Posted on 01/25/2009 3:20:09 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
China fears riots will spread as boom goes sour
Today millions will leave the cities to return to their rural family homes for the new year celebrations. But this year Beijing hopes the newly jobless revellers will stay there - to prevent a fresh wave of unrest in the cities
Tania Branigan in Dongguan
Sunday 25 January 2009
They surged into the grimy streets around the factory: first scores, then hundreds, then more than a thousand, as word spread and tension loaded the stale, grey air. The boldest overturned a police van and smashed up motorcycles, then tore through the building destroying computers and equipment. The mood was exhilarated, angry and frightened.
"It happened so quickly ... There were maybe 500 involved and another 1,000 watching them. People were yelling: 'It's good to smash'," said a witness.
But the riot late last year at the Kai Da factory in Dongguan, amid the grim industrial sprawl of the Pearl River Delta, was not an isolated incident. It was one of tens of thousands of protests, many erupting from the same mixture of economic grievances, resentment of police and swirling rumour.
The numbers have been climbing steadily for years. But as the Chinese New Year dawns and the global economic crisis deepens, the government fears that mass unrest could challenge its control of the country, threatening a communist regime that has embraced capitalism with spectacular results.
Today should be the highlight of the year for migrant workers in the country's southern manufacturing hub, but the hundreds of millions who have travelled home for their annual family reunion have little to celebrate. This is the year of the ox in the Chinese zodiac; a symbol of hard work and tenacity. But no one feels bullish as exports plummet and factories shut their doors.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Crap. Who’s going to build our stuff?
Being joined at the hip with China does have it's downsides...
You won't have any money to buy 'stuff.'
“That’s lice and chop tics. Speak chinese correctly.”
Don’t you know how to spell “rice” or are you just a plick?
Watch out Taiwan. China needs a distraction.
China, India, SE Asia have tremendous growth opportunities by just bringing their nations out of third world living conditions.
On their own? We were the market. They get cheap labor we buy on credit. How stupid.
With skills like rabbit farming, why would anyone want to go back to work at a high tech factory?
Believe it or not the world will go on without the US as the primary customer, you moron.
Hah, didn't Mao say that "all political power grows out of the barrel of a gun?" The Obama Presidency is a good example of leadership that rests on the ability to provide a good living. The Republicans were ousted because of a litany of mistakes, the Chinese Communists will hold onto power as long as their paramilitary, police and military units can control the population.
No, I think it would be more like: The kung fu guy yells "Eeeeyaaaa", and then you hear the "rat,tat,tat,tat," of what ever full auto weapon is being used by the Chinese army at this time.
Not a moron you need to look it up. A moron is one who would stand in line at a bank with a mask and gun whille robbing it. Kine of like those who think we are not in a death spiral. Maybe you could go down and open the Cuban market. Good luck in prison.
Go ahead and make my point.
A bozo is one who would not notice the guy with the gun and mask in line. Point made.
Nope - the politicians in DC are the ones who are the best at looting and favoritism, certainly not the brightest...
Altho I believe we have major major problems, I also know the rest of the world has far bigger problems than we do and the USD will remain strong for a long time as a safety play.
The USD will not become worthless at any time in the next few years. Deflation will ensure that, as well as the knowledge that while we are in deep doodoo, the rest of the world is in much deeper and stinkier doodoo than we are.
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