivering kind feelings" to the poor people whom they have robbed. Can he genuinely fail to comprehend that for such a political show, fresh from delivering bullets, to shame­lessly turn around and "deliver kind feelings" will only make the world at large see China's leaders in the cold light of day?

12/19 Dec 2005