Villages turning from a community of farmers to places where criminal gangs can sometimes function weakens the foundations of social governance, says an article in China Business News. Excerpts below:

The recent crackdown on Boshe, a village that gained notoriety for producing drugs in Lufeng, Guangdong province, raises many questions.

How did the village Party chief become head of a drug-producing gang? How are policemen involved in gang crime without being punished? And how was it that drug production on such a scale, over a period of years, was allowed in the first place?

Some of the local public security departments and governments have been accomplices in villages turning to crime.

Legal authorities and the governments must punish corrupt civil servants and public security officials involved in the cases. There should be a mature system to strengthen the supervision and regulation of grassroots civil servants to prevent such scandals from happening again.