The good news is that the government has refrained (for the most part) from killing their own people in these protests. But it has got to be a sign of some serious disconnect between the government and the people whose lives they are affecting. This dispute was over water access and two illegal dikes built by villagers to reclaim some of the water they used to have before development projects upstream either used it all, or polluted it.
quote:The explosion of violence in Bo Mei, between Shantou city, in Guangdong province, and Hong Kong, ended a three-month lull in unrest that has unfurled across the Chinese countryside in recent years, posing a major political problem for the government of President Hu Jintao.
quote:Authorities sought to bar journalists from Bo Mei, turning back two Chinese television crews and a half-dozen other reporters, villagers said. An official at the Guangdong provincial propaganda department, mistakenly believing he was dealing with a reporter from Chinese state-controlled media, said orders were that nothing should be reported about the disorder in Bo Mei. Learning he was talking to The Washington Post, he shifted gears and said an investigation was under way but officials had not sifted through the facts enough to comment.
quote:The killings were regarded as a frightening milestone in China's unrest; as far as is known, other violent protests -- more than 80,000 in 2005, according to an official count -- have been put down without gunfire.
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I'm glad the government has shown restraint, but wonder how long it will last. What if the people decide to stage a protest during the next Olympics, which will be held in China?
The government has had absolute power for so long and doesn't want to give it up. I'm afraid that China may soon see the people revolt en mass.
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The Power of the Internet: no matter how a government tries to censor, or a corporation cooperates with that government. Its Arpanet predecessor is what forced the Soviets to allow the Perestroika&Glasnost which led to the democratization of Russia.
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quote:An official at the Guangdong provincial propaganda department, mistakenly believing he was dealing with a reporter from Chinese state-controlled media, said orders were that nothing should be reported about the disorder in Bo Mei. Learning he was talking to The Washington Post, he shifted gears and said an investigation was under way but officials had not sifted through the facts enough to comment.
Gee, that makes me appreciate the free press. Really. It's just amazing the contrast sometimes.
It seems to me that the government has got to take drastic measures to improve the lives of the farmers and integrate them into the modern society that exists in the cities, instead of treating them as if they are the backward cousins that no one wants to talk about, if they don't want mass revolt.
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