Not only peasant protesters
Remember the shopping center sign that I posted here Monday? ("One Dream, One Shopping Paradise")The events described below may be better signs of how economic change fosters political change.
Well-heeled protests hit Shanghai
"Rarely have protests in China been so well organised, or the protesters so well-dressed.
"The residents of Pingyang district, in the south of the city, say their health is at risk and their homes will become worthless if a planned extension to Shanghai's futuristic maglev railway goes ahead.
"But local residents along the route - including those in Pingyang - say the electro-magnetic field is dangerous and that their homes are now impossible to sell...
"China is a country with little patience for dissent. But in a little over a week, Pingyang residents and their neighbours have marched through the city, chanting and waving slogans.
"At the weekend many hundreds of them took their complaints to Shanghai's city hall - the seat of communist power.
"The largely middle class protesters are keen to downplay any political aspect of their defiance. They insist on calling their well-organised marches 'going for a walk' events...
"On Saturday, dozens of demonstrators were detained by police. The next day others were dragged and shoved when they took their protest to a busy shopping street.
"Residents in the areas affected by the planned extension complain that local officials and police are trying to intimidate them, and that the government has set up video cameras to monitor activities in their neighbourhood..."
See also Land reform in China
Labels: China, economics, politics
posted by Ken Wedding @ 7:56 AM
2 Comments:
More on middle class protest in China.
Shanghai's Middle Class Launches Quiet, Meticulous Revolt
"The sudden 'strolls' by thousands of office workers, company managers, young families and the elderly in this sleek financial hub are the latest chapter in a quiet middle-class battle against government officials. The protesters are going about their mission carefully, and many speak anonymously for fear of retribution in a country that stifles dissent.
"The Communist Party has a massive security apparatus that closely monitors what it views as subversive activity. The party sometimes allows public protests if they serve its political interests, such as the ouster of corrupt officials.
"But the protests here have been unusual. They are led by homeowners and professionals -- people who may not previously have had much to complain to the government about but whose awareness of their individual rights has grown along with their prosperity. Police, who have routinely put down rural protests by poor farmers, have found it more difficult to intimidate an affluent, educated crowd in a major city...
"The growing boldness of the protesters has prompted city officials to emphasize that residents should find 'normal' channels to vent their unhappiness. 'We will forestall and defuse social tensions,' Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng said in his annual government report Thursday, in what appeared to be a tacit nod to the protesters' concerns...
"A victory for the protesters here does not seem as likely... Proud city officials hope the maglev extension will further cement Shanghai's reputation as the mainland's most advanced city..."
Feature writer Howard French added some details to the accounts of middle class, urban protest in Shanghai for The New York Times.
Plan to Extend Shanghai Rail Line Stirs Middle Class to Protest
"Behind the scenes, the government is working hard to break the back of the movement, sending scores of police officers to neighborhoods where meetings have been held, briefly arresting people who appear at gatherings to oppose the maglev, forcing them to erase digital photos they have taken of protests and to sign confessions. Demonstrators say they have been warned that if they are arrested a second time, they will be detained for 15 days. Others have been told by their employers that they will be fired if they participate in protests. News media coverage of the controversy has been banned.
"The protesters seem to have anticipated many of the government’s responses, however, and the loose movement has configured itself in ways that make it difficult to suppress, using electronic bulletin boards and YouTube to post news of protests and keeping the protests publicly leaderless, to avoid having key people arrested..."
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