Officials say force not the answer to protests
Source: Xinhua |
December 28, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IN the wake of recent violent protests in south China, senior officials in the region say they have learned such situations can be best defused by immediately looking into people's grievances and refraining from the use of force.
"It is imperative for us to improve our work in response to complaints and claims from the people as ideas of democracy, equality and rights are taking root among the public," said Zhu Mingguo, vice secretary of the Guangdong provincial committee of the Communist Party of China, at a recent "stability maintenance" workshop.
Zhu compared poorly-run villages to apples that are rotten inside.
"The skin is red, but it's rotten to the core. Once the skin breaks, the consequences will be severe," Zhu said, adding that the recent series of protests broke out in "model villages," where grudges were simmering under an apparently calm surface.
He said local officials should "have zero tolerance" toward issues that residents complained most about and address matters without delay.
"We need to resolve issues of people's immediate interests and concerns in a timely manner," Zhu said. "We need to improve the conflict resolution mechanism to provide channels for people to freely express their concerns."
Zhu is the key government official who initiated the negotiations to end violent protests and a tense stand-off between police and residents in the village of Wukan in Guangdong.
Sudden death
Since September, complaints had escalated about land use, financing, and elections of village heads, prompting the villagers of Wukan to hold sometimes violent demonstrations in the city of Lufeng, which administers Wukan.
Earlier this month, police blocked off the exit from the village to intercept protesting villagers, whose anger was reignited by the sudden death of a representative while in police custody.
The powder keg was not defused until last Thursday when Zhu, in a direct dialogue with villagers, admitted the villagers' main requests were reasonable and promised a "fair and open" investigation into their grievances.
Zhu said the complaints focused on land use problems and the lack of transparency in the governance of village affairs, and it was particularly intolerable that village officials had secretly sold farmland.
"If the complaint is fairly addressed in the first place, would things boil up like this?" Zhu told officials attending the workshop.
He urged local officials to use microblogs and online chat services, as well as traditional home visits to hear people's complaints.
Meanwhile, Guangdong's police chief noted that the government should be cautious in calling on police to quell protests. He said officials should refrain from using police and, instead, try to use political wisdom to deal with protests.
"It is imperative for us to improve our work in response to complaints and claims from the people as ideas of democracy, equality and rights are taking root among the public," said Zhu Mingguo, vice secretary of the Guangdong provincial committee of the Communist Party of China, at a recent "stability maintenance" workshop.
Zhu compared poorly-run villages to apples that are rotten inside.
"The skin is red, but it's rotten to the core. Once the skin breaks, the consequences will be severe," Zhu said, adding that the recent series of protests broke out in "model villages," where grudges were simmering under an apparently calm surface.
He said local officials should "have zero tolerance" toward issues that residents complained most about and address matters without delay.
"We need to resolve issues of people's immediate interests and concerns in a timely manner," Zhu said. "We need to improve the conflict resolution mechanism to provide channels for people to freely express their concerns."
Zhu is the key government official who initiated the negotiations to end violent protests and a tense stand-off between police and residents in the village of Wukan in Guangdong.
Sudden death
Since September, complaints had escalated about land use, financing, and elections of village heads, prompting the villagers of Wukan to hold sometimes violent demonstrations in the city of Lufeng, which administers Wukan.
Earlier this month, police blocked off the exit from the village to intercept protesting villagers, whose anger was reignited by the sudden death of a representative while in police custody.
The powder keg was not defused until last Thursday when Zhu, in a direct dialogue with villagers, admitted the villagers' main requests were reasonable and promised a "fair and open" investigation into their grievances.
Zhu said the complaints focused on land use problems and the lack of transparency in the governance of village affairs, and it was particularly intolerable that village officials had secretly sold farmland.
"If the complaint is fairly addressed in the first place, would things boil up like this?" Zhu told officials attending the workshop.
He urged local officials to use microblogs and online chat services, as well as traditional home visits to hear people's complaints.
Meanwhile, Guangdong's police chief noted that the government should be cautious in calling on police to quell protests. He said officials should refrain from using police and, instead, try to use political wisdom to deal with protests.
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