Reports of severe natural disasters in isolated places and of bad weather conditions in larger areas appeared in the Chinese press in the Spring of 1959, after the Wuhan Plenum in December 1958 already made policy adjustments based on the technical criticism of Peng Dehuai on the Peoples Communes initiative. In March, 1959, the entire Hunan region was under flood and soon after that the spring harvest in South-west China was lost through drought. The 1958 grain production yielded 250 million tons instead the projected 375 million tons, and 1.2 million tons of peanuts instead of the projected 4 million tons. In 1959, the harvest came to 175 million tons. In 1960, the situation deteriated further Damaged by drought and other bad weather affected 55% of the cukltivated area. Some 60% of the agricultural land in the North received no rain at all. The yield for 1960 was 142 million tons. In 1961, the weather situation improved only slightly. In 1963, the Chinese press called the famine of 1961-62 the most severe since 1879. In 1961, a food storage program oblidged China to import 6.2 million tons of grain from Canada and Australia. In 1962, import decreased to 5.32 million tons. Between 1961 to 1965 China imported a total of 30 million tons of grain at a cost of US$2 billion. (Robert Price, 'International Trade of Communist China' Vol II, pp 600-1). More would have imported except US pressure of Canada and Austrailia to limit sales to China and US interference with shipping prevented China from importing more. Canada and Australia were both anxious to provide unlimited credit to China for grain purchas, but alas, US policy prevailed and millions starved in China.
Henry C.K. Liu
Henry C.K. Liu
Brad De Long wrote:
> >At 16:14 01/06/99 -0400, you wrote:
> >
> ><large snip>
> >
> >>But on the question of Mao's alleged murder of 30 million of his fellow
> >>citizens, the problem is a matter of logic rather than the mere absence
> >>of evidence.
> >>
> >>Henry C.K. Liu
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >It is problematic copying material from discussion on one list to another,
> >and I cannot remember whether Brad de Long is on this list, and he may not
> >consider it appropriate to pursue the question here, which certainly looks
> >ahistorical to me.
> >
> >I recollect a book was published in about '97 presenting the case
> >apparently pretty authoritatively, and I spent 10 minutes fingering it
> >before deciding not to buy. It seemed to me inevitable that these ideas
> >would circulate into academia and be regarded as received wisdom until they
> >could be refuted.
> >
> >I have not read the extracts that Henry has posted in detail but I do agree
> >it is a question of logic and approach as well as of clarifying facts.
> >
> >There have been famines in Cuba and in North Korea. Famines are actually a
> >normal phenomenon of history in many human societies, depending also on
> >climate.
> >
> >Chris Burford
>
> Not in the twentieth century they aren't.
>
> Go read Amartya Sen's "Poverty and Famines : An Essay on Entitlement and
> Deprivation." Then come back and talk...