The Struggle for Sustainability in Rural China by Bryan Tilt

Author:Bryan Tilt [Tilt, Bryan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Asia, Central Asia, Political Science, Public Policy, Environmental Policy, Science, Environmental Science
ISBN: 9780231520805
Google: Tw5JJx-ngGQC
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2009-12-15T01:11:23+00:00

MARGINALIZATION, KNOWLEDGE, AND TRUST

In addition to experiencing directly the negative effects of industrial pollution, local farming households were engaged in a constant struggle with the township government over its prioritization of industry in local development plans. The township government, villagers complained, constantly emphasized industrial development while downplaying the importance of agriculture, despite the fact that a majority of households in Futian depended solely upon agriculture for their livelihoods. The epitome of this privileging of industry was the construction of a 2,000-kilowatt hydroelectric power station below the township’s main reservoir, which cadres initiated with an investment of 1.5 million yuan.

Township cadres pursued this course for two reasons. First, a decreased market for coke at Panzhihua Iron and Steel Company, coupled with a gradual depletion of local coal reserves, meant that many of Futian’s factories were on shaky financial ground, making the prospect of future industrial profits and taxes uncertain. Second, officials from the Renhe District Environmental Protection Bureau were discussing the possibility of shutting down Futian’s factories for noncompliance with emissions standards, a decision that would have far-reaching economic consequences for the township government (discussed in the next chapter). Local cadres planned to generate power year-round at the hydroelectric station and sell the surplus electricity to the neighboring township of Shilongba, located across the provincial border in Yunnan. This plan was laid out in township government documents and discussed at length in government meetings, where cadres estimated a potential return of 1 million yuan per year. Construction was underway throughout 2002 and 2003.

Mr. Zhang Huachao, the Communist Party secretary of Jingui village and an old classmate of Li Jiejie’s, discussed the project with me. We sat in the main room, or zhengfang, of his house, peeling and eating mangoes, which he grew in a small field adjacent to his house. On the far wall was a strange amalgamation of décor: his certificate of membership in the CCP; a poster of Guanyin, the Buddhist goddess of mercy; a socialist-realist portrait of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and Zhou Enlai gazing triumphantly into the distance; and a poster featuring a fat Maitreya Buddha with the Chinese characters for good luck and prosperity. In a prominent position on the center of the wall was a black and white television set, which was connected by a cable to the family’s satellite dish, which he had recently installed in the courtyard near the donkey pens. Party Secretary Zhang’s children—a girl who attended high school in Panzhihua, and a boy, an unusually tall junior-middle-school student—often complained that although they could view a wide variety of channels, they could not watch their favorite programs in color. As a result, he told me, a color TV set would likely be their next major cash expenditure.

In Party Secretary Zhang’s view, Jingui farmers bore a disproportionate share of the costs related to the township’s hydroelectric project. During construction, water had to be diverted from the main river channel, and rice paddies in Jingui were completely cut off from any irrigation source. It

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