Wave of Unrest Rocks China
A wave of violent unrest in urban areas of China over the past three weeks is testing the Communist Party’s efforts to maintain control over an increasingly complex and fractious society, forcing it to repeatedly deploy its massive security forces to contain public anger over economic and political grievances.
The simultaneous challenge to social order in several cities from the industrial north to the export-oriented south represents a new threat for China’s leaders in the politically sensitive run-up to a once-a-decade leadership change next year, even though for now the violence doesn’t appear to be coordinated.
In the latest disturbance, armed police were struggling to restore order in a manufacturing town in southern China Monday after deploying tear gas and armored vehicles against hundreds of migrant workers who overturned police cars, smashed windows and torched government buildings there the night before.