h as studying or working hard. The Public Security Ministry warned people against participating in other demonstrations.
The reason? Partly trade, of course:
The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, on Wednesday published a front-page editorial urging local consumers not to boycott Japanese products amid the recent surge in anti-Japan sentiment.
The paper said that refusing to buy Japanese products hurts China as well as Japan. “China’s and Japan’s economies are more and more inter-dependent,” the editorial said. “To resist merchandise is destined to hurt the producers and consumers on both sides.”
But there’s a deeper reason: concern that the protests could get out of hand, and become spontaneous outbursts against the regime.
A major Chinese state-run newspaper has said in a staff editorial that the wave of popular protests against Japan were part of an “evil plot” with “ulterior motives,” suggesting that at least some elements of the Chinese leadership now wish to portray the demonstrations as a conspiracy to undermine the Communist Party.
The editorial, carried by the Liberation Daily of Shanghai on Monday, used the most strident language to date in an escalating campaign against the anti-Japan protests. Officials did relatively little to stop – some say they even encouraged – the protests over three consecutive weeks from late March to mid-April.
The authorities have now made it clear that they will not tolerate more protests and have detained some people involved in vandalism during earlier demonstrations, including 42 people Shanghai officials said they took into custody in recent days.
Officials are clearly concerned that the protests, if left unchecked, could evolve into a direct challenge to the party, especially as a string of sensitive political anniversaries approach in early May.
The Socialist Worker (!) sums it up:
During the Shanghai march, one 23 year old demonstrator claimed that the marchers were not simply motivated by opposition to Japan. “People are taking part in this march because they aren’t allowed to protest about anything else,” he told reporters.
There are signs of growing resistance in China. A riot broke out in the eastern village of Huankantou on 12 April following the police killing of two elderly women taking part in a protest against factory pollution.
Villagers fought off over 1,000 riot police, hospitalising 30. Official figures show a 15 percent rise in protests last year, involving over three million participants.
Faced with this the ruling party has a difficult balancing act. On 14 April a senior Communist Party official said that while he welcomed the anti-Japanese protests, “there is a state of concern, even panic, about whether this could get out of hand”.
Leave a Reply