Why Wuzhou in Guangxi can't develop
Why can't Wuzhou, with thousands of years of history, develop and is getting worse? One of the reasons is the basis and facts of Guangxi's marginalization of Wuzhou.
1. Economic marginalization
Wuzhou entered the Zhuang Autonomous Region with the economic momentum of the 1930s and 1940s, naturally becoming an economically developed area in Guangxi and a major contributor to taxation. Developing and supporting the economic construction of ethnic minority areas, investment tilts towards northwestern Guangxi, which carries a distinct political color and ethnic policy sensitivity, but also brings a warm human touch and the veil of ethnic unity. After all, it's a national chess game, a big family of all ethnic groups. Wuzhou, known as the "Little Hong Kong" at that time, was willing to contribute. Therefore, for decades, the funds and projects invested in Wuzhou have been negligible. The saying goes, "The little dog that barks loud gets the milk," this "feeding theorem" remains unchanged through the ages. At that time, the people of Wuzhou did not realize their identity as the "little dog." They always thought they were the "Little Hong Kong" and the "milk mother." Thus, Wuzhou's milk was squeezed dry.
Everyone knows that there is a Changzhou Island on the Xijiang River in Wuzhou, which is the largest island on the Pearl River. More than twenty years ago, Wuzhou proposed to build the Changzhou Water Conservancy Hub Project. Its functions: one can regulate the floods of the Xijiang River, two can be used for irrigation and power generation, storing water in winter, and generating electricity at low water heads. Of course, Wuzhou could not afford the funds for this project, but the Guangdong Province favored this project. Kuang Ji, the vice governor of Guangdong Province from Guangxi, came to Guangxi to negotiate this project. Guangdong would fully fund the construction, providing free electricity to Guangdong for 15 years after power generation, and then the power hub would belong to Guangxi, while Guangdong would buy electricity. The leader known as "Yao Wang" at that time in Guangxi called this selling out Guangxi's interests and refused!
Several years later, this project proposal was known by the Israeli government through diplomatic channels. The Israeli government, eager to establish good relations with China, proactively proposed interest-free loans for this project and provided technical assistance. Just as the people of Wuzhou were rejoicing, Pushkin's fairy tale "The Fisherman and the Golden Fish" unfolded. The Guangxi government replied: interest-free loans are acceptable, but more loans must be given, and the Baise reservoir must be built first, followed by the Changzhou water conservancy hub in Wuzhou! As expected, Israel politely declined! Several years later, this project proposal was finally approved by the Central Planning Commission and was about to be submitted to Premier Zhu Rongji for approval. Surprisingly, a deputy director of the Guangxi Hydropower Department opposed the project at the Central Planning Commission, resulting in failure! Several years later, a certain hydropower engineering company of the country directly reported the project to the central government as its own engineering project, and it was finally started on December 28, 2003.