I am focusing on the Dongzhou killings of late to the exclusion of some of my usual blogging features (Friday I Ching; Sunday "Modern Love") because I feel a certain political urgency.  We bloggers need to do what we can to keep the story in circulation and keep the pressure on the PRC government.  I do not have overblown expectations about what blogs can do politically: we are not going to bring down the CCP.  But we can do a little; and we can show our solidarity with people in China struggling against the kinds of injustices the Dongzhou represents. 

    Below the fold is the full text of a piece I wrote for today’s in the LA Times.  Here’s a link. 

    For those of you interested, there are several more Dongzhou posts further down this front page if you scroll down.

LA Times, December 18, 2005

In China, it’s powerlessness to the people
   
      

By Sam Crane
Sam Crane teaches Chinese politics and philosophy at Williams College
and is the author of "Aidan’s Way." He blogs at
http://www.uselesstree.typepad.com.

         December 18, 2005

EARLIER THIS month, Chinese police shot and killed as many as 20
protesters (the numbers are in dispute) in Dongzhou village, near Hong
Kong. The use of lethal force was unusual, but the underlying
grievances were commonplace: powerless townspeople demonstrating
against local government practices that endanger their meager
existence.

Economic inequality is growing in China. It is fueling an increasing
number of desperate attempts by poor farmers and workers to hold on to
what little they have. In 2004, there were, by government accounts,
about 74,000 public disturbances nationwide, an increase of about 20%
from 2003. This year, several instances of government repression of
popular protests captured the world media’s attention. In Taishi,
Guangdong province, villagers exercising their right to recall corrupt
local officials were beaten and harassed. In Huankantou, Zhejiang
province, two elderly women were killed when police suppressed a
demonstration against a polluting factory. In Shengyou, Hebei province,
thugs bused in by party bosses set upon townspeople protesting a land
grab by an electric power company.

The list goes on and on.

Things will probably worsen next year because China’s legal and
political systems cannot respond effectively to the injustices
generated by greed and corruption.

In Dongzhou, local residents
pressed government officials for adequate compensation for land taken
to build a power plant. A stalemate was reached in October, when
villagers rejected an offer that prompted one to say: "To put it
bluntly, that’s not even enough to buy toilet paper."

Residents
began a series of sit-ins and demonstrations that culminated in a
standoff with riot police. They never stood a chance. They were
outgunned by authorities and outmatched by a legal system that does not
recognize nor protect their rights.

In China, farmers do not
have secure title to their land. They may gain long-term land-use
contracts, but government and party functionaries can easily circumvent
them. Should a farmer try to sue, he will find himself in a court that
lacks independence. As Human Rights Watch reminds us: "Party and
government officials routinely intervene at every level of the judicial
system in favor of friends and allies."

The underlying
problem is that China’s legal orientation is Leninist. Law is used in
the manner of the old Soviet Union: It is a tool employed to maintain
the ruling party’s prerogatives. Law is not a shield for the individual
against government tyranny; it is a sword brought down against anyone
who stands in the way of state power. Without the law to protect them,
the people of Dongzhou — and many other Chinese — have no recourse
except public demonstrations.

The problem is political as well.
Farmers and workers cannot organize independent of government agencies.
They cannot form political parties to define and defend their
interests. The ruling Communist Party strictly limits their right to
vote in fair and free elections. In short, they cannot bring political
pressure to bear on corrupt officials who use their positions to take
land and run roughshod over individual rights and interests.

In the absence of political accountability, the government can evade responsibility for growing inequality and injustice.

In Dongzhou, the first official response (no longer available on
Chinese media websites) blamed a few bad "instigators." No mention was
made that farmers and laborers have no political voice, no means for
redress of grievances. The police commander responsible for giving the
order to shoot has been detained for investigation. But even if he is
held accountable for his actions, he will be little more than a
scapegoat. The solution for Dongzhou is not better police work, though
that would help. A real resolution must include thoroughgoing political
liberalization.

A comparison with India is instructive. India
is poorer than China, but its resources are spread more equitably
across the population. China began its extraordinary economic reforms
in 1979. India did not turn to reform until 1991. Since then, however,
inequality in India has declined, while it has increased in China.
Looking forward 10 years, it is probable that the plight of the rural
poor will improve in India, especially given its economic growth of
recent years, while life for farmers in China will remain dire.

Democracy is a big part of this difference. In India, everyone can
organize and vote and, if they choose, defy national leaders. This was
most evident in last year’s surprise election victory for the Congress
Party, which was returned to government on its promise to respond more
directly to the nation’s poor. This does not mean that all the
country’s problems will be solved. But it does illustrate the influence
that otherwise powerless workers and farmers can exercise in the
political system. Poor Indians can wield a bit of clout against ruling
groups.

Citizens of Dongzhou — and Taishi and Huankantou and
Shengyou — have no such choice. They cannot bring effective legal
action against their corrupt overlords. They cannot organize
politically to change national policy. All they can do is take to the
streets to let Beijing and the world know that they are being excluded
and deprived. That is what other powerless Chinese will do next year.
And more of them will be killed for it.