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China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs recently announced the formation of a new department: The Agricultural Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement Department (农业综合行政执法队伍 nóngyè zōnghé xíngzhèng zhífǎ duìwu).
According to the ministry, its officers will bring much-needed law enforcement to China’s countryside: Catching sellers of counterfeit or substandard seeds, pesticides and veterinary medicines, and inspecting animals and plants for disease.
But so far the public response has been mostly negative. The new officers have been nicknamed nóngguǎn 农管, translated as "agricultural-management officers". It's a play on the phrase "urban-management officers", or chéngguǎn 城管, who are among China’s most despised law enforcers.
China's propaganda machine has sought to correct the narrative caused by the unhelpful nickname. But whether or not that is believed will depend on the actions of the new law enforcement officers:
The rural comprehensive law enforcement team has only just been established. So it must not be misrepresented and misinterpreted at the grassroots level. We must also be wary of people who abuse their powers and regard agricultural management as an opportunity for grassroots power violations and abuses, as well as a banner under which farmers can be tormented.
农村综合执法队伍刚成立不久，要防止其在基层被念歪了经、盖歪了楼，也要警惕有人“拿着鸡毛当令箭”，把“农管”当成基层越权、滥权、折腾农民的“虎皮大旗”
The suspicion also arises from a uniquely vague Chinese character hidden at the end of the job spec of the agricultural management officers:
The subtlety of the Chinese language encapsulated in the single character, “deng”, is what is so frightening. This is a backdoor for the infinite expansion of power, and gives the inherent attribute of declaring the right of interpretation. It means they can be the athletes and the referee in a match.
以汉字的精妙而言，最怕的就是一个“等”字，这是为扩权留下的无限大的后门，以及宣布解释权的自有属性，运动员与裁判合体。[1]
As readers of this newsletter will know, the character děng 等, which roughly translates as “etc” or “and so on” in Chinese can only be translated in context: It can mean anything, everything, or nothing. Cynical rural residents tend to think the worst, and assume it translates as "and anything else they want to meddle in".
The Economist ran an article on this story too, in which one villager’s comments sum up the feeling in the countryside according to the reporter: “All crows under heaven are black”.
In Chinese: 天下乌鸦一般黑 tiān xià wū yā yì bān hēi
In other words, the rural and urban police officers are all as bad as each other.
There are also lots of metaphors about China’s imperial past in the discussions. It’s a reminder that central power extending into the countryside is nothing new.
It’s been around for millennia, and it has rarely been effective or welcome. Imperial envoys, pomp and fanfare often had limited reach in China’s remote countryside under dynastic rule.
Will the nongguan be different, go further, or perhaps even go too far?
That’s what we explore this week!
Favourite Five
1. 农管 nóng guǎn
agricultural law enforcement administrators
全中国的人们正在目睹农管公开扩权的初始阶段 - People all over China are witnessing the initial stages of the public expansion of agricultural management. [1]
Note: Thanks to Geremie Barmé, Editor of the highly entertaining and informative China Heritage, for suggesting this story.
2. 钦差 qīn chāi
imperial envoy
农村治理还是要更多依靠原有的组织体系，“农管”不能成为一批“钦差” - Rural governance still has to rely more on its own organizational system. Agricultural management officers cannot become a group of "imperial envoys". [5]
3. 拿着鸡毛当令箭 ná zhe jī máo dāng lìng jiàn
taking a chicken feather as an order; abuse powers
我们也要警惕有人“拿着鸡毛当令箭”，把“农管”当成基层越权、滥权、折腾农民的“虎皮大旗” - We must also be wary of people who "take a chicken feather as a warrant" and regard agricultural management as an opportunity for grassroots power violations and abuses, as well as a banner under which farmers can be tormented. [4]
Note: This was one of our favourites of 2023, and we also discuss it in The China Project’s Phrase of the Week.
4. 拉大旗 ，作虎皮 lā dà qí, zuò hǔ pí
hoist a banner such as the tiger's skin to intimidate others; abuse one’s powers
把“农管”当成基层越权、滥权、折腾农民的“虎皮大旗” - Treating "agricultural management" as a "tiger skin banner" for the grassroots to overreach, abuse power, and torment farmers. [4]
Note: A well-known line from Lu Xun's Jie Ting's Essays (且介亭杂文末编). It means to use the banner of reform to abuse political powers.
5. 前事不忘，后事之师 qián shì bú wàng, hòu shì zhī shī
past experience is a teacher for the future
前事不忘后事之师，农管从兄弟部门城管那不仅借鉴经验，恐怕也要接受后者直到现在尚未“转正”的社会评价 - The past is the teacher of the future. Agricultural management officers may not only learn from the experience of the chengguan, their reputation is also closely linked - chengguan has never been regarded as "official" and is always looked down on. [1]
Consuming the Conversation
Useful words
6. 坑农 kēng nóng
hurting farmers
这支队伍早已有之，在打击假种子、假化肥等“坑农”“害农”事 - This team has been around for a long time, and it is tackling issues like fake seeds, fake fertilizers that hurt farmers.
Related: 害农 hài nóng - hurt farmers
7. 后门 hòu mén
backdoor
以汉字的精妙而言，最怕的就是一个“等”字，这是为扩权留下的无限大的后门 - With Chinese characters, the word "deng" is the most feared, which offers an infinite number of back doors for power expansion. [1]
8. 铁腕 tiě wàn
iron fist
一种整顿农村秩序的权力思维正以激进的铁腕试水 - A power mindset to improve rural order is testing the waters with a radical iron fist. [1]
9. 冷眼 lěng yǎn
cold eyes
“农管”在农村开展工作时就可能被排斥，遭遇冷眼 - "Agricultural management" may be rejected and met with cold eyes when they carry out work in rural areas. [2]
10. 瞎管 xiā guǎn
blind management; bad management
农管要做到准确执法，而非为了创造业绩，刷存在感，找各种事情瞎管 - Agricultural management must implement effective law enforcement. They should not actively look for things to “manage” in order to meet their performance target or to demonstrate their presence. [5]
Related: 乱管 luàn guǎn - bad management
Three-character phrases
11. 垫脚石 diàn jiǎo shí
stepping stone
想到的却是这八个方面的每一个都可以成为扩权的垫脚石 - What comes to mind is that each of these eight aspects can become a stepping stone to power expansion. [1]
12. 土政策 tǔ zhèng cè
backward policy
