To put idle land to use, Chinese officials want to erase many villages
Their methods could cause millions to suffer
THERE IS A surprising amount of earth-moving equipment on the otherwise sleepy rural back roads of Binzhou prefecture in the eastern province of Shandong. Some of it is being used to build an irrigation channel to draw in water from the nearby Yellow river. But much of it is being used for destruction. At a turning off a county highway, a sign points to Zhaibo village. It no longer exists. The machines have already done their job of levelling Zhaibo and carrying away the debris.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “On Harmony Road”
From the October 3rd 2020 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from China
An outrage that even China’s supine media has called out
Anger is growing over a form of detention linked to torture and deaths
Why foreign law firms are leaving China
A number of them are in motion to vacate
An initiative so feared that China has stopped saying its name
“Made in China 2025” has been a success, but at what cost?
A pay rise for government workers sparks anger and envy in China
The effort to improve morale has not had the intended effect
A big earthquake causes destruction in Tibet
Dozens are dead, thousands of buildings have been destroyed
Militant Uyghurs in Syria threaten the Chinese government
How much does China have to fear?