Security forces quell northwest China protests
Updated
Security forces in northwest China have used tear gas to quell two days of violent protests by thousands of people, some of whom attacked police with axes and iron bars. Reports from Longnan city in Gansu province say at least 60 people, including police and officials, were injured during the riots. The government said the protest was triggered on Monday by about 30 people whose houses had been demolished to make way for a new government building, in an apparent case of what's called a "land grab" by local authorities.
Presenter: Sen Lam
Speaker: Carl Minzner, China legal affairs expert at Washington University in Missouri and a former member of the Executive Commission set up by the US Congress to monitor the rule of law in China
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CARL MINZNER: I understand the particular protest in Longnan was triggered by the decision to try to relocate the administrative centre of the city to elsewhere and that triggered protest by individuals who were upset either about the economic impact of that decision to move or by the seizure of their lands that would take place as a result of that.
SEN LAM: Well, we've also had reports of people attacking police with iron bars. So they're either quite bold or very angry. Which is it?
CARL MINZNER: I think - I mean, I think it's certainly - it's a combination of both their underlying grievance that they're experiencing as a result of the economic impact that they themselves are going to be suffering as well as a lack of other alternative channels by which they might be able to obtain redress or express their grievances. These types of incidents unfortunately are on the rise throughout China.
SEN LAM: Indeed, as you say, the protests are not that uncommon in China. So do you think the Chinese Communist Party is more tolerant now towards dissent?
CARL MINZNER: I think they certainly realise that the factors that are going into these protests are very complicated and although on the surface you will often hear Chinese authority say these incidents are only the result of a few bad elements stirring up trouble, I think you actually do see Chinese authorities themselves realising that in fact in many of these cases the underlying grievances are very complex, economic grievances linked to corruption on the part of local officials and so in some cases they are in fact tolerant of some protests but of course when it rises to a certain level they will move in and crack down very hard.
SEN LAM: And do you think that the authorities are showing some restraint possibly because the protests are of a social and economic nature rather than political dissent?
CARL MINZNER: I certainly think that they are more - open political dissent in China is going to create some serious problems. I think that there's a little bit more tolerance for the economic and social protests but you also have a very serious dissonance in the Chinese system between central authorities and local officials. Even the central authorities themselves may be recognising that some of these local grievances are justified. That's not always true with local officials who see these as direct challenges to their authority and will frequently move in to try to suppress them.
SEN LAM: In recent times we've also had other high-profile strikes across China, including taxi drivers who spoke of low taxi fares, rising costs and collusion between local authorities and the owners of the taxi fleets. Is local corruption still endemic in China?
CARL MINZNER: Yes, and that's something that's certainly fuelled by a situation in which sort of all of - when political power is fused in the hands of just a few people in the local levels, that is an environment in which corruption and a wide range of other abuses of power can thrive and certainly that also enables local officials to cover up or prevent information from flowing to central authorities that might allow them to know what's going on. So in many of these cases, you know, the people who are - it's just as much a problem for central authorities who would like to address these problems as it is for the citizens themselves who suffer from them.
SEN LAM: And just briefly, do you think as the Chinese economy slows down that these public demonstrations and protests might be more common place?
CARL MINZNER: I'm worried that that's going to be the case. I think you've got - first you're going to have more dissatisfaction among laid off migrant workers who are moving back from China's urban areas to rural areas and are looking for economic compensation. You're going to see dislocations that are taking place as a result of the slowdown, you're already seeing some of those take place in Guangdong and then it's going to fuse with the sort of lack of other channels which is as folks have grievances they're going to look for places to bring them and if they don't have them, if you lack legislative or judicial channels which are open and would allow you to use those to try to bring your grievances, some people may turn to other channels such as street protests. So I'm a little bit worried that this may increase.
