China Herald: Taking the masses serious

Xinhua news agency,
his masters' voice
via WikipediaA leading voice in China's media scene Huang Gu (also in Xinhua, so leading in a double way) targets the out-of-date way local officials denounce the more frequent uprisings in their localities. According to the Wall Street Journal:

In China, there’s a long tradition of using Cultural Revolution-style stock phrases to marginalize protest activities and those who engage in them. Unrest is predictably blamed on “a small group of people with ulterior motives,” “evil forces plotting behind the scenes,” and “masses who don’t know the truth.” These phrases are regularly reprinted in the state media—this year, they have been used to describe protests against the Olympic torch relay, the Weng’an riots in June and unrest in the northwest city of Longnan last month, among many others.

Huang Gu advises to take those masses a bit more serious as they take to the streets.

“The masses have the right to understand the truth, so the appearance of situations where the masses ‘don’t know the truth’ is truly a dereliction of duty by local powers,” writes Huang. “Therefore, when some places are struck and attacked by “masses who don’t know the truth” those in power should first look into their own deficiencies.”

More at the Wall Street Journal.

Commercial
Reading China's media is an art in itself. At the China Speakers Bureau we ha