generalspeaking

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Protesting in Harmony

"The government hides information from the people. They are only interested in scoring political points and making money. They don't care about destroying the environment or damaging people's lives."
Luo Luan, Chinese protester in Ningbo, China

The Communist government of China is dictatorial to quite a degree. But its tyranny comes up short of the people's power to protest in numbers sufficiently large to concern Beijing, and to exert pressure on provincial governments whose decision-making sometimes comes awry of public opinion. Beijing is concerned about social unrest and protest. It has a collective abhorrence of social destabilization.

And so when thousands of protesters marched through the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo, the city government listened. The protest which led to crowds shouting and demanding that the mayor step down because they were enraged about the location of a petrochemical factory in the coastal district of Zhenhai, was of sufficient concern that the city government and the investor agreed they would not proceed with an expansion of the factory.

Infamously, such factories producing effluents, have polluted China's waterways. And inevitably many of the pollutants have found their way to streams and waterways, lakes and rivers upon which municipalities depend to provide potable water for their residents. As communities become more wealthy with the rise of a Chinese middle class reflecting China's growing prosperity, people are becoming bolder, more vocal and demanding.

"There is very little public confidence in the government. Who knows if they are saying this just to make us leave and then keep on doing the project", explained Liu Li, a Ningbo resident. The crowd protesting had difficulty believing their municipal leaders who pledged to "resolutely" agree not to proceed with the plant's expansion plans.

The protest had started out peacefully enough, although as greater numbers of people turned out to join the protest, authorities must have become increasingly nervous about the outcome. Which undoubtedly led to their use of tear gas and the arrest of participants. Which only served to enrage the protesters even more, who then took to demanding that their arrested comrades be released.

The country's leadership at every level is being placed on notice. The use of smartphones, Internet connections and the growing expectations of the population are putting them in touch with one another, and teaching them techniques of civil disobedience that worries their overseers. Who wish to avoid public confrontation and angry demonstrations, both of which are becoming more and more common.

Harmony is what Beijing wishes to achieve. Increasingly, there is less and less harmony. This does not bode well for the incoming administration. People are becoming impatient with their leaders. Demanding attention to their concerns, many of which are environmental in nature, the fallout of which impacts directly on their lives in relation to health outcomes.

Labels: China, Communication, Economy, Environment, Health, Heritage, Human Relations, Political Realities, Social-Cultural Deviations, Technology, Values