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Anniversary China's excuse for a crackdown on dissent
The Australian - July 4, 2009
Michael Sainsbury, China – China has stepped up a massive security operation in preparation for the Communist Party's gala celebrations of its 60 years in power on October 1, but a growing number of localised demonstrations around the country are proving problematic.
Land confiscation, legal injustice, corruption, healthcare and almost any kind of social problems can lead to so-called "mass incidents" where citizens gather in often large numbers to protest against local authorities.
The security level for the anniversary in Beijing, which will host a number of open-air parades, will be higher than for the Olympics.
Students are angry that they have had to cancel booked holiday trips to attend practice and participate in the parades.
Alice Li, 21, a third-year student at the Capital Institute of Physical Education, will have to quit her job and put everything else on hold to attend practice. "I'm really furious!" Ms Li said.
Beijing high school student Jimmy Zheng said in an online instant message exchange: "There is nothing wrong with doing something for the love of your country, but I cannot stand being forced by my school."
The 18 districts in Beijing will start special measures to strengthen a crackdown on crimes, aid beggars and wanderers, examine security and hidden safety problems, solve social conflicts and strengthen control on "special groups of people", state media reported.
The push is set to be repeated around the nation's major cities.
The crackdown, the latest and biggest in China's year of anniversaries (Tibet, Tiananmen and 60 years of the People's Republic of China) has already covered drugs and prostitution as well targeting foreigners on non-residential business visas.
"Security for National Day is to a certain extent more complicated and challenging than during the Beijing Olympics, as it is an internal affair and we have to cope with the problems ourselves," Li Wei, director of the anti-terrorism research centre at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, told China's Global Times newspaper last week.
"Our leadership should keep a close eye on separatists from the East Turkestan Islamic Movement and some critical activists from the Tibet Independence Movement because they are likely to use this chance to make trouble."
But amid the self-perpetuating security clampdowns, protests are on the rise. In one of the latest reported episodes, on Monday and Tuesday this week more than 100 villagers blocked the entrance to China's largest scenic waterfall spot in Guizhou Province.
They were protesting against a government-mandated relocation program as well as employment issues. Police intervened to drive protesters away and the Xinhua news agency reported that about 30 villagers were injured in the clash and taken to hospital.
"The mass incidents illustrate the conflict between the official and the civilian – the opposition is more of a social status and mentality," independent political critic Mo Zhixu said. "It is a feeling of 'we and they', a feeling of being out of the system.
"The younger generation will be less and less accepting of the current way of governing. (Protests against internet blocking software) Green Dam is an example," Mr Mo said.
At a gathering in Beijing on Wednesday many young people were wearing T-shirts saying "F..k dam!" and "Damn it!" to protest against the planned installation of the filtering software.
"The rise of mass incidents reflects the worsening of social conflicts after years of accumulation and highlights the growing the distrust between the public and government," Beijing Yitong law firm director Liu Xiaoyuan said. "The government tends to suppress the situation and pays too much attention to maintaining stability, but this helps to intensify the situation. More suppression causes more resistance."
[Additional reporting: AP.]
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