• Chinese village revolts, demands free elections after attempted state land grab
    26 replies, posted
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lC1Stw-pVQ[/media] [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-21664991]BBC link for when the youtube upload inevitably gets taken down[/url] [t]http://imgkk.com/i/6kad.jpg[/t] [t]http://imgkk.com/i/vn5_.jpg[/t] [url]http://www.npr.org/2013/03/05/173495434/chinese-farmers-fight-against-government-land-grab[/url] [quote]The road that runs along the edge of Shangpu village in south China is littered with the hulks of burned-out cars. Farmers have built tents and simple barricades made of rocks and wire. Police have set up their own cordon in a standoff that is approaching two weeks. The villagers are demanding free elections following yet another government land grab. They say armed thugs sent by their own village chief attacked the community to pave the way for a new factory on their farmland. This is the second uprising of its kind in Guangdong province in 15 months. The stalemate comes at an awkward time as China's rubber-stamp Parliament opened its annual meeting Tuesday in Beijing. Despite China's tremendous economic progress, the episode underscores the country's continued lack of rule of law and political accountability.[/quote] [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-21666145[/url] [quote]Shangpu descended into violence when a group of men turned up, seemingly intent on forcing the 3,000 or so villagers who live here to fall in line and accept the sale of some of their farmland to a developer. The locals [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FcHRGBYqbE]fought back[/url], forced the attackers to leave and are now manning their own makeshift checkpoints on every road into the village. The say their unelected village chief illegally signed the land deal on their behalf at a rock bottom price without proper consultation.[/quote] Looks very similar to the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wukan_protests]Wukan uprising[/url], in which the government actually buckled and allowed free council elections. Just pointing this out because when that happened, a lot of people were predicting they'd all be killed Tiananmen-style but clearly China is not prepared to do that sort of thing any more. This bit in the BBC article is fucking foreboding as shit: [quote]Fifteen months ago, not far from Shangpu, the village of Wukan erupted over similar accusations of illegal land expropriation. And there are many thousands of other protests, albeit on a smaller scale, each year. For now, these protests remain disconnected, but may one day present a wider challenge.[/quote] Also, NPR's reporter has [url=http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/03/06/173616298/how-to-sneak-into-a-chinese-village-when-police-dont-want-you-there]a blog piece[/url] about how he snuck into the village despite the police cordon
A democratic China is both good for their people and terrifying for the rest of the world.
A lot of people have been predicting massive social unrest in china due to the fact that such an absurd amount of the country's wealth is concentrated in a very thin line along the eastern coast while the vast majority of the country is struggling with abject poverty.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;39821739]A democratic China is both good for their people and terrifying for the rest of the world.[/QUOTE] Why? I will rate winner if there is a good reason!!
[QUOTE=smurfy;39821756]Why? I will rate winner if there is a good reason!![/QUOTE] China is an economic titan that will dominate the world if only it gave itself freedom. Its oppressive government really holds back a lot of China's potential.
[QUOTE=Blanketspace;39821746]A lot of people have been predicting massive social unrest in china due to the fact that such an absurd amount of the country's wealth is concentrated in a very thin line along the eastern coast while the vast majority of the country is struggling with abject poverty.[/QUOTE] Well this will not be the last time social unrest occurs in China. There was one similar protest that occurred in 2011, which led to the death of one village representative, which caused things to explode. [URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wukan_protests[/URL] However it actually ended with democratic elections lol.
[QUOTE=Swebonny;39821821]Well this will not be the last time social unrest occurs in China. There was one similar protest that occurred in 2011, which led to the death of one village representative, which caused things to explode. [URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wukan_protests[/URL] However it actually ended with democratic elections lol.[/QUOTE] Smurfy already has that wikipedia link in the OP :v: x1 Bad Reading
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;39821775]China is an economic titan that will dominate the world if only it gave itself freedom. Its oppressive government really holds back a lot of China's potential.[/QUOTE] I doubt it with freedom comes more information and when they realise that they have been mistreated to the extent that they have they will ask for wage hikes etc.. the main factor that pushes China's strength is its low labor costs. Take that away and companies will try and find cheaper alternatives hampering growth to an unknown degree.
In theory, the Chinese political system allows local elections at a community level... In practice, I'm honestly don't know if it's done or not. Note to the "country's wealth is concentrated in a very thin line along the eastern coast", although that is true, the Chinese government is trying to move that wealth inland for more equality. Unfortunately it upsets the coastal cities that are taxed but not receiving the proper amount of services in return. It's a fairly problematic issue to the government. Since there is less wind (due to less effect from ocean currents) in the inland cities, the air pollution is made much worse when factories are relocated inland as well.
[QUOTE=skifer;39821878]I doubt it with freedom comes more information and when they realise that they have been mistreated to the extent that they have they will ask for wage hikes etc.. the main factor that pushes China's strength is its low labor costs. Take that away and companies will try and find cheaper alternatives hampering growth to an unknown degree.[/QUOTE] Yes but china's economy is still stronger overall than the US, so it would have a headstart on superpower-dom in today's economy
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;39821775]China is an economic titan that will dominate the world if only it gave itself freedom. Its oppressive government really holds back a lot of China's potential.[/QUOTE] Does political freedom correlate with economic growth?
