Mass group incidents on the increase in China

The growth of capitalism in China (or “Socialism with Chinese characteristics” as Hu Jintao described it 52 times in his report to the 17^th CPC party congress) has been accompanied by growing social unrest, what is officially described as “mass group incidents” (ie riots). Frequently, these are responses to specific social problems, for instance land dispossession suffered by peasants, changes in business licensing regulations, perceived miscarriages of justice, or fraudulent advertising claims, unpaid wages or environmental issues, sparking off spontaneous outbursts of anger and violence.

An article in the London Review of Books, says that “the condition of China – its rapidly growing inequality, and the gap between the ukase-issuing centre and the decentralised, gangster-ridden periphery – is starting to look the way it did before the Communists came to power” provoking “under-reported mini-rebellions in which pissed-off villagers turn on the Party-approved local thugs who are running rackets and appropriations”.

But there is also a growing number of what are officially described as "clashes without direct conflict of interests”, in which the rioters are mostly unconnected with the incident which has provoked social unrest.

According to Baixing Magazine, “The numerous participants in these conflicts have no direct connection to the incidents themselves. They are there because of a public sentiment that is ready to challenge and doubt all existing policies.” This, says the magazine, demonstrates “a scepticism of everything”, proving that “the government has lost the support of public opinion”.

“Many of the persons who participate in these mass incidents do not have any direct demands of their own. They had been treated unjustly and unfairly in the past and therefore accumulated a lot of discontent.”

Such incidents have taken place in Guangdong, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and other developed areas. “For example, in Jintan city (Jiangsu province), there was a clash as a result of a dispute over financial investments. According to the investigation afterwards, 80 per cent of the participants in the mass incident had no financial stake in the affair. Most of them were just using the incident as a pretext . Similar incidents have occurred elsewhere. For example, in Chongqing and Anhui, minor street disputes triggered large-scale disturbances, and the participating masses had no direct demands.”

Participation in these events is not limited to those at the bottom of the social scale. Participants include enterprise owners, cadres at the divisional and departmental levels, company engineers, school principals, and so on. “As a result of being treated unfairly and unjustly and accumulating feelings of discontent over the long term, these people feel that they are open or hidden victims and they are releasing their emotions.”

In parallel with open street conflict, civil court cases are increasing in number, while fewer and fewer are being settled out of court. “The settlement rate for labour disputes is extremely low, as both sides are often intransigent. This means that tolerance in interpersonal relationships between labour and capital” [sic!] “is decreasing and the principals are more emotionally opposed to each other. In certain places, there are nationally prominent issues such as land acquisition, relocation and privatisation of state enterprises . . .

“The emergence of a large number of ‘clashes without direct conflict of interests’ is a warning signal. To a certain degree, it shows the likelihood that the government-citizen relationship has gone from mere quantities to a qualitative stage – the relationship between them is no longer the ‘fish in the water’ that we can only see in the ‘classical Red’ movies and books. In order to reverse this trend,” concludes the magazine, “the most important thing is to adjust the current distribution of interests while advocating anti-corruption, clean government and transparency of information.”

The rape of Yang Daili

A typical example of a “mass group incident” occurred in Zhuyang town, Dazhu county, Sichuan province on the afternoon of January 17, 2007, in response to the mysterious death of Yang Daili, a 16-year-old female student who was working in the Slow Rock Bar at the four-star Nest Business Hotel during her vacation. Two other girls and a security guard had died previously at the hotel, which was built as a joint venture by a local police chief and other local government officials with several tens of millions in investment.

It was said that the girl had been drugged and gang-raped by three officials of the local coal mine. The dead girl’s father, Yang Wanguo, said she had decided to leave the hotel as soon as she received her month’s wages, because “there were too many abnormal things going on in that hotel, including a lot of drug abuse”.

The hotel negotiated with the girl’s family and offered 500,000 RMB (UK£32,513 or US$ 67,306) to settle the matter, but this was refused. County party secretary Wang Wei addressed a meeting of more than 100 county officials and said that the death of Yang Daili was “no more important than a fart”.

Thousands (estimates vary between two and twenty thousand) gathered outside the hotel and it was set alight. People came from 35 kilometres away to join the crowds. Five thousand police were called out to control the incident.

After the people had calmed down, the Dazhou city party committee announced it had decided to suspend Dazhu county public security director Lai Jingsong for lack of effort and inappropriate handling and also Dazhu county party secretary Wang Wei for lack of effort and inadequate performance as local leader.

A barman at the hotel was arrested as a suspect in the crime and the chief of police was suspended pending investigations of his financial involvement in the hotel.

The promised compensation has not been paid to her family.