THE re-emergence of feudalistic clans in China's countryside has prompted efforts by the ruling Communist Party to tighten political control in villages through a revamp of its 800,000 party cells, official reports said.
The Economic Daily said yesterday ''unstable elements'' had surfaced again in some villages as a result of ''chaotic social order, backward economic development and rampant growth of negative and evil phenomenon''.
The front-page commentary followed more revelations of a break down of law and order in the vast countryside.
The latest reported incident in Anhui province in October left one person dead and several injured.
The Economic Daily report said a major contributor to the countryside unrest was a failure of the Communist Party at grassroots level to ''function as a fortress''. Party cells and other government organisations at the village level had become lax and weak.
''If this situation is not changed immediately, not only will the rural economy not be able to take off but social stability will be endangered and the authority of the party and government units in the villages will be undermined and shaken,'' it warned.
The article admitted that some grassroots organisations had lost their ''appeal and cohesiveness'' among the 900 million rural population.
