By Erik Eckholm

June 2, 2001

BEIJING, June 2 - A startlingly frank new report from the [party' name omitted] Party's inner sanctum describes a spreading pattern of "collective protests and group incidents" arising from economic, ethnic and religious conflicts in China and says relations between party officials and the masses are "tense, with conflicts on the rise."

The unusual report, produced by a top party research group and published this week by a Central Committee press, describes mounting public anger over inequality, corruption and official aloofness and it paints a picture of seething unrest almost as bleak as any drawn by dissidents abroad. It describes a growing pattern of large protests, sometimes involving tens of thousands of people, and an incident in which a defiant farmer cut off a tax collector's ear.

The report warns that the coming years of rapid change - driven in part by China's plans to accelerate the opening of its markets to foreign trade and investment - are likely to mean even greater social conflict. It makes urgent but vague recommendations for "system reforms" that can reduce public grievances.

[...]

To make the study, researchers visited several provinces and worked with other party scholars to review trends in 11 provinces. The 308-page report cites growing social and economic inequality and official corruption as over-arching sources of discontent. The income gap is approaching the "alarm level," it says, with disparities widening between city and countryside, between the fast-growing east coast and the stagnant interior, and within urban populations. The report describes corruption as "the main fuse exacerbating conflicts between officials and the masses."

Protests of all kinds have become more common as China changes from a state-run economy - a risky course the leadership feels is necessary to China's long-term growth - and as the public becomes more assertive about rights.

Workers laid off from failing state enterprises have protested misuse of company assets by managers and failure to pay pensions and living stipends. Farmers angered by unbearable taxes and callous officials have had numerous deadly encounters with the police.

[...]

The study was intended, its introduction says, to analyze the causes of growing popular unrest and to propose countermeasures, and its findings reflected special research in selected provinces.

Its somber analysis contrasts starkly with the upbeat messages generally offered in official speeches and newspapers, and it is unclear why central party officials broke with the tradition of suppressing sensitive information.

[...]

The report provides no estimate of the number of disturbances, but its strong language suggests that the scale of demonstrations and riots has been greater than revealed by the official press or in reports abroad.

While security agencies have not been able to prevent such incidents, they have so far prevented disaffected workers and farmers in different regions from linking up and forming networks that could pose an organized challenge to [party' name omitted] rule.

The government's response to unrest has been two-pronged: containment and reform. In well-publicized speeches last year, President Jiang and others described the need to "nip in the bud" any threats to social stability, which in practice has meant stricter policing of dissenters and tighter curbs on publishing.

[...]

This week, the commander of the People's Armed Police, the paramilitary anti-riot force, told his troops that they must step up preparations to control "sudden incidents" and improve coordination with local police forces.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/03/world/03CHIN.html

Posting date: 6/6/2001
Original article date: 6/2/2001
Category: News & Media Reports

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