Unsettling? Foreign Policy reports on how Russia, China...and the U.S. view events in Egypt:One of the principal bases of U.S. foreign policy under President Barack Obama has been to create as constructive relations as possible with Russia, China, and other great powers. The administration had some degree of success in 2010: notably the Russia "reset" policy and managing inevitable trade and other tensions with rising China. But 2011 looks set to be more challenging as events continue to unfold in Egypt after the mass demonstrations that ousted President Hosni Mubarak and as the United States, Russia, and China all prepare for elections in 2012.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/02/15/how_russia_and_china_see_the_egyptian_revolution
The Teaching Comparative blog has this:
The populist revolutions in the Middle East are prompting reactions in China. The reactions illustrate the fears of the authoritarians in China.
Well-Oiled Security Apparatus in China Stifles Calls for Change
Two months of upheaval in the Mideast have cast doubt on the staying power of all authoritarian governments. But in China calls for change are so far being met with political controls wielded by authorities who, even during a period of rising prosperity and national pride, have not taken their staying power for granted.
The nearly instantaneous deployment of the police to prevent even notional gatherings in big cities the past two weeks is just one example of what Chinese officials call “stability maintenance.” This refers to a raft of policies and practices refined after “color revolutions” abroad and, at home, tens of thousands of demonstrations by workers and peasants, ethnic unrest, and the spread of mobile communications and broadband networking.
Chinese officials charged with ensuring security, lavishly financed and permitted to operate above the law, have remained perpetually on edge, employing state-of-the-art surveillance, technologically sophisticated censorship, new crime-fighting tools, as well as proactive efforts to resolve labor and land disputes, all to prevent any organized or sustained resistance to single-party rule...
Chinese Move to Stop Reporting on ProtestsChinese police, citing newly enacted restrictions on journalists, have moved to forcefully prevent foreign reporters from covering public protests that have been largely nonexistent, establishing “no reporting” zones in Shanghai and Beijing and, in one case, beating a videographer and injuring two other reporters…
Why China Is Nervous About the Arab UprisingsAs protests swept the Arab world, toppling two regimes, the Chinese government has strengthened its elaborate security apparatus with crackdowns on human rights lawyers and activists.
On the Chinese Internet, anonymous calls for a "Jasmine Revolution" -- modeled after the pro-democracy demonstrations in the Middle East -- have been squelched by authorities. Words like "Egypt" and "Tunisia" have been blocked on some Web searches and social networking sites have been made inaccessible.
Unlike Arab countries with deteriorating economies, China has experienced rapid economic growth in the past decade. Is that keeping a lid on broad discontent in China? If that is the case, why is the Chinese government so nervous? Could popular protests of a similar scale sweep China in the near future?...Andrew Jacobs on The Takeaway Radio Program
1 comment:
Certainly the Jasmine Revolution is problematic for China. It is heavily involved in the Middle East and now, a country with a strong tradition of oppressive Communist rule is watching as the most volatile region in the world faces mass protests by the very people the government has worked to suppress, the masses - the young, liberal, affluent generation liberated by information technology and their connection to the liberal democracies of the west. Certainly, China's afraid that its own youth will get a similar idea. Unlike Russia, the Chinese youth fit a similar model as those in Egypt and Tunisia. Highly connected and dissatisfied with the lack of true free speech, the Chinese people have a perfect opportunity to rise up in a true mass revolt against the established order. Unlike in Russia where the issue of terrorism has polarized the Russian youth and brought many of them under the control of the Kremlin through groups like Nashi, the Chinese government is at risk of rebellion from its own people, one of the main reasons China fears the revolts in the Middle East so much.
The United States hopefully will use this to its advantage and push for greater political reform in China.
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