Submitted by: Oscar Merlin

There is a recent article in the Wall Street Journal titled New Taxi Driver Strikes Test Chinese Authorities. What got my attention from this article is that it seems to me that China is growing a little bit more tolerant on demonstrations. All of the information at least conveyed in this article shows a structured way of handling the protestors. There are no police officers beating the demonstrators or anything in the like. It seems that the government has reacted quickly enough, at least on this issue, to make the modifications necessary in their power to appease the demonstrators.

But usually, when I think China and demonstrations, there are two stereotypes that come to mind 1) is the brutal China and 2) is the complacent China. The brutal China shows up when the government handles a situation badly and all of the protestors get beaten horribly by the police. Then you have the complacent China, which is somewhat like a teaser. The complacent China says “O.K. you can demonstrate for now”, and gives this little tiny bit of hope to Chinese citizens to think, “Hey! maybe after all we might be able to get away with a demonstration”. But, just in the nick of time the brutal China shows up and once again destroys any glimmer of hope that the Chinese people might have on this regard.

What are your thoughts on how China is handling its protests and strikes?