I’ve just published a foreign policy-related post at Outside the Beltway:
The Chinese fishing village of Wukan is in open revolt against the Chinese authorities over the village’s land having been forcibly sold. One protester has died while in custody. The authorities are laying siege to the village.
In the course of a year there are a sizeable number of protests in China. Some, like this one which reportedly involves 20,000 people, are of considerable size. Some are put down by force.
This particular protest appears to have been caused by some combination of inflation (particularly the rising cost of food) and China’s property bubble. I think this is a remarkable development.
Occupy Wutan or Wukan?
Thanks. Typo fixed.
China has rather long history of protest and rebellion.
History, yes. But most living Chinese have no memory of a rebellion that threw the government out of town. If the siege persists for any length of time, the results could be earth-shaking.
@Dave Schuler
The same could be said for most great rebellions in Chinese history, that people with no living memory of such activities rose against their masters anyway. The Li Zicheng and White Lotus rebellions occurred after long periods of relative stability. China is not and has never in its history been as monolithic or united as certain individuals of the neo-conservative persuasion suggest in their attempts to create the next great bogey man.
” But most living Chinese have no memory of a rebellion that threw the government out of town. ”
Perhaps not the guy in the street, but you can bet the powers that be are very knowledgeable about the concept of losing the mandate of heaven. I suspect those powers are in a permanent state of agitation, knowing the history of the Chinese people and fearful that the lid will blow off at any moment.
Occupy WuTang Clan would be the most fun, I would think – lots of Kung Fu hijinks (see “The Kid with the Golden Arm”, for example) and probably a lot of dope and malt liquor.