Post by: Balog on March 15, 2007, 01:57:11 PM
Thousands Riot in China
Reuters Mar 12, 2007
BEIJINGThousands of Chinese farmers and laid-off workers rioted in central China , attacking police and smashing squad cars, a local official said on Monday, the latest in a string of violent demonstrations.
Nine police cars were burnt during the riot on Friday in the central province of Hunan in which 20,000 people clashed with about 1,000 police armed with guns and electric cattle prods, a local official told Reuters.
"They did it because they were not satisfied with some government behaviour," the official, surnamed Tan, said by telephone from the district of Lingling, which belongs to the Hunan city of Yongzhou .
"They were also unhappy about official corruption," Tan said without elaborating.
The overseas human rights Web site Boxun (www.boxun.com) said the riot was sparked by dissatisfaction with rising public transport costs. The site, which is critical of China , is blocked on the mainland.
The Hunan official said the riot had been quelled and that scores of the rioters were arrested. The government was tracking down the organisers, she said.
Both police and rioters had been injured in the violence, and some of the rioters were sent to hospital, but none was seriously hurt, the official added.
A widening gap between rich and poor, corruption and official abuses of power have fuelled a growing number of demonstrations and riots around China , often sparked by seemingly minor issues.
The government has said the number of "mass incidents" in the countrya term that includes protests, petitions and demonstrationswas about 23,000 last year.
Efforts to reduce inequality and sources of discontent have been a theme of government efforts to improve the livelihoods of its 750 million farmers.
Post by: CAnnoneer on March 15, 2007, 04:05:13 PM
Post by: Tallpine on March 15, 2007, 06:23:18 PM
Post by: HankB on March 16, 2007, 03:35:49 AM
Seems more than one dynasty was toppled by a peasant revolt . . . couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people.
Post by: Manedwolf on March 16, 2007, 04:13:41 AM
Among the better-off businesspeople in the major cities, it's apparently cellphones, not communism, and lattes, not loyalty.
They still seriously need to do something about the "piracy is a business model" bit, though.
Post by: CAnnoneer on March 16, 2007, 06:50:02 AM
Quote
Birth pangs of a progressively more free-market society, too. Those who always lived content with state-provided everything will fight it. The new small business owners and entrepreneurs will embrace it.
I think there is more to it than commies protesting changes. From what I have read and observed in the History channel documentaries, the Chinese peasants essentially have no rights. They can be displaced or expropriated by their government at any time. The gov also has the habit of taking from them as much as possible on a regular basis. The counterweight may have been the commie system providing something in return. Now, the counterweight is significantly reduced, but the forward oppression remains. Ergo, the peasants are in upheaval, and get beaten up for it.
I would not be surprised if China repeats its own history from the early 1900s and finds itself in a situation where the big cities want bourgeois life and capitalism, while the mass of the rural population is opposed to it culturally and economically. Comrade Mao used that polarization to eventually oust the nationalists. That's why my first post mentioned perestroika. Without it, China is in for big internal problems.
Post by: The Rabbi on March 16, 2007, 07:26:19 AM
Post by: theCZ on March 16, 2007, 11:08:24 AM
China also has ethnic minorities, like the Muslim Uighers, to contend with.
From what I've seen, they keep their Muslims very much under control for the most part. Maybe that was PBS propaganda, but they have a fence and patrols on their border with Pakistan and let the Muslims know that they tolerate their religion but have no problem kicking them out.
Post by: K Frame on March 16, 2007, 11:11:16 AM
Just wait until they lose faith in the dollar...
Post by: zahc on March 16, 2007, 11:38:31 AM