HONG KONG -
China has witnessed rising social unrest, mostly
involving peaceful demonstrations stemming from anger
over unfair government policies and illegal actions.
Recent protests have been sparked by the near-fatal
beating of a migrant worker, an illegal hike in taxi
fees and low wages in an electronics plant - to name a
few. These are but the tip of the iceberg in the nation
of 1.3 billion people where the wealth gap is widening,
corruption is widespread and the rule of law is far from
entrenched. For those who know their Chinese history,
this raises the specter of devastating peasant and other
revolts over the ages, sometimes cataclysms that have
toppled regimes.
In some cases, the situations
even deteriorate into violent conflicts between
protesters and police in a nation historically alarmed
by mass protests that could threaten the regime's
"mandate of heaven". These protests, just the tip of the
iceberg, have sent shock waves through the highest
echelons in Beijing, and the leadership now is grappling
with the best means to curb - and defuse - the
widespread simmering public outrage.
According
to an informed source, Zhongnanhai - Beijing's
government compound and the Middle Kingdom's power
center - remains divided on strategy and tactics for
dealing with social unrest. Some propose reinforcing the
police force in order to brace for a deterioration in
the social order, while others argue that to achieve a
fundamental solution, the authorities must improve their
governance and truly listen to the voices of the masses.
In China, groups that want to hold
demonstrations must submit applications to local
authorities, as they do in many other countries that
emphasize the public's right of peaceful protest;
peaceful public protest is one of the basic human rights
in China's constitution, but the people must get an
official "go-ahead" before taking to the streets.
In recent years, news about mass demonstrations
has been hitting the headlines.
In the latest
incident on October 18, 40,000-50,000 demonstrators
gathered before the local government offices in the
Wanzhou district of southwestern China's Chongqing
municipality, protesting the reported near-fatal beating
by an official of a migrant worker.
Less than
two week earlier, some 3,000 workers in an electronics
plant went on strike to protest low wages in in
Shenzhen, China's well-off special economic zone
adjacent to Hong Kong. The strike was unusual in itself,
since China bans virtually all strikes, and trade unions
must be approved and governed by the Communist Party.
This resulted in severe traffic jams for four hours in
downtown Shenzhen. In late July, taxi drivers in
northern China's Yinchuan city, the capital of the
Ningxia Autonomous Region, also took to the streets,
protesting steep charges that discouraged customers. The
fees eventually forced all taxis out of business.
In past few years, shangfang (petition),
a unique channel in China for lodging complaints with
higher authorities and seeking justice, has been
soaring. According to a report by Taiwan's Central News
Agency, the Supreme People's Court in Beijing alone
received more than 120,000 petitioners in 2003. The
report estimated that the number of petitioners
Beijing's central or ministerial departments received
last year might easily surpass the population of a
medium-sized European country. Other statistics show
that from July 1 and August 20, 2003, more than 20,000
people lodged complaints with the municipal Communist
Party committee in Beijing, and another 10,000
protesters sought redress from the party's top watchdog
group, the Central Committee of Discipline Inspection.
In the same period, more than 200,000 supplicants from
all corners of the Middle Kingdom flocked to the capital
for justice.
Finally, the central government
seems to have realized the magnitude of the rising mass
indignation and and is trying to find a way out.
Some propose reinforcing the police force, since
in most cases the police were far outnumbered by the
demonstrators. A news report by the party's official
China Central Television (CCTV) revealed on October 17
that Public Security Minister Zhou Yongkang had said the
police force should be strengthened to cope with the
fast-changing and deteriorating situation. As early as
mid-May, Zhou had issued orders nationwide calling for
police buildup, exercises and drills to improve capacity
for dealing with large demonstrations that could turn
violent.
Other officials think otherwise. They
regard the proposal to strengthen police and
paramilitary preparedness as a trick by the
public-security sector to exert pressure on the central
government for more funding. For these officials, the
only feasible and reasonable solution is to improve the
Communist Party's governance and listen to the voices of
the masses. In fact, there is much room for improvement
in governance on the part of local governments. In the
case of Wanzhou (where a migrant worker was nearly
beaten to death by authorities), the locals have been
plagued by high unemployment and steep property prices,
while officials appear to stand back and do nothing. The
Yinchuan incident - the strike that paralyzed taxi
service - was triggered by steep and officially
unauthorized charges levied on taxi drivers.
The
officials who stress listening to people rather than
bolstering the police say officials at all levels should
take the traditional principle "serve the people" to
heart and follow the party-plenum directives on
discipline, democracy, transparency and accountability.
At the plenum that closed last month, the party chief
and the nation's president, Hu Jintao, emphasized that
the Communist Party as the ruling party should try to
improve its governance and keep the interests of the
people - not the cadres - uppermost in all their
efforts.
In official parlance, communist
officials and cadres should serve the people as genuine
public servants and put the people's interests before
their own. In reality, however, they often turn out to
be ruling the masses with iron fists, rendering the
relationship between the rulers and the ruled much
tense. For the people in many parts of China, officials
are neither respected nor considered public servants,
but rather as self-serving fat cats. In view of this
widespread situation of official malfeasance and public
distrust, the Communist Party has been vowing to improve
the relationship between officials and the masses and to
curb and defuse rising unrest.
The pro-people
(as opposed to pro-police) faction also says authorities
should increase their communication with the grassroots.
Better mutual understanding reduces conflicts and paves
the way for a more harmonious society, they argue, and
both sides must make an effort.
Still, the most
important factor against reinforcing the police sector
is that China remains one of the few "tyranny countries"
for many people. According to Beijing's official
statistics, the country now boasts 1.7 million police
officers, 1 million semi-military (or paramilitary)
police and 2 million armed forces. Further reinforcing
the police could discredit Beijing's efforts to achieve
what it calls China's "peaceful rise".
The
public focus will be on how the current leadership
strikes a balance between the two options, as China
analysts say careful analysis of the situation must take
into consideration different views, precluding a
winner-take-all scenario.
(Copyright 2004 Asia
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