[QUOTE=Sobotnik;39822152]Does political freedom correlate with economic growth?[/QUOTE] I would believe so.
[QUOTE=Sobotnik;39822152]Does political freedom correlate with economic growth?[/QUOTE] I think it's more that political freedom correlates with globalization. China hasn't globalized on the massive scale that the US has (that is, putting it's noodley tentacles in everybody else' business), whether it be through military intervention, commerical investment, government sanctions, etc. If china tried to do something like this [i]without[/i] political freedom, it'd be easy to condemn them as evil communist bastards. If china has a congress like america's, then it's hypocritical for the US to condemn china doing exactly what the US does.
[QUOTE=Sobotnik;39822152]Does political freedom correlate with economic growth?[/QUOTE] No. Example, Soviet Union during 1920/30s, China during the 1980/1990s to today, etc. Personally, I believe modern politics is not adapting fast enough to the speed of technological growth and the changing social factors that come with it. Traditional capitalism (prior to Reaganomics) worked (from an economic perspective) 70+ years ago, Communism worked (again, from an economic perspective) between the 1920s and the 1970s when there was a need for rapid industrialization. But neither ideologies were "written" for today's social-economic mix.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;39821775]China is an economic titan that will dominate the world if only it gave itself freedom. Its oppressive government really holds back a lot of China's potential.[/QUOTE] I was under the impression that China's economic growth was artificial and will not last long?
its pretty obvious that china will probably have eventually a bloody civil war if the chinese goverment continues to be oppressive as hell like that.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;39821775]China is an economic titan that will dominate the world if only it gave itself freedom. Its oppressive government really holds back a lot of China's potential.[/QUOTE] A large portion of China's success comes from the government doing all it can to make it a better environment for corporations and business (currency manipulation, lack of environmental and safety regulations, ect.) If democracy took over in China it may actually harm their economy more than help it. It would still be massive though. We have far more democracy and political freedom in the west, but people here demand to address other issues. That limits the economy. Political Freedom doesn't mean Economic Freedom.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;39821775]China is an economic titan that will dominate the world if only it gave itself freedom. Its oppressive government really holds back a lot of China's potential.[/QUOTE] If I'm right ( which I might not be) a lot of China's production advantages are illegal or badly thought out, and their government purposefully overlooks them because a) they can do what they want and b) it gives them a shitload of money. If they went into a democracy, then they would have to do something about pollution, which would involve shutting down half the factories in the country, which cuts down on their profits. Then they would have to do something about the sweat shops that so many companies use to make money, which would again cut into their profits. It seems that at this point, it's either a strong economy or happy people.
They will be broken.
[QUOTE=Electrocuter;39822832]I was under the impression that China's economic growth was artificial and will not last long?[/QUOTE] Are you assuming their entire economy is based on a few empty cities? Please ... edit I'm guessing that's what you are referring too, since that seems to be what everyone are referring too when they talk about "artificial" economic growth.
[QUOTE='[sluggo];39822923']A large portion of China's success comes from the government doing all it can to make it a better environment for corporations and business (currency manipulation, lack of environmental and safety regulations, ect.) If democracy took over in China it may actually harm their economy more than help it. It would still be massive though. We have far more democracy and political freedom in the west, but people here demand to address other issues. That limits the economy. Political Freedom doesn't mean Economic Freedom.[/QUOTE] If China turns into a democracy, its economy is going to blow out for a short while. But that [I]always[/I] comes with [I]every[/I] major change in government for [I]any[/I] country. Once it rebounds, it will be unstoppable.
[QUOTE=prooboo;39822137]Yes but china's economy is still stronger overall than the US, so it would have a headstart on superpower-dom in today's economy[/QUOTE] No it isn't. Our economy is still over two times theirs, along with the fact that we have more diverse resources and production than them. A lot of consumer shit comes from China, but that's pretty much it. And they're so dependent on other nations, that just any form of dip that causes production to decline has a massive effect on them. They can barely feed themselves, and that's with a large amount of imports.
someone tell axl rose [I]it's happening[/I]
[QUOTE=Paul McCartney;39823513]They can barely feed themselves, and that's with a large amount of imports.[/QUOTE] Do you literally mean feed, as in they can't feed their people and what they import the most is food?
[I]Town? What town? I don't know what revolt you are talking about? That place you refer to is an abandoned mining town we are in the process of demolishing.[/I]
[QUOTE=MIPS;39824921][I]Town? What town? I don't know what revolt you are talking about? That place you refer to is an abandoned mining town we are in the process of demolishing.[/I][/QUOTE] [I]Taiwan? Oh, they just like to pretend they're their own country. They're ours. Promise.[/I]
[QUOTE=MIPS;39824921][I]Town? What town? I don't know what revolt you are talking about? That place you refer to is an abandoned mining town we are in the process of demolishing.[/I][/QUOTE] [i]The village is actually a mock-up. We're using it as a military training ground, and the people there are just actors. Pinky-swear.[/i]
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