Swatting flies that plague rural areas

The downfall of a village head in North China’s Hebei province has shed light on the dark side of grassroots officials in the country’s vast rural areas. Meng Lingfen, former chief of Quanqiuer village in suburban Dingzhou, Hebei province, was recently sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for embezzlement, causing disturbance and intentional damage of property

Meng was dubbed the “most fierce village head” by netizens after she summoned some thugs to beat a reporter who was trying to find out the happenings after receiving a tipoff from a villager in August last year.

An investigation promptly ensued after the beating was exposed by the media. And a slew of illegal acts by Meng were soon revealed.

During her stint as village head since 2012, Meng frequently abused her power to infringe upon collective property such as the village’s land and forest.

It is reported that she also collected money under the guise of fees, threatened those villagers who refused to pay with violence, or “taught a lesson” to disobedient villagers by destroying their crops or property

Meng’s case has prompted a question of why some village officials become village overlords who can act without restraint. Meng is just one of the many such village overlords exposed in recent years.

The fall from grace of high-ranking officials, the so-called big tigers, always makes headlines when they are netted in the country’s ongoing anti-graft campaign.

However, it is the “small flies”, or the low-level corrupt officials that plague the vast rural areas, which make people feel the most pain.

A survey by the public security department of Hebei revealed that village officials accounted for 70 percent of all the corruption cases involving grassroots officials in the province, which highlights the problems that exist in the selection process of these grassroots officials.

Moral evaluation and public opinion are often ignored during the appraisal of candidates to be village heads in favor of connections, as candidates are often handpicked by their superiors as “capable talent” to govern the villages. Meanwhile, offering bribes to buy votes is rampant in some villages.

And as the election winners do so as a result of connections or some backstage deals, they only need to please their superiors or backers who then provide shelter for them. In this way, intricate networks of interests are formed at the grassroots level.

And village heads, who appear to occupy a petty official post, actually wield huge power. They have the right to dispose of collective land and are in charge of the distribution of other resources, such as funds allocated from the top.

The lack of oversight in some remote villages means these village heads call the shots on everything for the other villagers.

That explains why in Meng’s case, rather than petitioning to the above-level government, the villagers turned to the media in the hope of seeking justice.

In fact, Meng may not have been held to account for her crimes had she not had the reporter beaten up.

The fact that Meng was able to commit so many offenses shows the complete lack of supervision from above.

The central government should conduct inspections to seek public opinions in remote villages. Instead of announcing them beforehand, these inspections should be conducted secretly to prevent the village heads from being able to cover up their misdeeds.

Also raising awareness of Party discipline and the law is an imperative task for the rural areas. The judicial departments could send legal volunteers and lawyers to inform farmers of their rights and how to use the law to safeguard them.

And most important, villagers should also be taught the importance of fair village elections to prevent any rigged voting.

Only a village head truly elected by the villagers will seek to guarantee their interests.

The writer is an editor with China Daily. lifangchao@chinadaily.com.cn