Turning forest back into farmland

Taking an emergency measure despite having over-achieved the food production target over the past eight years could be a preparation for a real emergency like an armed clash in the Taiwan Strait.

YOU SANG-CHULThe author is head of the China Institute of the JoongAng Ilbo and CEO of China Lab. In the summer of 1998, China suffered the largest flood in 100 years. Premier Zhu Rongji ran to the flood site, went on top of the embankment, and shouted, “Let’s beat the flood!”

He stood in the rain and cried, and the tears that scattered in the Yangtze River moved the hearts of the Chinese people. They created a human chain to protect embankment from collapsing. But the damage was massive. The flood resulted in more than 3,000 deaths, and 15 million Chinese lost their homes.

What was the problem? The heavy rain was definitely a natural disaster, but enormous casualties were caused by human disaster. Originally, there had been wide reservoirs on both sides of the river, but some people settled there and cultivated fields. Once the flood occurred, the country suffered heavy casualties. That led to the policy of changing farmland into forest.

But the policy is going backward after 20 years of progress. After the Ukraine war, food security issues emerged. Forests are morphing into farmland. In the spring of last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a strict order to local governments to thoroughly protect farmland. The size of farmland has steadily decreased due to industrialization and urbanization over the decades.

For 10 years from 2009 to 2019, China’s farmland disappeared by 113 million mu, the Chinese unit of area equivalent to about 200 pyeong (0.16 acres), and currently, China has about 1.92 billion mu of farmland.

China’s goal is to secure 1.8 billion mu of farmland and produce more than 650 million tons of food. But at this rate, the goal is not easy to achieve. After defining securing farmland as a “political mission,” Beijing is spending 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) to encourage farmers to increase their farmland.

But problems are cropping up. The forests and farmlands that have been cultivated with a large sum of investment are being destroyed. Chengdu, Sichuan Province, spent 40 billion yuan to turn the green areas around the ring road outside the city center into farmland and planted crops such as wheat.

The city government even demolished a nearly-completed park and converted it into farmland, making residents angry. Chinese authorities are also using satellites to monitor whether farmland is fully utilized.

Beijing’s commitment to food security offers room for various assumptions. Taking an emergency measure despite having over-achieved the food production target over the past eight years could be a preparation for a real emergency like an armed clash in the Taiwan Strait.