Back on August 24, weeks before people would double down on Diaoyu Islands senselessness, four protesters took to the streets in Shenzhen to urge "civilized patriotism, rational Japanese resistance." Three of them wore swimwear -- bikinis for the two girls, briefs for the man -- and attracted attention as much for their message as their appearance. We posted about it here, with a video.
Has unrest again hit Foxconn? New York-based advocacy group China Labor Watch reports that yesterday at about 1 pm in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, “three to four thousand production workers” went on strike after Foxconn demanded they work holidays and “raised overly strict demands on product quality without providing worker training for the corresponding... Read more »
On September 16, a man protesting demolition-relocation in Lianhua City in Changsha, Hunan province was crushed to death under a steamroller, possibly by order of the deputy mayor, as reported by KDNet on Sunday. The incident was posted onto Sina Weibo on Monday, where it has since been forwarded more than 16,000 times, eliciting comments such as, “Why should we... Read more »
On September 15 in Xi’an, Shanxi province, an anti-Japanese protest got so out of hand that a Chinese man was partially paralyzed when someone clobbered him over the head with a piece of steel. Fifty-one-year-old Li Jianli’s only crime? Driving a Toyota Corolla with his family. His wife futilely pleaded with the mob, “It was wrong of... Read more »
The Wukan protests that began last year over illegal land seizure might have seemed, at the start, unspectacular, merely another in the hundreds of rallies that happen every year in China. But with each passing day — and each development reported breathlessly by embedded reporters — the demonstrations revealed themselves to be a bit more... Read more »
Picture via Beijing Youth Daily The violence and protests have been stowed away like a jack-in-the-box, some novelty toy to be brought back out at another politically opportune time. The carnival’s over, folks. Time to go home. But there’s a thing about violence. You might know it. Violence owes fealty to no one and nothing, and can... Read more »
On Tuesday, while most protesters were gathering around the Japanese embassy, about 50 people splintered off toward the US embassy, where they happened to catch Ambassador Gary Locke in his official black embassy car. Police very quickly came streaming in from two directions and walked the car down the street, where it took the next left and disappeared. The vehicle sustained minor damages. All else was peaceful.
The more I think about it, the more I want to believe these anti-Japan protests are just an excuse for people to catch some fresh air and blow off steam. The genuine anger in some parts isn't reflected in the above video, taken today by Jacob of BeijingShenghuo (who you'll remember took this video of Saturday's more volatile protests). The chants of "Little Japan, fuck your mother" are said so nonchalantly that a spectator who doesn't know Chinese could confuse this gathering for a high school prep rally. Look at all the people recording with cell phones: they're not angry; they're curious.
Global Voices reports that according to the Chinese NGO Canyu, “three human rights activists were arrested in September 16, 2012, during the anti-Japan protest.” Quoting a translated Canyu post: (Canyu’s news brief on 16 September 2012) This morning, the grand anti-Japan rally took place in the Shenzhen downtown area, around Huaqiang North and Citizen Center. Shenzhen... Read more »
No two protests are ever the same, as the above video will show. In Changsha, people flip cars. In Dali, they sing the national anthem. In Qingdao, they chant. (Actually, they sing and chant everywhere, but you know what I mean.) There are a lot of banners that read “Japanese Devils,” a term that originates... Read more »
