CHINA:Chinese investigators have identified more than 2,700 cadres for possible prosecution over land development abuses exposed during a recent crackdown.
The officials have been implicated in 31,000 land violations, many of which involved grabbing arable land from farmers and transferring it to commercial developers - a hot political issue in China.
The government has vowed to crack down on land grabs, which are feudal in the way that they take place and which are the most common cause of conflict between the general populace and the ruling elite.
Unscrupulous cadres are able to exploit vague planning and land-ownership regulations to hand over the land to developers for bribes. In some cases, local officials have offered free land in exchange for a high-profile company setting up a factory in the area, without consulting the locals.
The government has pledged to bridge the yawning wealth gap between the rich cities of the east coast and the impoverished rural hinterland. The land grabs have become a potent symbol of the indifference to the needs of the peasantry - the term still used in China to refer to farmers.
As such, the government recognises that the problem needs to be addressed.
There have been cases of local uprisings against land grabs - villagers in Huaxi, for example, attacked local officials over a decision to build chemical plants in the area.
Local farmers have also protested outside the foreigner-friendly suburbs on the outskirts of Beijing, claiming that the land on which Qun Fa was built had been taken without any compensation being paid.
Since September, the government has been running a nationwide campaign to investigate allegations about land grabs. Minister of land and resources Xu Shaoshi said the investigation had uncovered violations involving 550,000 acres of land.
"Perpetrators should pay a high price for what they have done," Mr Xu told an official meeting, according to Xinhua news agency.
The root of the problem lies in the fact that most of China's farmland is still collectively owned, which means that local Communist Party officials have the final say on what is done with the land.
Keen to offset the destabilising political effects of land grabs, the Chinese government this month promised to raise compensation for land requisitions by 20 to 30 per cent.
In December, officials in Dongnangang village, in the northern province of Heilongjiang, detained farmers on criminal charges of "inciting subversion" after they signed a petition calling for private land ownership.
