In Yuliuyao Village, Jiuyuan District of Baotou City, many young people consider not only the character and appearance of the opposite sex when choosing a partner, but also their social status in the village. Experts call it a form of identity discrimination. In recent years, with the acceleration of urban construction in Baotou City, most of the collective land in Yuliuyao Village has been requisitioned, and villagers have received a large amount of land compensation. However, when distributing the land compensation, the village committee considers not the quantity of requisitioned land and population of the villagers, but the level at which the villagers are situated.
Although the ranking system has caused strong dissatisfaction among some villagers, due to the majority of villagers being ranked as first-class, it is almost impossible to overturn such a system at the villagers' meeting. The villagers are divided into five ranks: those who registered in the village before 1963 belong to the first-class villagers; those who registered between 1963 and 1975 belong to the second-class villagers; those who registered between 1976 and 1985 belong to the third-class villagers; those who registered between 1986 and 1996 are fourth-class villagers; those who registered after 1996 are fifth-class.
Since 1963, there have been successive migrations to the village. Some villagers from other villages moved here, and under what principle were parts of the original villagers' land compensated and allocated to the new villagers? How were the rights and interests converted between the originally collectively-owned land by the original villagers and the later-joined villagers? I think that under the coordination of national policies and external forces, this matter was settled, actually being imposed on the village by external forces.
Professor Wang Baoming from the Law Department of the National Academy of Governance believes: "Villager autonomy should be within the scope prescribed by law. Democracy is not about sacrificing the interests of the minority, nor is it a simple voting process. This practice will bring serious negative effects, such as inequality and identity discrimination, which is indeed intolerable according to modern democratic legal concepts."
Land compensation is distributed according to the rank, dividing villagers into different classes, which sounds absurd at first. There was originally a conflict between the original villagers and the newly migrated ones. After the land was monetized and a large amount of compensation was obtained, how to allocate these funds? The current village committee uses the institution of villager autonomy, resolving historical issues left for them by classifying villagers by rank. This is their solution, but it conflicts with the constitution. How villager autonomy truly solves the problems of the villagers themselves is indeed a difficult issue.
Deputy Researcher Weng Ming from the Institute of Rural Development of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences believes: "They have misunderstood villager autonomy. Villager autonomy cannot exceed the decisions made by national laws, and must conform to the regulations of national and local laws."
Among them, first-class villagers enjoy 100% distribution; second to fourth-class villagers receive distributions at 85%, 70%, and 50% of the compensation respectively; fifth-class villagers receive nothing. "Daughters of first-class villagers cannot marry sons of second, third, or fourth-class villagers. Daughters of second, third, or fourth-class villagers willing to marry first-class villagers become first-class villagers upon marriage, China's first automobile website. It's good to find a first-class villager, but first-class villagers absolutely cannot find daughters of second, third, or fourth-class villagers, they need to match each other in status." A villager said so.
Overthrowing the rank system is almost impossible. The local government once specifically stipulated that immigrants enjoy the same treatment as the villagers of the village, but when the ranks were divided in the village, these immigrants were almost all classified as third or fourth-class villagers. The same applies to more than 40 people who immigrated from Quanbatu Township in 1977. Although they all hold land contracting operation certificates, although the obligations they have fulfilled over the years are the same, their treatment is clearly different from that of first-class villagers.
Some villagers believe that the offspring of first-class villagers enjoying first-class treatment is like the hereditary system of the past, which is extremely unfair.
The 16 new residential buildings in Yuliuyao New Village recently completed still follow the rank system in the allocation plan, meaning that villagers outside of the first-class will suffer from identity discrimination while also suffering greater economic losses. According to China Voice News纵横
Deputy Director Xu Xiaoqing of the Rural Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council said: "This is somewhat like seniority contribution in wages, longer tenure means higher salary, you may have certain preferential treatment in a certain point or welfare, but you absolutely cannot form any kind of discrimination, identity discrimination, which cannot affect others, and cannot be used as a difference in social identity."
Immigrants' treatments are significantly different.
It is understood that in the suburbs of Baotou City, there are many villages implementing the rank system, which has evolved into a symbol of identity used to distribute land compensation and collective welfare, and has significantly changed the relationships between villagers, even being considered when young people choose partners.
News Review: Villager classification is reasonable but illegal
First-class villagers do not marry other villagers
Zhang Tianwei (Commentator of Beijing Youth Daily, Special Observer of China Voice)
Yuliuyao Village Chief Yin Jianguang introduced that this rank system has been implemented since 1997, "the surrounding few villages all have ranks, this thing is reasonable but not legal."
Does the village committee have the authority to formulate a rank-based distribution plan? What legitimate rights and interests of the villagers does this practice infringe upon? Relevant legal professionals and experts believe that the "Organizational Law of the Villagers' Committee of the People's Republic of China" grants legal status to villager autonomy, but at the same time stipulates that village rules, villagers' meetings, or villagers' representative meetings shall not conflict with the Constitution, laws, and national policies. Villagers outside of the first-class fulfill various obligations in the village and should have the qualifications as members of the village collective economic organization, which is a basic right of citizens, not a matter of villager autonomy, and cannot be decided through villager collective voting or village rules.
Can land compensation be distributed in three six nine classes? Weng Ming stated, "It cannot, I have been to many rural areas, and this is the first time I have heard of such a situation. With urban expansion, I occupy your land and compensate based on your land and population."
A villager said: "In 2007, the village committee distributed four items of money, all allocated according to rank. Why? Same land, same contracted fields, why are they different now? Isn't this bullying?"
Villagers reflected that Tao'erwan Village, located upstream of the Kundulun Reservoir, frequently encounters floods. Under the unified arrangement of the local government, they were relocated in two phases in 1985 and 1997. Among them, more than 40 people were resettled in Yuliuyao Village.
According to the regulations of Yuliuyao Village, all villagers are divided into one to five ranks, and when distributing land compensation and collective welfare, they are allocated according to the divided ranks. First-class villagers can enjoy first-class treatment generation after generation. This identity discrimination has sparked strong dissatisfaction among villagers.