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To: Michael Bidder who wrote (3935)	10/20/2004 11:32:50 AM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4051

OT: >>THE GAME CHINA : Villagers were rounded up at gunpoint and demanded they pay their taxes: Tax on pig, tax on plow, tax on tractor, duck pond, shed, etc.. It's hard for a family man making $60US a year to pay $2us per year on a pig or $6/year for duck pond etc. They left the land in the late 90's by the hundreds of millions. I saw the cities awash in 96 with them sleeping in the streets. Now when the police go to the villages to collect taxes all they find are toothless old ladies and small children.<< Just want to remind you, China is a big country. what you saw not necessarily is what the majority represents! Besides, your tax on farmers' comment, they were obsolete "news". From last year, China has already taken big steps in phasing out ALL kinds of tax for farmers. I think next year will be the last year to phase out completely. >>In CHINA there is a famous banned book "Blood of the Farmers" it details how the early boom of CHINA was off the backs of the Rural farmers. This book banned can be purchase almost everywhere.<< This book has only been banned after 2nd Edition, so most of people have read it, and most who want a copy already have a copy. Those who have not read it but want to read it, can go to public/university libraries to borrow it to read it (ironically, these libraries belong to the gov.). Since the book is not illegal, it is just forbidden to have another edition. The gov. has not asked those who already got a copy to surrender it. And for those who have Internet access (close to 100 million of them and counting) can download from the Net (a lot of forums offer it). I have a copy downloaded from a Chinese forum after the book has been banned. And if you understand the Chinese, I can tell you the link. China is big, and in the process of changing. All kinds of contradicted phenomenon are co-existed. Your several days of visit can only tell you some skin and feather of China, far from the whole. So please do not think you already become an expert on China (a lot of Westerners do after they lived in the country for several days/months/years). Even I –a native of Beijing -- cannot claim I know much about China any more. As for the claim of “China has the highest suicide rate”, it is not true! Japan holds the sorry statistic of the highest suicide rate in the industrialised world, with 24.1 suicides per 100,000 people each year, according to the World Health Organisation. And China has a rate of 20-21 per 100,000 people. Do I need to tell you which one is higher?<g>