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May 27, 2010
China Land Snatch!
National Bibliographic
"Private" property in China is about as tenuous a proposition as straight talk from Brett Yormark. How bad is China's landgrabbing? The author calls Atlantic Yards "child's play" by comparison.
This story today in the Times is a good reminder of what unchecked capitalism abetted by local and state government (free market / police state) looks like in China. If anyone holds the illusion that the economic boom in China benefits all of its citizens, take a look at what's happening in the Laogucheng neighborhood of Beijing where all of its residents are being forcibly and often violently evicted from their homes before they are razed to make way for development. One woman, Tang Fuzhen, actually resorted to self-immolation as armed thugs broke into her home to expel her and her family. What's more, this is merely one headline catching example out of hundreds of such occurrences all over China. It highlights the gritty, leading edge of the real estate boom in China that seems likely to lead to massive inflation in addition to massive human rights violations. The silver-lining is that protests from average citizens, law professor, and others have finally made some headway with the legislative affairs office of the State Council, with cabinet members calling for local governments to hold developers responsible for "vicious incidents" and to "publicize 'reasonable' standards of compensation."
NoLandGrab: At least the Chinese get a silver lining. Albany lawmakers, unlike China's State Council, haven't lifted a finger to rein in developers.
Posted by eric at May 27, 2010 10:50 PM