I disagree that China's war on poverty is in danger of turning into a war on the poor (China's war on poverty could hurt the poor most; Jan 11).
The task of eliminating poverty is difficult. Slogans and propaganda alone can't lift 70 million people out of poverty. It requires political will and solid financial resources.
Economic growth and political will are crucial.
The Chinese leaders have done the right thing in their efforts to eliminate poverty.
Since the 1980s, China has developed comprehensive plans for resettlement programmes and infrastructure construction of roads, bridges and decent housing with basic amenities like electricity, gas and potable water.
People in inhospitable areas have been relocated to precincts with decent housing. The process is similar to Singapore's earlier days under the Land Acquisition Act, when people were relocated from squatter settlements and squalid shophouses to Housing Board flats with modern amenities.
There is no reason to speculate that the Chinese programme is likely to buckle under this strain and the country's social benefit system, leaving the poor Chinese worse off than before.
On the contrary, it has been recognised as a resounding success.
China's war on poverty rests on solid ground. According to the World Bank, more than 800 million people have already been lifted out of poverty.
President Xi Jinping has said that by 2020, China "will win the final phase of the war on poverty" and this would be "the first time in thousands of years of Chinese history that extreme poverty has been eliminated".
Paul Chan Poh Hoi
