Thousands of Chinese protest, smash police cars

[American]

News from The Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) -- Thousands of residents protested in a southeastern Chinese city after a traffic accident, smashing police cars and overturning three police vans, police and residents said. The reason for the protest in Fuan city in Fujian province was unclear. Police said it was instigated by "a handful of lawless people." One resident said people became angry because police and paramedics took nearly an hour to arrive to help the injured, while a Hong Kong-based human rights group said it was to do with corruption.
People are fed up with corruption and high-handed officialdom, pensions that have not kept pace with inflation, and families being forced from their homes to make way for developments.

I highlighted four reasons why people are protesting. How many times have you heard about medical help taking an hour to arrive on scene? How about the inflation issue, likely due to the low export prices China is charging for their goods, and currency valuation games. Eminent Domain is running rampant. I know we have some China admirers around here, what do you think of this?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/business/global/31trade.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Eminent domain in China: Rule of law in the making? | East Asia Forum

 

[Paul Austin]

Its actually fairly routine in China, protests go on all the time, the west just doesnt report on it that much.

 

[HonestJoe]

That doesn't sound like a protest, it sounds like a riot. You might as well say punching someone in the face is a debate.

My suspicion would be that a generally dissenting (with some good reason) population were fired up by a tiny spark, be that
how long the ambulance took to arrive (legitimately or not), accusations of corruption or a general resentment of authority.

Regardless, it's certainly not a good thing.

 

[Aberration]

These things do happen quite often. And yes they are more like riots than protests, although the cops are more like security guards than police officers.

Its why they fear the internet and things like YouTube and Facebook.

 

[ttwtt78640]

If your only tool is a hammer then you must address all problems as if they were nails. In China there is no vote and "peaceful" protests are squashed just as if they were violent riots. We see this reported here, yet I doubt it was reported widely in China. The U.S. is not immune from riots over real (or perceived) police inaction or overreaction even with our much more open means of protest available.

 

[Dittohead not!]

You can only hold people down by an all powerful government so long before they begin to protest and riot.

 

[d0gbreath]

Good for them.

 

[HonestJoe]

If your only tool is a hammer then you must address all problems as if they were nails. In China there is no vote and "peaceful" protests are squashed just as if they were violent riots. We see this reported here, yet I doubt it was reported widely in China. The U.S. is not immune from riots over real (or perceived) police inaction or overreaction even with our much more open means of protest available.

That doesn't mean you throw your hammer at the first face you see then start smashing windows.

A riot isn't an extreme version of a protest, it's the opposite of a protest. The motive behind a protest (even a violent one) is to change policies, the motive behind a riot is randomly targeted aggression or joining in smashing stuff because it's fun. There is never, ever any justification for a riot, anywhere.

One of the suggestions here is that there were people injured from a road accident and no ambulance had turned up. In what world is a reasonable response to that hundreds (or even thousands if you believe those number) to go an the rampage?

 

[head of joaquin]

China is on the glidepath to liberal democracy. As the middle class gets bigger, the communist party gets more irrelevant, and they'll wake one day and realize that the party aparatus has no legitimacy, just as they did in the Soviet Union. The communist party is holding onto its legitimacy only by a thread right now as a result of economic growth. Whether China hits a lull, requiring change, or it continues to become more modern and prosperous, either way, the party is moribund, since it has successfully brought about education, literacy, and vast economic growth. And it's clear they know it. The leadership appears to be patriotic people who understand the direction the country is taking, and is just trying to get it there (while making millions for themselves!)

 

[RDS]

Those are just minor skirmishes like the University of Mississippi students riot over Obama's reelection. 1.3 billion people cannot be wrong.

 

[Sherman123]

China is on the glidepath to liberal democracy. As the middle class gets bigger, the communist party gets more irrelevant, and they'll wake one day and realize that the party aparatus has no legitimacy, just as they did in the Soviet Union. The communist party is holding onto its legitimacy only by a thread right now as a result of economic growth. Whether China hits a lull, requiring change, or it continues to become more modern and prosperous, either way, the party is moribund, since it has successfully brought about education, literacy, and vast economic growth. And it's clear they know it. The leadership appears to be patriotic people who understand the direction the country is taking, and is just trying to get it there (while making millions for themselves!)

It is entirely dependent on how partitioned, loyal, or isolated the military and security forces remain. We have seen many times in the past century how autocrats have held on to power over the wishes of the people by sending the tanks into the streets and unleashing the instruments of terror.

 

[Klown]

thousands???

POPULATION IN CHINA IS ABOUT 1.4 BILLION

 

[Ben K.]

China is on the glidepath to liberal democracy. As the middle class gets bigger, the communist party gets more irrelevant, and they'll wake one day and realize that the party aparatus has no legitimacy, just as they did in the Soviet Union. The communist party is holding onto its legitimacy only by a thread right now as a result of economic growth. Whether China hits a lull, requiring change, or it continues to become more modern and prosperous, either way, the party is moribund, since it has successfully brought about education, literacy, and vast economic growth. And it's clear they know it. The leadership appears to be patriotic people who understand the direction the country is taking, and is just trying to get it there (while making millions for themselves!)

If the middle class gets bigger, why would they want to change the status quo?

What I find worrying is if there is an economic decline. It's inevitable in all societies. Have they done enough to discredit Mao that a populist within CCP couldn't run with the message that they shouldn't have abandoned his vision in the first place? A regression is all too likely when their national identity is tied to a guy like that when an economic wave hits.