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Peasants bribed to be 'happy'
By Wang Yong |
February 17, 2009, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SEE what makes Jiangsu Province's "happiest" city.
At the end of last year, Jiangsu launched a survey of its cities and counties to see how happy its people felt about their life.
In Qidong, a city about 50 kilometers from Shanghai, 94.8 percent of the people surveyed expressed "complete happiness" in a poll conducted by provincial statisticians.
"Our percentage of people who felt happy ranked the highest among all cities and counties in Jiangsu Province last year," boasted Sun Jianhua, Party secretary of Qidong, in an interview with China National Radio, published on February 12.
But China National Radio reported that the city had compelled villagers to lie and say they were very happy.
"We would have to say that our per capita annual income was 8,500 yuan (US$1,243) although we were far from that," China National Radio quoted many villagers as saying. Qidong was not alone. Some other cities and counties had similar scandals.
These scandals tell us two important things about China's politics: Some rural officials still control or try to control the minds of villagers; some villagers may initially succumb to official threats, but in the end, they are bold enough to let the cat out of the bag.
At the end of last year, Jiangsu launched a survey of its cities and counties to see how happy its people felt about their life.
In Qidong, a city about 50 kilometers from Shanghai, 94.8 percent of the people surveyed expressed "complete happiness" in a poll conducted by provincial statisticians.
"Our percentage of people who felt happy ranked the highest among all cities and counties in Jiangsu Province last year," boasted Sun Jianhua, Party secretary of Qidong, in an interview with China National Radio, published on February 12.
But China National Radio reported that the city had compelled villagers to lie and say they were very happy.
"We would have to say that our per capita annual income was 8,500 yuan (US$1,243) although we were far from that," China National Radio quoted many villagers as saying. Qidong was not alone. Some other cities and counties had similar scandals.
These scandals tell us two important things about China's politics: Some rural officials still control or try to control the minds of villagers; some villagers may initially succumb to official threats, but in the end, they are bold enough to let the cat out of the bag.
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