The hukou system was originally set up to serve the socialist-style command economy put into place in the 1950’s by the Communist Party. During Ms. Kadeer’s time in Xinjiang, it was required to get permission before one could travel outside of their registered location. Ms. Kadeer also ran into problems with the system because it classifies someone as a country peasant or a city dweller, and it is easy for officials to manipulate this classification. If an individual is registered as a rural resident, they cannot receive services in a city.
Today, most of the workforce in China’s cities is made up of migrant laborers, and the hukou system seriously inhibits any sort of equality among the general population. Just recently, Chinese newspapers made a bold move to call the hukou system into question. The newspapers wrote a joint editorial stating, “long has China suffered from the ills of the hukou system!”
We wonder if this small, yet powerful gesture by the Chinese media signals a shift in the status quo. More importantly, do the Han, who call for this abolishment of the hukou system, wish to spread the “equality” to the Uyghurs? We aren’t quite sure, but we feel that this is a step in the right direction.
Attached below is a brief article written by Shirong Chen of the BBC (you can find the link here). We also want to thank quelquefois on Twitter for bringing this article to our attention. Click here to follow the Uyghur Blog on Twitter.
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More than a dozen Chinese newspapers have published a joint editorial calling for the abolition of the household registration or “hukou”.
This system limits rural migrants’ access to services in China’s more prosperous cities. The appeal, which has attracted widespread support from internet-users, comes on the eve of the annual meeting of Chinese legislators later this week. The hukou was introduced in the 1950s as a tool of central economic planning.
Discrimination
The editorial uses strong language, beginning by saying “long has China suffered from the ills of the hukou system!” and “all men were created free to move”.
The hukou system registers every Chinese citizen according to their household origins as either town dwellers or country peasants.
Nowadays it is widely seen as a source of discrimination in terms of access to services like healthcare and education.
Since economic reforms began 30 years ago, many Chinese migrant workers have left the land to contribute to the country’s rapid growth and industrialisation.
But they remain registered as rural dwellers and are not entitled to the same welfare as their city counterparts.
This has created social inequality.
The editorial says the system is unconstitutional and urges the people’s deputies gathering in Beijing to overhaul it completely.
As well as being fairer, it says this would benefit China’s economy as it would free up more labour and create more domestic demand.
The Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, admitted on Saturday that the bulk of the country’s industrial workforce was now made up of migrant workers from the countryside.
His comment signals support from the very top of government for reform in this area.
However, it could take years to completely separate the hukou system from welfare provision, and eventually abolish it in the world’s most populous country.
