Editorial: China totters on the brink of chaos

[bemildred]

The mass protests that have been occurring in China of late not only pose a serious challenge to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but have seen an escalation in both their scale and frequency. Accor-ding to the CCP magazine Outlook, there were more than 58,000 mass protests throughout China last year, an average of 160 a day. Police reports also indicate that these protests are becoming ever more serious, and that the frequency of attacks on government officials is also increasing. Events in the past month have been cause for concern.

Almost 10,000 people took to the streets of Bangfo city, Anhui Province, gathering on the city's main thoroughfares as part of a demonstration that brought traffic in the city to a standstill. They were protesting the fact that pensions were rising below the rate of the increase in the cost of living, making it more and more difficult to get by. In Zhongmou county, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, conflict between the Han Chinese and Hui Muslim minority broke out at the end of last month, when thousands of Chinese farmers surrounded a Hui village and began a bloody attack that was only stopped when officials declared martial law in the area. This had all originated in an accident in which a Hui driver had hit and killed a Chinese.

Taipei Times

[yardwork]

1. Maybe we'll all go together when we go

[hatrack]

4. Every Hottentot and every Eskimo . . .

We will all go simultaneous
When the air becomes uranious\
Yes, we'll all go together when we go . . .

[Benhurst]

2. Looks to me like those people need a good dose of

BushAmerican style democracy. Quit complaining, people, and move on. There's nothing to see. Maybe we can send in troops to back up their government. As the leader said, "Let freedom reign!"

[izzie]

3. I thought they were rioting about national oil?

The govt. let business start up some oil companies and drilling and they said it was so important an item that it would have to be put into govt. hands. Some were very unhappy. I think China gets a lot of oil from Indo-China(what are the names now of that country?) and from these new wells.War and oil are a world war thing I guess.

[kostya]

5. How reliable and unbiased is the Taipei Times? Don't they

hate the guts of any mainland Chinese government official? - K

[bemildred]

6. Yeah, I don't know that this is a dispassionate assessment.

But interesting.