China's Leaders Increasingly Challenged by Social Unrest
Over the past year, Chinas leadership has faced growing eruptions of public discontent over issues ranging from environmental and transportation safety concerns, to labor disputes and local corruption.
Consider the scene in the southeastern fishing village of Wukan, where hundreds of residents, young and old, raise their fists and voices calling for justice and chanting slogans such as the Blood debt must be paid and Return our farm land.
For months, Wukan residents have been protesting, denouncing local officials they say are corrupt and demanding the return of farm land they say was illegally seized for development.
The protests peaked in December when one of the towns representatives, Xue Jinpo, died in police custody. Residents took control of Wukan, forcing Communist Party officials to flee and police to cordon off the village. Chinese authorities say Xue died of heart failure, but residents suspect foul play.
Such land grab protests, as they are called, are increasingly common in China. But the situation in Wukan highlights just how far some are willing to go.
Hu Xingdou, a professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology, says that if authorities do not take steps to address the publics discontent, the unrest could get worse.
"One aspect that makes this a matter of high priority for the central government is that China has entered into a very risky period, not just one of an average risk level," said Hu. "I'm afraid that if the central government doesn't put some measures in place in the next five years or so, the whole of China could go out of control."
Simmering issues
And its not just land disputes Chinese citizens are protesting.
In October, protestors in the central city of Zhili, in Zhejiang province, flipped over cars, smashed public property and clashed with police during a dispute over taxes.
Scenes of the standoff caught on video showed hundreds out in the streets, and later scores of baton and shield-wielding police chasing off protesters.
Chinese economist Luo Xiaopeng says President Hu Jintao has done very little over the past 10 years to control local authorities, and that China now faces a crisis of governance. He believes this will top the agenda of Vice President Xi Jinping when he takes over for Mr. Hu next year.
All of these environmental issues, education issues, public servant issues, have been accumulating for more than a decade, so its not just now," said Luo. "But I think that everybody realizes the crisis is coming, and the new leadership has to deal with it.
Fears of an economic slowdown next year are also a big concern, says Bonnie Glaser, a China analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The Chinese leadership is, I think, very insecure at home, very worried about the domestic situation, the slowdown of the economy, and signs of growing unrest and uneasiness and this could get worse as the economic situation deteriorates," Glaser said.
A restless middle class
Chinas booming economic growth over the past decade has swollen the ranks of the middle class, and they, too, are growing restless.
This is one of the Chinese governments biggest concerns going forward, says Barry Naughton, an economist at University of California San Diego.
They are not out on the streets throwing rocks through windows, but there is, I think, a sense of restlessness that is significant because these are the well educated people, they are concentrated in cities, they have a lot of skills and a lot of capabilities, said Naughton.
In August, thousands of residents of the northeastern city of Dalian took to the streets. The protest, widely seen as a middle class uprising, called for the closure of a chemical plant. In the end, authorities gave in and agreed to shut down and relocate the plant.
The online factor
The Internet and social media helped to drive that protest, as it did with a nationwide uproar over a high-speed rail accident in July,
In Dalian, pictures and videos of the protest were posted online and the Internet was used to help organize the rally. In the aftermath of the train wreck, which left 41 people dead, Chinas Twitter-like Weibo microblog not only documented details of those involved in the tragedy, but became a posting board for complaints about the government's response and broader concerns about incompetence.
Although China heavily censors the Internet, and critical or controversial postings are quickly removed, authorities remain anxious about what is said online, says Bonnie Glaser.
"At least once a day, and Ive heard from some people that [its] twice a day, the Chinese leadership gets a list of what the most popular topics are that are being discussed on the Internet and the Chinese blogosphere."
In the wake of the train wreck, authorities have increased scrutiny of microblogs and stepped up efforts to control the spread of what they call "online rumors."
But as the protests in Wukan, Zhili and Dalian have shown, authorities are finding it increasingly difficult to keep a lid on everything.
China's Leaders Increasingly Challenged by Social Unrest | Asia | English
Over the past year, Chinas leadership has faced growing eruptions of public discontent over issues ranging from environmental and transportation safety concerns, to labor disputes and local corruption.
