Posted on 08/23/2005 1:07:19 PM PDT by Our_Man_In_Gough_Island
BEIJING - Tensions caused by the growing gap between rich and poor in China risk a social meltdown within five years if left unaddressed, a government report warned yesterday.
The report, commissioned by the labour and social security ministry, warned that the country is in a "yellow-light'' zone, the second-most-serious indicator of "social instability."
"We are going to hit the red-light scenario after 2010 if there are no effective solutions in the next few years,'' said the report, carried in the state-owned China Daily.
As if to bear out its warnings, police admitted rioting had broken out in a town in the eastern province of Zhejiang, the latest in a wave of violent protests in the region.
Buildings and police cars were set alight in clashes led by parents who accused a battery factory of causing lead poisoning in their children.
Such unrest is now common in many Chinese towns, often triggered by protests against the mixture of corruption and environmental degradation caused by China's frantic economic boom. The increased publicity given the protests is a sign of growing government anxiety.
The national leadership, under President Hu Jintao, which came to power two years ago, made the plight of the poor its rallying cry and announced the abolition of rural taxes.
But it has proved unable to prevent the exploitation of China's manufacturing boom by local officials eager to bolster both their standing and their bank balances.
Han Dong-fang, a Chinese labour-rights activist in Hong Kong, said Beijing's prophecies of doom appear only to have exacerbated local corruption.
"For the moment, the officials have positions and economic power,'' he said.
"They feel they have to hurry up, because otherwise they will lose their last chance to grab what they can.''
In the 25 years since China's market-oriented economic reforms were launched, the old Maoist notions of equality have steadily disappeared. China today has developed a large urban middle class and a smaller upper class -- complete with luxury cars, large houses and golf club memberships -- alongside hundreds of millions of rural dwellers who remain largely untouched by the growing prosperity.
Ironically, standard measures of wealth disparity now rank Communist China as far more unequal than its old adversary, capitalist Taiwan.
The National Bureau of Statistics says rural incomes last year averaged about $450 a head, less than a third of average urban incomes. And the wealth gap appears to be widening. Figures released on Monday showed that while China's gross domestic product grew by more than 9% last year, rural incomes rose by only 4% to 5%.
In the latest local protest, up to 70 people in Mei-shan, Zhejiang, were reported injured after police waded into protesters with batons and tear gas. When police later returned to arrest ringleaders, some locals went on a rampage, setting fire to a battery factory, breaking into government offices and burning police cars.
The Public Security Ministry recently admitted there were 74,000 protests of this sort last year, up from 30,000 the year before. Ominously, Chinese authorities announced last week the setting up of special riot squad units to counter local protests, which officials coupled with terrorism as an enemy of stability.
There was an article just like this one yesterday.
Does this mean they're gonna launch a war to direct feelings against whatever enemy they choose?
So, communist China's ripe for a communist revolution?
havent they indicated that this is their plan?
Ironic, isn't it?
The peasants need to move to the city. That happened in America decades ago.
The ChiComs are losing their touch. They're obviously not shooting enough people. WWMD? (What would Mao do?)
If the ChiComs were smart, they'd let Taiwan take over China, and let the Taiwanese show them how it should be done.
I wonder if you need permission to leave the farm...
Having 20 million young men with no chance of finding a mate due to the massive abortions of unborn Chinese women over the last 3 decades probably isn't helping any, either.
I wouldn't worry about this. Once all American manufacturers have moved their operations over there, the yokels will be too busy to riot.
There were over 1300 bombings in China last year.
I think this is the main reason for China's constant saber-rattling. The government wants to redirect domestic discontent into nationalist rage. Frighteningly reminiscent of 1930s Germany. Japan really needs to consider nukes.
Here is the prior legacy post on the setting up of the special riot police units:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1465809/posts
Dunno. They're inscrutable, they are. How could a simple round-eyed devil like me figure 'em out? Have to ask Jeff Head.
One reason there are so many articles coming out now like this is simply that there are so many riots. Even on official admissions, there are about 200 riots per day. In addition, the media are becoming more sophisticated about getting on the spot and photographing some, and perhaps also, are getting better tips on where the riots are occurring as they occur.
"Chinese authorities announced last week the setting up of special riot squad units to counter local protests, which officials coupled with terrorism as an enemy of stability"
Ah, good old oppression, mandatory for any communist regime. I think they've only seen the beginning of their problems.
And here is a very important point about China - it has not really been unified under its own people for a long time since the Ming; the history of modern China is essentially a history either of fragmentation under groups of territorial warlords or foreign conquest. The rulers of this country must be quite concerned when turmoil like this is increasing.
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