Chinese Citizens Say They are Under Siege

USA Today

March 29, 2009

China

It's been anything but a peaceful retirement for the seniors who live in the Jiade Apartments for the Aged in east Beijing.

Their water was shut off six weeks ago. Windows were smashed, and the power goes off all the time, say residents, including Han Yuelan, 78.

Unidentified men regularly show up, threatening to evict the tenants. "You can't talk reason with these people," Han says. "They just want to scare us away."

Wang Yan, the retirement home's founder, says she and Jiade's residents are the victim of strong-arm tactics by local officials and property developers who want them to move so they can build something new — and get a better return on their land.

The confrontation, which follows battles at other retirement homes around the capital, has become the latest battleground in China's struggle to balance the rights of its citizens with the need for economic growth amid the global financial crisis.

The problem is exacerbated by a rapid increase in China's senior population and a shortage of places for them to live.

Some protests have erupted. More than 40 Jiade residents, some in wheelchairs or needing walkers or canes, blockaded the gate one recent afternoon to prevent officials from entering the property. 

"Problems like Jiade are very common in Beijing," says Gu Quanwen, who runs a forum for retirement home directors in the Chinese capital. "Officials focus only on economic development, such as real estate and other profit-making sectors. There is not enough attention paid to retirement homes."

Gu says his Aidi Apartments for the Aged in Changping, northeast of Beijing, face rising rents from the landowners and may have to move.

In communist China, sometimes the owner of a property is a state-run enterprise or arm of the government.

Cui Xuemei, the director of the Badachu Apartments for the Aged in west Beijing, says the air force is trying to squeeze her business out. 

Whenever there is a festival or public holiday, "and the rest of the world is celebrating, then our electricity and water are cut off," complains Cui, 48. "The landlord is trying to force us out, as they want a tenant (who will) pay 50% more than us."

Cui knows she faces an uphill battle with China's powerful military but is determined to stay and even expand the business. "Every time I meet city officials, they are surprised I am still running this place," she says. 

The Chinese air force did not respond to requests for comment. 

Aging population 

China has 160 million citizens over 60, equal to about 12% of its population, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

The proportion of over-60 residents is projected to grow steadily until it composes about a quarter of the population by 2050, according to China's National Committee on Aging.

Unlike developed nations such as the USA, "China is getting old before it gets rich," says Yang Tuan, an expert on aging at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. 

Some steps are being taken to ease the demographic crunch. Last month, Vice Premier Hui Liangyu warned that China's aging population will surge this year, especially those over 80. 

A $585 billion stimulus package will be tapped to build needed retirement homes in Beijing, says Wei Xiaobiao, an official at the municipal social welfare department. The city's 336 retirement homes, a mix of public and private institutions, offer 40,000 beds, double the number a decade ago. At least 80,000 more are needed, Wei says.

The government plans to provide 15,000 more beds this year by offering subsidies, but hitting that target will be tough "as it gets harder and harder to find land in Beijing," Wei says.

The concept of retirement homes is somewhat new in China.

Since the days of Confucius, Chinese tradition has emphasized respect for the elderly. But the country's strong embrace of capitalism in recent decades, combined with the country's one-child policy, have changed family life and put a higher premium on land, says Wei's colleague Lu Haiyan, director of social welfare.

Chen Jie, director of the Xiangshan Apartments for the Aged, says there has been a sea change in the attitude toward retirement homes.

"Even just a few years ago, people felt it was shameful to send your parents to a home," says Chen, 45. Now, people "are too busy to care for them, and the old people themselves want to reduce their burden."

Struggle to stay open 

Several homes seem doomed. The Jiade home for seniors is surrounded by newly cleared ground, construction sites and an entertainment complex.

Wang and her husband, Xin Wen, are appealing to city authorities to stop the harassment. Other retirement homes have closed.

"We help relieve society and families of the burden of elderly care, yet the government uses their administrative power to threaten us," says Xin, who is appealing a court ruling that the retirement home must move because of a late rent payment last year. 

Recently, Wang says, 10 men parked cars at the complex's entrance and intimidated residents, demanding they leave.

Li Haitao, a representative of the local village committee who works for a company developing the land around Jiade, denies any harassment. "The Jiade owners are stirring up this problem, but the court has said this is our land. So Jiade should be organizing the old people to move out, not complaining we have no humanity," Li says.

Wei criticizes the "excessive measures" the Jiade's owners say are being used against them, but he says his department cannot get involved.

Regardless of Jiade's fate, Ke Jinbi, 92, a former miner who lives there, says the core problem is likely to get worse. "In China, there is less respect for the elderly now," he says.

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