TNAG-1185-FCO40-1487-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-into-the--1982 — Page 87

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sent to the police stations offenders and suspects in more

than 50,000 cases, he said.

Comment:

Another reason could be the deterrent effect of an increase in the number of executions in the past year, following the passing of a law permit- ting provincial courts to approve the death pon- alty without reference to the Supreme Court in Beijing.

Execution, normally by shooting, can be ordered for serious crimes of violence, corruption and air piracy, as well as for murder. Citizens can also be condemned for 'counter-revolutionary' political crimes. Xinhua did not cite the death penalty as a reason for the falling crime rate, but a large number of executions has been reported in provincial newspapers. China's crime rate, generally low by world standards, worsened during the liberalisation which followed the death of Chairman MAO Zedong and the purge of the Gang of Four in 1976. The police began to clamp down last year.

Arable Areas are Diminishing Ming Pao

36.

10th November

The Party Central Secretariat and the State Council

have pointed out in a circular that misuse of farmland has

become a 'very serious' problem, aggravating the contradic- tion brought by a large population and little arable land.

The circular urged Party and Government institutions at all levels to curb illegal occupation of cultivated land and mete out harsh penalties to cadres who use farmland for house con-

struction.

37.

After the land reform, all private land in China was put under public ownership, that is, ownership by the whole people and ownership by collectives. According to figures released, cultivated land totalled 1,677 million mu in 1957. Owing to a lack of foresight, China failed to introduce measures to protect cultivated land. Instead, she turned a blind eye to the misuse of land and by 1977 cultivated land totalled only 1,490 million mu, a decrease of 187 million mu compared with 1957. If the 260 million mu of cultivated land obtained by deforestation in the same

/period

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