April 13, 2005

More anti-Japan protests this weekend?

The Yomiuri Online is reporting this morning that there is a wide and growing internet-based call for another anti-Japanese protest this weekend, this time in Shanghai.

According to the report, internet postings are calling for wide spread participation in an "anti-Japanese demonstration procession" in the city's central square on the morning of April 16th, but are urging restraint from violent acts.

Shanghai authorities reported yesterday in a scheduled briefing that they have not received any formal petition for permission (for the protest), but that the city government is closely keeping an eye on the situation and "has the abilityto protect the safety of all the City's foreigners and foreign enterprises."

Most everyone is probably aware that large protests took place last weekend in Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. (No need to rehash details on TLM, but fellow bloggers Joe, the guys at Mutant Frog and Coming Anarchy, as well as the Marmot, have all addressed this and related issues in detail.)

It is often aruged that the Chinese government has used anti-Japanese in the past as a political tool to strengthen its own hand domestically. Some observers might even go so far as to say that such behavior continues unabated. On the other hand, having gained control of the country in the past largely on a wave of popular rural discontent, it seems likely that the Party is very well aware of the potential danger in allowing public protests, even against Japan, spiral out of control for fear of popular backlash against the government. Such fears might explain the tight media control over coverage of last weekend's protests and the close watch over protesters by Chinese police forces.

By allowing these earlier protests to take place, the government might also have eased some of the pressure that has been building against Japan for some time now. Arguably, suppressing the protests, either through a visible dispatch of force, or the use of force could easily spark a backlash or at least added to that pressure.

But because popular sentiment cuts both ways, a balance must be maintained between allowing the people to exercise their frustrations, but ensuring that those frustrations do not escalate to the point of damaging the Party in some way, be it direct domestic opposition, or external international pressure generated through criticisms of Chinese behavior.

How far should the demonstrations be allowed to go? How widely shoud the media coverage be? And how effectively can such coverage be controlled? And finally, will the government allow this thing to take place?







Comments:
現在このオプシ
ョンを持っていないそ
れは他の店から購入
することが重要だならあなたは非
常に注意する必要が

Feel free to visit my web page: miumiu
 
Post a Comment

<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?