The China facade is cracking


And liberty is peeking through
I'm watching the unrest in China, just not through the mainstream sources.

But even they are beginning to notice the cracks.

Their appeal is unlikely to find sympathetic ears in Beijing. With the Chinese economy facing the worst slowdown in two decades, paranoia about massive social unrest is mushrooming among Chinese leaders. Commentators in the official press are openly warning of increasing "menaces to social stability", "more conflicts and clashes" and "a reactive situation". The government's biggest worry is how millions of laid-off migrant workers and unemployed university graduates will cope with their suddenly pinched existence. Few people in China forget that the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 were sparked by a volatile mix of disgruntled students and workers.

Ominously for Chinese leaders, June 4th marks the 20th anniversary of the brutal military crackdown in Tiananmen Square. Any public discussion of the event remains off limits in China. And this is one more reason why Charter 08 has so unnerved the authorities: the document links the "massacre of pro-democracy student protesters" with China's failure to live up to the ideals of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (As if this were not enough, 2009 will also mark sensitive anniversaries for Tibetans and Falun Gong adherents, as well as the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.)

Growing restlessness
Evidence of people's growing restlessness across the country is mounting. The protests remain small in scale and not co-ordinated, but it is no longer in doubt that the current economic downturn has political ramifications for China. In the most notable case of social unrest in recent months, riots by thousands of people were reported in Longnan city in Gansu province, where the local government unveiled plans to relocate the city centre following damage in the May 2008 earthquake in neighbouring Sichuan province. Such plans would jeopardise the livelihood of many residents who currently benefit from their proximity to the city government. Not to overreact and spark larger protests, the governor of Gansu met with representatives of the rioters and offered vague assurances that local people’s interests will be considered.

Elsewhere, taxi drivers in several cities staged copycat strikes in November and December to demand better working conditions. Protests by redundant migrant workers in the Pearl River Delta, particularly in the manufacturing hub of Dongguan, also continue. Meanwhile, industrial action in early December involving policemen and teachers in Hunan province was a significant new development reflecting the rapidly deteriorating social mood. In Leiyang city more than 100 police and auxiliary police were reported to have seized a government building for several hours to demand higher wages, while in Longhui county around 1,000 teachers are thought to have staged a strike over unpaid allowances.

Let freedom ring.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Thu - January 15, 2009 at 01:52 PM  Tag


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