From The Southern Weekend (in Chinese), translated by Joseph McMullin, via The Press Interpreter:
Among the mistruths widely circulated about Chinese people, especially those from the country, is that they are incapable of cooperation. Some say that the only thing Chinese farm cooperatives have been able to produce is just a heap of potatoes. Conversely, these same critics claim that Europeans and Americans are more suited to cooperative ventures. For example, they cite thousand year old traditions in Europe of agrarian cooperation. I, however, disagree strongly with these views.
If historians were to compile instances of Chinese agrarian cooperation they could fill many volumes. I just want to make one observation: attempts to control cooperation among farmers has often resulted in impeding cooperation. As the degree of control exerted increases, cooperation among farmers is further stifled. In several remote locations, because of a lesser degree of state control, farmers established extremely stable and efficient methods of mutual cooperation. These instances are many.
Dang Guoying is a senior research fellow of the Rural Development Institute, CASS.
See also: Forming farmers’ association, an old article on China Daily in 2003.
Technorati Tags: China, Cooperation
Technorati Tags: China, Cooperation
