Wukan Village – an open rebellion in China?
On June 17th, Lin Zuluan, Secretary of Communist Party of China (CPC) General Branch of Wukan Village, was arrested on suspicion of corruption. Several days later, the authorities released a video of Lin pleading guilty. However, villagers believed that it was a forced confession because Lin appeared unnatural in front of the camera. As a result, the villagers took to the streets to demand his release and started an open rebellion lasting over 80 days. The local authority gave the villagers until September 10th to end the demonstration or suffer the consequences.
The police marched into the village and suppressed the demonstration violently. Homes were raided, tear gas was used and rubber bullets were fired. The villagers retaliated with stones, bricks and LPG tanks. In the end, dozens of people were injured, and approximately 70 people were arrested, including five Hong Kong reporters.
Small Success in the Wake of Bloodshed
This is not the Wukan villagers’ first confrontation with the federal government. In 2011, the government seized and sold villagers’ land to real estate developers without providing compensation. The villagers and protest leaders, including Lin, organised demonstrations. The confrontation ended with a compromise, believed to have been a political bargaining chip for Wang Yang, the Secretary of Guangdong CPC committee.
After the protest, Wukan villagers were given the right to select their own Secretary of CPC General Branch in 2012. This development was termed the “Wukan Model.” Many people were hopeful for the democratisation of China. However, the Wukan Village serves as a small example of revolutionary success. While similar events occurred throughout China, expecting a nationwide democratic revolution is currently unrealistic.
Social media
Social media and the internet have played significant roles in modern day revolutions. For example, during the 2010 Arab Spring , the use of social media doubled during the protests. Social media and digital technologies provided affected citizens a means for collective activism to circumvent state-operated media channels. They also facilitated political debates and reactions, contributing to the Arab Spring.
In China, the internet is used differently. Both state and local media are used to propagate government ideas and deliver threats. If people turn to foreign media, the government will arrest them for allegedly “colluding with foreign hostile forces.”
Strong Leadership
Although the use of social media has impacted modern social movements, strong political leaders have proven to dramatically contribute to attaining revolutionary aims. The increased use of social media has had an inverse effect on strong revolutionary leaders gaining control and putting forth concrete goals. Meaning, the use of social media does not usher in change and organize the masses. The Arab Spring brought about significant change. However, its biggest shortcoming was the revolutionary body’s often poor ability to deliver concrete demands.
The positive impact leaders like Lin have had in Wukan speak to this fact. Although China heavily restricts social media, Lin’s arrest sparked the most recent demonstrations. Despite the state’s use of technology to broadcast Lin’s guilty plea, the Wukan villagers protested the unjustified arrest.
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Too many failed attempts?
Today, China resembles the Qing Dynasty. The restricted internet is comparable to the then closed harbours. The period after the British entered China was a period of chaos, and China could not rely on other countries for help. Therefore, the state had to use coercive tactics and close off the channel to Canton. Today, China maintains tight control of the people both to showcase its power to the global society and to prevent the people from rising against the state. Despite frustrations towards the government, citizens have little motivation to stage a revolution because of the state’s strict control.
However, the Wukan Village remains an exception. The power of a revolutionary leader, even one imprisoned, consolidates the people’s frustrations with the state. The government sentenced Lin to a three-year jail term and a fine of ¥200,000 (US $29,981). Lin publicly stated he would not appeal. Although the state maintains oppressive control of its citizens, the potential for small successes through leadership and concrete demands is possible.
Suspicion of corruption ? Could they be any more unsubstantial than that ? WTH did he actually do ?!
This goes a lot deeper, and has been an ongoing crisis for sometime now..
Those events sound familiar . I seem to remember reading about them a while back .
China is not free. Commies will kill a man for smiling on a cloudy day.
I smile on a cloudy day, and the police or government officials I've met smile back at me - not only that, they didn't kill me.
But then I must admit I don't do anything that would stir up trouble. I don't intend to start a revolution.
How are things going for you these days. Think they'll improve over the next 4 years?
The average Chinese person can only dream of all the opportunities and freedom we take for granted in this country. Just look at the income gap. The average income in China adjusted to US dollars is less than ten thousand dollars. China has more poor people in poverty than we have as total population. Thousands of Tibetians are still living in exile because they don't want to return to the tyrannical control of the commie bastards. China's ratings for human rights abuse is deplorable.
Buzz what I don't get is you spend a lot of time claiming Jews need to have their own land and freedom to practice their religion but you turn a blind eye to what the commies are doing to the people in Tibet. They want to kill their culture and religion. You see the danger of muslims taking over Europe but not the Chinese doing the same in their own backyard.
What's your point, Dean. Is it revenge? Is it that you want to nail me to the wall? Is it some kind of joy for you to make me uncomfortable here? Seriously, what's your point? Are you so fucking afraid of the "commies"? Why do you care? Do you also care about the Palestinians? Do you care about the Mauritanean slaves? Do you care about the Swedish girls who are being raped? Do care about what's going to happen in the USA over the next 4 years? What this boils down to is - What the fuck is your point? What is it you want me to admit? - that I'm NOT comfortable here? That I'm NOT living much more comfortably here than I could anywhere else on my meagre pension income? What is you want, Dean?
No, I tend to agree with much of what you say. I hope you are happy living there and wish you no ill will. I just don't understand how you can be so supportive of Jews religious freedom but don't care about the people the commies are oppressing.
Indeed, the news comes just two weeks after the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom unveiled its 2015 report, which listed China alongside 16 other nations as a “country of particular concern” for inhibiting the religious expression of its citizens. The report detailed various restrictions Chinese authorities have placed on Christians, Uighur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, and other faith groups, noting that “people of faith continue to face arrests, fines, denials of justice, lengthy prison sentences, and in some cases, the closing or bulldozing of places of worship.” Zhejiang’s cross policy also follows the recent jailing of a local pastor, Huang Yizi, who spoke out against the removal of crosses and blasted the government for beating more than 50 parishioners who gathered outside his church to stop officials from taking down a cross. Yizi was sentenced to one year in jail for his activism.