The words "people power" and China are not generally associated. We are accustomed to thinking of China as an authoritarian state in which the will of the people is crushed or, at best, silenced by lightning economic growth and improving living standards. To be sure, the country has its fair share of tyranny and censorship, as well as rice and shopping malls (the modern Chinese equivalent of bread and circuses.) But there is more going on besides.
Take recent events in Xinjiang province. There, tens of thousands of Han Chinese protesters have poured on to the streets of Urumqi demanding the head of Wang Lequan, regional Communist party chief. Anger has been prompted by a bout of syringe stabbing attacks blamed on the Uighur minority, as well as by the authorities' perceived timid response to July ethnic riots in which 197 people, mainly Han, were killed. The government responded by offering up the scalp of Urumqi city's party secretary and Xinjiang's chief of police, though not yet that of Mr Wang, a politburo bigwig.
You have viewed your allowance of free articles. If you wish to view more, click the button below.
Read Full Article »
