China weighs softer line to unrest

BEIJING - With the global economic downturn leaving 26 million migrant workers jobless, a Chinese government adviser yesterday outlined a soft approach to containing public unrest, including this edict for local officials: Don't rush to send in the police.

In the event of a mass protest, local officials should go to the "front line," and not hide behind the police, which only triggers an escalation of conflict, said Chen Xiwen, director of a central group on rural work that advises the Communist Party.

To lessen the threat to stability, officials must also do more to solve land disputes, environmental problems and resettlement issues before they spiral into protests, Chen told reporters.

Party leaders have been pressed to show that they care about the countryside, where prices for agricultural products have been falling and a widening wealth gap between urban and rural incomes has reached the equivalent of $1,620 - $200 more than in 2007.

Demonstrations have broken out across the country as citizens protest lack of compensation after factory closings or landgrabs.

There also have been protests against the construction of polluting factories near villages; corrupt local officials; and illegal investment schemes that officials failed to shut down.

"If mass incidents happen, all officials must go to the front line and try to persuade people face to face," Chen said. "They cannot hide and push police to the front lines. The police cannot be deployed unless there are truly unfortunate situations where people are beating, attacking, robbing or burning."

There are now 20 million unemployed migrant workers, or 15.3 percent of the 130 million migrant-worker population, Chen said.

They are competing with six million who enter the migrant-worker job market each year, according to figures from a Ministry of Agriculture survey of 150 villages in 15 provinces conducted before the Lunar New Year last week, when most migrant workers return home for the holiday.

For 20 years, farmers have used outside income - often 50 to 60 percent of their total earnings - to supplement their farming income.

But for many, "that road is blocked this year," said Xu Yong, director of the Center for Chinese Rural Studies at Central China Normal University.

Xu could not say whether protests would increase. "During the Spring Festival, most migrant workers went home and had a rest," he said. "After this, they will hunt for jobs. If they can't find any jobs but stay in the cities, it will be easy to generate conflict and instability. April and May will be the most serious time."

But already, agencies that seek to match workers with factory managers say demand for workers has plummeted as overseas demand for Chinese-made toys, shoes and electronics evaporates.

Zhang Quanshou, an agency director in the southern manufacturing powerhouse of Shenzhen, said he had requests for only half the number of workers as last year.

"Orders are down, so there are comparatively fewer jobs for the migrant workers," Zhang said yesterday, as a crowd of workers fresh from Henan province filled out forms outside his office.

Zhang said he was adjusting to the situation by first providing factory jobs to young women, seen by employers as more efficient at assembly-line work.

"Last year, the demand for workers was high," he said, "so it was OK to have male workers and more mature workers. But this year, we asked the male and more mature workers to come later and the young women to come first."