La Cucarocha

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NO-TELL ROACH MOTEL

The Straits Times Singapore, Dec 12, 2000

ECHOES OF A MAOIST PAST

Death to Beijing's enemies - roaches

Its second war against cockroaches raises memories of Mao's ill-conceived extermination of sparrows, which led to an insect plague and huge famine

BEIJING - THE city of Beijing will mobilise tens of thousands of officials today in its second campaign to wipe out cockroaches in a disturbing echo of Mao's eradication of sparrows at the end of the 1950s. During the Great Leap Forward, the late communist leader exhorted the masses to rise up against sparrows which, he felt, were consuming grain needed to feed the people, Britain's The Guardian newspaper reported.

Instead of more grain after the extermination, however, there followed one of the worst famines ever in China's history, exacerbated by the large number of insects previously kept under control by the birds, but which were now able to feed unhindered on the crops.

The lessons of that grotesque error appear to have been lost on the Communist Party officials who staff the Beijing Patriotic Sanitation Movement Committee: Their goal is to exterminate the entire cockroach population of the city.

"Kill Cockroaches" telephone hotlines have been set up for people who wish to volunteer for the task of laying poison or to inform on building managers who are ignoring the directive.

"Cockroaches have invaded more than 75 per cent of Beijing's households, and it is the most urgent target that they be wiped out", said a commentary in the Beijing Morning Post newspaper.

In another echo of the Maoist past, there was a strong whiff of xenophobia about the announcement, The Guardian reported.

It said that the majority of cockroaches in the city were not native to the country.

Indeed the largest single grouping was the German cockroach, a bigger, more voracious sub-species than the Chinese cockroach.

It is brown, and less than 1.5-cm long.

The German invader arrived in China - it is believed in packing cases on a ship - some time ago, and has rapidly displaced the more benign native roach.

The announcement also detailed the hideous diseases and viruses borne by the average cockroach.

These include plague, dysentery, poliomyelitis, and aflatoxin, "which can pass on cancer and other life-threatening illnesses".

The government said that members of the city's street committees would be at the forefront of the drive.

The street committee is a uniquely Chinese phenomenon that has institutionalised the neighbourhood busybody, according to The Guardian.

Committee members, who are mainly middle-aged ladies, also frequently snoop on their neighbours, informing the authorities of comings and goings, as well as infractions of the one-child policy and other "wrongdoings".

The order to wipe out cockroaches will give the committees an excuse to enter homes to lay poison.

Needless to say, anything untoward spotted will be reported.

CIVILISED PLAGUE

THE Beijing government issued a directive to launch the first round of the city-wide anti-roach campaign from Nov 16 to Nov 22.

Ironically, economic progress is the reason behind Beijing's burgeoning cockroach population because homes are better heated now, and cockroaches are attracted to warmth. Hotels and restaurants have also mushroomed.

Said Mr Shen Weirui of the Beijing Insect Disease Prevention Office: "Cockroaches were then found only in restaurants where food was plenty and places like foreign embassies, which enjoyed...heating".



-- Lars (lars@indy.net), December 12, 2000

Answers

Ralph---is this ecologically sound?

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), December 12, 2000.

No Lars, this is bureaucratic madness. Roaches are an integral part of the Gaia. They are precious bio-mass. We must not waste this renewable resource. Cockroaches provide food for other creatures, their guano is an excellent fertilizer, they make amusing pets for lonely people and, when stir-fried in extra-virgin olive oil, they are yummy eatin'.

Indeed, in some cultures they are worshipped as Gods.

We must SAVE THE COCKROACHES!

-- (Ralph@green.room), December 12, 2000.


The Chinese also have severe problems with the American cockroach. Not only does this species eat more than the German and Chinese species combined, but it likes to consume dollar bills, which the Chinese value very much.

However, the Chinese are successfully exterminating this invasive American cockroach due to its habits, because after it has stuffed itself with food, it crawls up on sofa cushions and watches television. Ergo, it's easily spotted and destroyed.

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), December 12, 2000.


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