About three weeks ago a high school teacher in China, Ms. Dai Haijing, was found dead.  She was determined, by local officials, to have committed suicide.  Her students found this unbelievable and they started asking questions and demonstrating, suspecting that she may have been murdered by her husband, a rich and well-connected businessman.  Roland, as usual, has sources and photos. 

    One thing has led to another and, on September 8th, a protest march of about 10,000 people was met by approximately 700 riot police.  Another of the thousands of demonstrations that occur in China annually.

         Others are writing about the case.  And there is a short, grainy, Youtube clip. 

    The incident is obviously hitting a nerve with central authorities, since, according to Roland, most discussion on Chinese web sites has been censored.

    Let me, therefore, add a bit of interpretation.

    There is more going on here than the death of a young teacher.  It is symptomatic of the broader, systemic corrosion of the people’s faith in the judiciary and government.  Corruption is so pervasive, and justice so subordinated to the interests of power-holders, that many, many people simply no longer believe that justice will be served when cases like Dai Haijing’s death come along.   I have no idea whether she killed herself or was murdered.  But what is obvious is that thousands of people in Rui’an do not believe that the initial police investigation was fair and impartial.  And they are willing to get out in the streets to show their displeasure.

     People in Rui’an, as in so many localities in China these days, have lost faith in their local government and legal system because of what they experience on a daily basis.  Repression – calling in the armed police and shutting down discussion on the internet – will not solve the problem.  Indeed, it only makes matters worse by suggesting to people that power- holders really do have something to hide.  The only way to respond effectively to the breakdown of legitimacy symbolized by the Rui’an protests is to carefully and conscientiously rebuild the efficacy and credibility of governing authority.  And maybe the only way to do that is for citizens to be given – or to take – a greater role in determining who governs. 

     Yes, there is a Confucian-Mencian take on all of this.  Mencius is best here, because he so clearly demands that rulers serve the interests of those that they rule.  It is only when prosperity is shared that government can be said to be good.   And only when the "forsaken ones of this world" are cared for, can a leader be considered a "true emperor" (i.e. a just and humane ruler). 

    In a modern context, an impartial judiciary is essential for governing legitimacy.  If people feel they cannot get a fair hearing, they will believe that power is being used to serve special interests and that they have no effective opportunity to gain their share of national prosperity.  And if the "forsaken ones of this world" – perhaps a young woman beaten and killed by her husband – are not protected, then the rulers are inhumane and ill-suited to their positions. 

    That, I believe, is what is behind the Rui’an protests.