At least seven farmers in mid-eastern province of Hubei committed suicide last year by swallowing poison because they could not pay the fees and taxes meted out by local officials, reported the Xinhua News Agency on January 25, 2002.
The report said that Xu Jinyun, a farmer in Changji village, was hand cuffed, detained without trial for 15 days and paraded around like a criminal at a mass rally, because he could not pay his taxes. His father, aged 75, committed suicide. The Xinhua report did not detail any of the other cases.
Taxes and fees are rapidly growing in the countryside because local officials arbitrarily collect all kinds of levies without the consent of the central government. The peasants also have to bear the financial burden of a growing bureaucracy, as local officials create more and more new positions to provide jobs for their offsprings, friends and relatives.
(Source: China's news agencies)
--------------------------------------------
Online: 2002-01-25
The report said that Xu Jinyun, a farmer in Changji village, was hand cuffed, detained without trial for 15 days and paraded around like a criminal at a mass rally, because he could not pay his taxes. His father, aged 75, committed suicide. The Xinhua report did not detail any of the other cases.
Taxes and fees are rapidly growing in the countryside because local officials arbitrarily collect all kinds of levies without the consent of the central government. The peasants also have to bear the financial burden of a growing bureaucracy, as local officials create more and more new positions to provide jobs for their offsprings, friends and relatives.
(Source: China's news agencies)
--------------------------------------------
Online: 2002-01-25