Local control in China
If you'd like a good first-hand account from a BBC reporter of how national policies are administered at the local level (at least in one place in China), here it is. Is this devolution? Is this a failure of centralization? Or is it carrying out the real policy of Party officials?Reporting protests in rural China
By James Reynolds, BBC News, Zhushan
"In a one-party state, made up of more than a billion people, there is an awful lot to hide.
"On any given day in China there may be 200 different protests. Most take place in the countryside, where many feel left behind by China's economic boom.
"But the Chinese state works hard to make sure that these demonstrations are kept well out of sight.
"This week, though, there was an exception.
"People in the town of Zhushan, near the city of Yongzhou, in central China's Hunan province, burned buses in a protest against a rise in bus fares...
"We wanted to go and have a look for ourselves...
"Until last year, there was a clear procedure to follow. We would have needed permission from the local authorities to travel to Zhushan. Once we got there, local officials would have had to accompany us to every interview.
"But, in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008, the Communist Party has decided to relax its rules.
"In theory, foreign journalists no longer need to seek permission from the local authorities in order to visit...
"So, I flew with my colleagues to Hunan and we drove straight into the town of Zhushan...
"We approached a few local people who were happy to talk to us...
"... several dozen soldiers approached us and told us to stop what we were doing.
"They told us the town was under military control and we did not have permission to stay. They called for the local police.
"The police decided we should answer questions in the upstairs bedroom of a hotel off the main road...
"The officers took it in turn to film us as well as each page of our passports. Then, two senior officers came in. The room went quiet.
"'You need a certificate of permission to be in this town,' said one of them as he sifted through the passports.
"Then he paused and looked up to make his point. 'Do you have such a certificate?'
"'No, we don't,' I replied.
"'This is not Britain or the United States,' he warned. 'This is China.'
"We told him of the new decree that allowed foreign journalists to travel anywhere in China without permission.
"'That's only for Olympics-related stories,' he said. Then he paused again. 'And I don't think you are here for the Olympics.'...
"We prepared for a long stay. But then, they told us we could go. We were escorted to our car. Slightly bizarrely, the police officers stood by the side of the road and waved us off.
"They had made their point - this was their town. And we had broken their rules..."
posted by Ken Wedding @ 6:34 AM
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