More on the status of our Chinese water factory
We are continuing to play our chess match with the local government in an effort to eliminate the obstructions and harassment that have weakened our water factory. For over a year, gangsters have attempted to squeeze us out of business and move into our joint venture. Their goal is to tear down the factory and convert the land and building to residential development.
This is a wildly profitable business, but it has dire consequences for their surrounding economy. Since 2005, the criminal gang has torn down over 17 factories and thrown hundreds of people out of work.The County loses valuable fees and tax revenues, so this criminal enterprise is also destroying the tax base in the county. Last summer, when I was at the Mayor's office in Lantian, a group of pensioners from the Health Department were protesting because the local government did not have the cash to pay them their pensions.
(To give you some geographic orientation, our factory is located in the ancient capital of China, Xi'an. We are in one of the six counties that surround the city, and we are located near the county where Emperor Qin's famous terra-cotta warriors were discovered.)
In the late 1990s, a small group of us were invited to assist the county government responsibly develop their water resources. We assembled an investor group with expertise from China, Japan and the US. Since 1998, we've been producing a very high quality mineral water for local residents.
Beginning about five years ago, criminal elements in the county began interfering with our work. As we refused to talk to them, they became increasingly bold. Last summer, I traveled to our factory in an effort to make formal complaints to local government. Although my visit reduced pressure on the factory, the local government and the police refused to remove the obstructions that the criminal gang had placed in front of our doors.
These obstructions forced factory employees to tear down a wall to create a small side entrance from our factory compound to the street. We used to deliver water in large trucks carrying hundreds of bottles; now, we're forced to carry the bottles out one by one. You can get more history on this website.
This week, we learned that the Lantian Party Committee and the Lantian County Government are both paying attention now to our case. (China operates with both government and party officials, with the real power vested in the party.)
About a week ago I had sent a very sternly worded letter to the Land Department charging that this office had confiscated US investor property. This charge struck a nerve. The Land Department, which once assured us that we could copy the records relating to our factory, have now reneged on their commitment.
Rather than press harder, I am now communicating directly with a deputy mayor and urging him to take meaningful steps to remove the obstructions in front of our factory. We will see whether the deputy mayor responds to my request. If not, we will press even harder. Here's the letter to the deputy mayor.
