Researcher finds farmers in Hunan making a stand against levies by local officials
A new generation of peasant leaders is emerging as villagers take a stand against corrupt government officials, new research suggests.
The finding comes in a report by Yu Jianrong, a researcher of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who studied budding farm organisations in Hunan province for more than three years.
He found that many leaders had emerged out of escalating disputes over extortionate fees and taxes charged by local governments. Farmers were standing up for themselves and organising petitions against the levies.
But despite their troubles with grassroots officials, the report says that the peasant leaders view the central government as an ally.
'They generally believe that governments above the city level are still reliable. They are the family members and benefactors of farmers,' the report says.
'They perceive county governments and the lower level as the direct intruders on their interests. They are foes and enemies.'