By Kent Ewing
HONG KONG – The official script has played out countless times like a poorly written, predictable television drama: spurred by malicious rumor and gossip, a gullible Chinese populace rises up against their well-meaning local leaders. The besieged leaders are the victims of outside agitators – “schemers” is the preferred word – who have manipulated ignorant villagers into believing that their land has been stolen or their water poisoned and the municipal or provincial authorities are to blame.
Pity the honorable victims; smash the pernicious schemers.
Just about everyone has grown tired of this hackneyed, unconvincing plot, and last week even the state-run Xinhua news agency called for a rewrite.
“In recent years, when large-scale [protests] happen, more often than not local governments have not done their job properly and have dealt inappropriately with problems,” Xinhua stated in an unusually frank commentary. “Blaming people for not having all the facts is no different from saying they are unable to distinguish right from wrong, and that is simply untrue,” it added.
Later in the week, the Southern Metropolitan News reported that Beijing plans to launch a training course to “help grassroots cadre better handle emergencies and avoid lax and worsening management”. Zhu Lijia, a professor from the party’s administrative school, will host the one-week course.
The professor has left “schemers” and “foreign instigators” off the syllabus. The central government’ efforts are an attempt to encourage a more humane, people-oriented management style in the provinces during challenging economic times and two months ahead of the 60th birthday of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
China’s top leaders do not want this milestone event – to be marked with fanfare on October 1 – undermined by further reports of mass protests and brutal crackdowns.
In China, protests are officially referred to as “incidents.” If more than 100 people are involved, a “mass incident” is declared. There were 80,000 such demonstrations in 2007, the last time state media published a figure for a national affliction the central government would like to see reined in.
It’s safe to say that every day, somewhere in China, an aggrieved crowd gathers in anger over a land seizure or industrial accident. It is only the most sensational of these protests that become “news” – and then often only if the country’s growing army of netizens spreads the word, forcing the hand of state media.
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