Land reform programs in East and Southeast Asia, a comparative approach

TWO PERIODS OF LAND REFORM HAVE OCCURRED. THE FIRST, FOLLOWING WORLD WAR II, SAW SWEEPING LAND REFORM PROGRAMS IN THE EAST ASIAN COUNTRIES OF CHINA, JAPAN, TAIWAN, NORTH KOREA, AND SOUTH KOREA. THE SECOND PERIOD HAS OCCURRED SINCE THE MID-1950"S IN THE EIGHT COUNTRIES OF ISLAND AND MAINLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA. THE PHILIPPINES AND SOUTH VIETNAM HAVE HAD A VOLUMINOUS HISTORY OF LAND REFORM LEGISLATION. NORTH VIETNAM HAS FOLLOWED THE MODEL OF AGRARIAN REVOLUTION IN MAINLAND CHINA. BURMA HAS CARRIED OUT ITS OWN PROGRAM OF LAND REDISTRIBUTION. MALAYSIA AND INDONESIA, THOUGH NOT ENGAGED IN WIDESCALE REFORM, HAVE ACKNOWLEDGED THEIR LAND PROBLEMS IN AREAS OF HIGH POPULATION DENSITY. THAILAND HAS BEGUN TO ACKNOWLEDGE ITS PROBLEMS. CAMBODIA AND LAOS ARE EVIDENTLY ADOPTING AT LEAST THE BROAD OUTLINES OF THE COMMUNIST PATTERN OF LAND REFORM. LAND REFORM PROGRAMS IN EAST AND SOUTHEAST ASIA TODAY, DESPITE THE DIVERSITY IN HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL SETTINGS, ARE INTIMATELY LINKED. THEY CONFRONT THE TWOFOLD ISSUES OF EQUITY AND PRODUCTIVITY. THE WORKING MODELS FOR LAND REFORM -- EXEMPLIFIED BY JAPAN AND TAIWAN ON ONE HAND AND MAINLAND CHINA ON THE OTHER -- HAVE EXERTED INFLUENCE ON THE PATTERN OF LAND REFORMS IN NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES. THIS DISCUSSION OF LAND REFORM EFFORTS IN THE VARIOUS COUNTRIES DEALS WITH SOCIOECONOMIC REPERCUSSIONS ON VARIOUS SOCIAL CLASSES, POLITICAL OBJECTIVES OF THE ELITE, GOVERNMENT IMPLEMENTATION EFFORTS AND MODIFICATIONS TO MODELS FOR AGRARIAN REFORM.