In Chinese Uprisings, Peasants Find New Allies

[Clara T]

In Chinese Uprisings, Peasants Find New Allies
Protesters Gain Help of Veteran Activists

By Edward Cody
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, November 26, 2005; Page A01

In the process, Taishi has become a milestone in the peasant uprisings that increasingly are breaking out around China, generating open concern in President Hu Jintao's government and in the Communist Party. In Taishi's rebellion, outraged local farmers for the first time received help from outside political activists and Beijing-based intellectuals whose politics were shaped in part by the 1989 democracy movement.

The cooperation between local peasant protesters and veteran activists pursuing a national political agenda -- pushing China toward democracy -- was hailed by Chinese and foreign civil rights advocates as a significant advance. By helping peasants learn from others, they saw a promise of generating more democracy in China's village elections. And by aggressively promoting coverage in Chinese and foreign media through multiple Web postings and broadcasts of cell phone text messages, they thought they had found a way to pressure the authorities. Liu Xiaobo, a well known Beijing activist and writer, said on an overseas-based Web site popular with dissidents, "Civil elites working together with grass-roots villagers created a new method to safeguard villagers' human rights." He added, "Domestic intellectuals and Internet users have provided tremendous support and also brought massive attention among Western media."

<snip>

An activist leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Beijing-based community organizers had decided to lend support to Feng's cause soon after they heard of his challenge. For them, encouraging farmers to push for more democratic village elections was a longtime national goal, and Taishi seemed to fit the bill. They also reasoned this fast-growing region would be fertile ground, he said, because of its economic development and nearness to the relatively liberal atmosphere of Hong Kong.

<snip>

After a several-hour confrontation during which the number of protesters swelled to more than 1,000, witnesses said, an estimated 500 riot police drove up in several dozen vehicles and waded into the crowd, swinging their batons. In Internet postings, villagers reported five of their number were arrested. A 16-year-old youth suffered a concussion, they said, and an 80-year-old peasant woman suffered a broken bone and had to be hospitalized. The sit-in continued, meanwhile, with the elderly women still refusing to leave. Within days, their numbers grew.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/25/AR2005112501364.html

The WaPo covers the civil uprisings in China more comprehensively and in greater detail than they do in the US where the voices of the people are diminished or reduced to caricature in their coverage of Anti-War protests here at home.

[still_one]

1. If anyone understands the history of China

they would know that Democracy forced on China would be a disaster.

The article gives the impression that many Chinese people are uninformed, and need to be educated by these "foreign civil rights" activists. This is NOT accurate. They are well aware of what happens in the world. If you have CCTV9 on cable or satellite watch it. This is the English version of Chinese television which is broadcast worldwide. If you understand Chinese, then watch any of the CCTV broadcasts. These are available to the people in China, and the news reported is more open than ours is. In fact they are critical of many issues within China, from healthcare to mining safety.

China in many cases is more capitalistic than we are, and if you are under the impression that they are NOT informed, I suggest a visit

They have more satellite dishes then we do, and the internet access is readily available. Every major city has an internet cafes.

Do they have problems, absolutely, pollution, worker safety issues, healthcare, and inter-structure problems in the rural areas, but they are making tremendous progress, and most of their population is busy

They have a strong central government, which maintains order among the various groups. If the country broke out into civil war millions would be slaughtered. Look at its history, especially how the west tried to exploit her.

From the war lords, to the Japenese occupation, to the cultural revolution, to today, the progress has been nothing short of amazing, considering what they have been through

[David__77]

2. This is what I think...

I think the "pro-democracy" elites would just as easily clamp down on a restive peasantry if they were in charge. They are only using them. The best hope for China is for the central leadership to recognize that their only claim to government is that they allegedly stand for class justice and development. They have development, but they need class justice too. If they don't rein in class polarization, what can they possible say to the peasants to make them listen?

[Fovea]

3. A distant mirror

Note the astroturf, the use of bullyboys, the threats of undefined jail terms and loss of jobs.

Wow. This will end badly for the party.