United by force
by Shobhan Saxena
The Times of India
12 May 2008
Many Chinese bloggers are a bit confused about what's happening in their country. Even as the Tibet issue rages on, the Uighurs revolt in Xinjiang and the ghost of Tiananmen comes back to haunt Beijing, the "patriotic" bloggers are wondering what's the fuss all about. Behind the veil of glitzy malls and shining roads of Shanghai, Beijing and some other showcase cities on its coast, China's rotting core has been on a boil for some time.
In small towns and villages, riots are a common scene now. And the government deals with the riots in the only way it knows to deal with social unrest: crackdown. In 2007, according to Chinese government figures, there were 87,000 "riots" in China. A riot in China could mean anything from an attack by people on police and local communist officials to protest rallies against pollution, corruption and poverty. (continue)...
by Shobhan Saxena
The Times of India
12 May 2008
Many Chinese bloggers are a bit confused about what's happening in their country. Even as the Tibet issue rages on, the Uighurs revolt in Xinjiang and the ghost of Tiananmen comes back to haunt Beijing, the "patriotic" bloggers are wondering what's the fuss all about. Behind the veil of glitzy malls and shining roads of Shanghai, Beijing and some other showcase cities on its coast, China's rotting core has been on a boil for some time.
In small towns and villages, riots are a common scene now. And the government deals with the riots in the only way it knows to deal with social unrest: crackdown. In 2007, according to Chinese government figures, there were 87,000 "riots" in China. A riot in China could mean anything from an attack by people on police and local communist officials to protest rallies against pollution, corruption and poverty. (continue)...
