Nothing about the riot in China?

[Tobra]

Looks like things are wound pretty tight over there.
China's riot town: 'No one else is listening' - CNN.com

Xintang, China (CNN) -- The authorities here are obviously nervous. My crew and I are sitting in a local government building being questioned by six propaganda officials.

One of them is scribbling down our credentials in a worn pocket-sized notebook. My producer, Steven Jiang, is talking non-stop to one officer who looks especially nonplussed.

We traveled to the manufacturing town of Xintang to investigate why thousands of migrant workers suddenly took to the streets just a week ago.

We knew the unrest was triggered by what appeared to be a minor event -- a pregnant migrant worker and her husband got in a scuffle with city officials and she ended up falling on the ground.

However, the ferocity by which this dispute exploded in a massive conflagration, pitting thousands of enraged workers against hundreds of riot police, took many by surprise.

The unrest seems to belie the image of China as a bustling economy going from strength to strength, enriching the lives of millions across the country, especially in the industrial south. But the problem is many people feel they are not getting their fair share of the rapid growth.

Since we arrived, the streets look relatively calm here. People are out shopping. Cars are on the roads.

However, the frustrations the workers feel is palpable.

We visited a job center and, for the first time since I started reporting in China years ago, workers approached us unfazed by our cameras. They were unafraid to vent their grievances to foreign TV journalists even as the police looked on.

The workers complained of the lack of jobs, unscrupulous bosses hoarding back pay, and corrupt local officials.

In China, with its one-party government, getting people to speak openly about the authorities is challenging and extremely rare, especially with the cameras rolling. It struck me these workers must feel no one else is listening.

Economic uncertainty is the root cause of China's wave of discontent. However, unlike in the Middle East, people here are not calling for a new government. What they want is a way to right wrongs and not to be forgotten.

We had been filming for several hours before the propaganda officials stopped us at a jeans factory to take us in for questioning. They told us Xintang had just been declared a special zone requiring additional permissions above and beyond our press credentials to report here.

We apply for new permits but, not surprisingly, they aren't granted and we are told we have to leave.

We need more video footage of the town so we negotiate a few more minutes of filming -- but we have to be escorted and are asked not to film the increasing security presence

Migrant workers had told us more police patrol the town at night. Unfortunately, we won't be able to see that for ourselves.

[G50-Love]

Are they still alive?

[sammyg2]

And yet so many people in THIS country want us to be MORE like China.
Go figure.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

and yet so many people in this country want us to be more like china.
Go figure.

+1!

[Rick Lee]

China might be more of thugocracy than we are (for a while longer), but they are certainly more capitalist than we are and they don't let teachers' unions ruin their schools. We could learn a few lessons from them yet.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

China might be more of thugocracy than we are (for a while longer), but they are certainly more capitalist than we are and they don't let teachers' unions ruin their schools. We could learn a few lessons from them yet.

They also don't tolerate immigrants unless they need their skills. Seems to me that most here want us to be more like China, not less. And at least their govt is up front about the lack of freedom that the people have.

[Rick Lee]

China never pretended to be an immigrant country. They use foreigners for skills they need, not some lofty melting pot BS ideal. In a lot of ways, China is more free than western countries. That sounds nuts to people who haven't been there, but you can do a lot of stuff there that'd be unimaginable in the west. Everyone in China knows the rules. You step out of line and you get your skull thumped. That's how it works and everyone understands where that line is. Some folks don't care about that line and they don't go screaming for lawyers or Amnesty Int'l. They take their lumps or they fight back until the police retreat.

[911pcars]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

China never pretended to be an immigrant country. They use foreigners for skills they need, not some lofty melting pot BS ideal. In a lot of ways, China is more free than western countries. That sounds nuts to people who haven't been there, but you can do a lot of stuff there that'd be unimaginable in the west. Everyone in China knows the rules. You step out of line and you get your skull thumped. That's how it works and everyone understands where that line is. Some folks don't care about that line and they don't go screaming for lawyers or Amnesty Int'l. They take their lumps or they fight back until the police retreat.

Watching too many kung fu movies? Your response is a mixture of fiction and fact. Yes, govt. officials are more free to be corrupt and to accept bribes. Yes, some Chinese businesses don't have a problem with identifying carcinogens in the products they sell to their countrymen and overseas markets. Yes, they're free to disregard intellectual property rights. Yes, the govt. is free to not enforce laws that harm their citizens. And they do. Lawyers in China? Ha. Chinese citizens taking their lumps is often a result of their complaints, not an option. There will be a tipping point when the people feel the govt. has gone too far. So far, not yet.

Sherwood

[Brando]

Just wait until the workers want to unionize... Wait, we'll probably never hear of it past the great firewall of china.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by Brando

Just wait until the workers want to unionize... Wait, we'll probably never hear of it past the great firewall of china.

It has a lot of holes in it. Just last weekend I got a Facebook friend request from a friend there, who had found some software to get around China's blocking of FB. When I went on her page, she already had a lot of friends in China. So it's pretty common. Besides, the real way of communicating there is via text message and everyone has at least two cell phones.