Consider the scene in the southeastern fishing village of Wukan, where hundreds of residents, young and old, raise their fists and voices calling for justice and chanting slogans such as the Blood debt must be paid and Return our farm land.
For months, Wukan residents have been protesting, denouncing local officials they say are corrupt and demanding the return of farm land they say was illegally seized for development.
The protests peaked in December when one of the towns representatives, Xue Jinpo, died in police custody. Residents took control of Wukan, forcing Communist Party officials to flee and police to cordon off the village. Chinese authorities say Xue died of heart failure, but residents suspect foul play.
Such land grab protests, as they are called, are increasingly common in China. But the situation in Wukan highlights just how far some are willing to go.
Hu Xingdou, a professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology, says that if authorities do not take steps to address the publics discontent, the unrest could get worse.
"One aspect that makes this a matter of high priority for the central government is that China has entered into a very risky period, not just one of an average risk level," said Hu. "I'm afraid that if the central government doesn't put some measures in place in the next five years or so, the whole of China could go out of control."
Simmering issues
And its not just land disputes Chinese citizens are protesting.
In October, protestors in the central city of Zhili, in Zhejiang province, flipped over cars, smashed public property and clashed with police during a dispute over taxes.
Scenes of the standoff caught on video showed hundreds out in the streets, and later scores of baton and shield-wielding police chasing off protesters.
Chinese economist Luo Xiaopeng says President Hu Jintao has done very little over the past 10 years to control local authorities, and that China now faces a crisis of governance. He believes this will top the agenda of Vice President Xi Jinping when he takes over for Mr. Hu next year.
All of these environmental issues, education issues, public servant issues, have been accumulating for more than a decade, so its not just now," said Luo. "But I think that everybody realizes the crisis is coming, and the new leadership has to deal with it.
Fears of an economic slowdown next year are also a big concern, says Bonnie Glaser, a China analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The Chinese leadership is, I think, very insecure at home, very worried about the domestic situation, the slowdown of the economy, and signs of growing unrest and uneasiness and this could get worse as the economic situation deteriorates," Glaser said.
A restless middle class
Chinas booming economic growth over the past decade has swollen the ranks of the middle class, and they, too, are growing restless.
This is one of the Chinese governments biggest concerns going forward, says Barry Naughton, an economist at University of California San Diego.
They are not out on the streets throwing rocks through windows, but there is, I think, a sense of restlessness that is significant because these are the well educated people, they are concentrated in cities, they have a lot of skills and a lot of capabilities, said Naughton.
In August, thousands of residents of the northeastern city of Dalian took to the streets. The protest, widely seen as a middle class uprising, called for the closure of a chemical plant. In the end, authorities gave in and agreed to shut down and relocate the plant.
The online factor
The Internet and social media helped to drive that protest, as it did with a nationwide uproar over a high-speed rail accident in July,
In Dalian, pictures and videos of the protest were posted online and the Internet was used to help organize the rally. In the aftermath of the train wreck, which left 41 people dead, Chinas Twitter-like Weibo microblog not only documented details of those involved in the tragedy, but became a posting board for complaints about the government's response and broader concerns about incompetence.
Although China heavily censors the Internet, and critical or controversial postings are quickly removed, authorities remain anxious about what is said online, says Bonnie Glaser.
"At least once a day, and Ive heard from some people that [its] twice a day, the Chinese leadership gets a list of what the most popular topics are that are being discussed on the Internet and the Chinese blogosphere."
In the wake of the train wreck, authorities have increased scrutiny of microblogs and stepped up efforts to control the spread of what they call "online rumors."
But as the protests in Wukan, Zhili and Dalian have shown, authorities are finding it increasingly difficult to keep a lid on everything.
China's Leaders Increasingly Challenged by Social Unrest | Asia | English
Of course you do. Occupy Tiananmen Square was just the beginning. Since then the Chinese leadership has been experiencing TENS OF THOUSANDS of 'occupiers' throughout the land annually.
