The number of unauthorized mass protests and gatherings in China in 2005 reached almost 100,000, involving over eight million people, according to Trend magazine, a monthly Chinese periodical. Over 3,000 of them involved incidents of violent conflict between the police and Chinese residents. Almost 10,000 were injured.
On January 25, 2006, China’s State Council released the Summary Report of Mass Protests and Gatherings in Rural and Urban Areas in 2005, originally compiled by the Central Committee for Comprehensive Management of Public Security. Below are details from the report:
The number of unauthorized mass protests and gatherings across the country totaled 96,408, with 8,208,600 people involved.
Bloody Conflicts and Injuries
During the process of safeguarding the social order and resolving the protesters’ issues, local governments, police departments, and the Armed Police Force had 2,171 conflicts with protesters, causing 6,107 injuries and deaths as well as a total loss of 32.7 billion yuan (US$4.1 billion) in property damage. Among them were 427 incidents in urban areas with 1,724 casualties, and 1,744 incidents in rural areas with 4,383 casualties.
The Casualties of Police and Other Government Employees
A total of 5,140 officers, armed police, and local government officials were injured or died in the conflicts.
According to a separate report from the Ministry of Public Security, there were 3,200 incidents of conflict between the police and local residents, with nearly 10,000 casualties. In Henan, Hebei, Shanxi, Hunan, and Guangdong provinces, the violent conflicts between the police and local residents totaled over 830, with almost 5,000 injuries and deaths. Over 270 police officers and armed police killed in the conflicts were honored posthumously, and over 4,170 officers injured in the conflicts were given awards.
Provinces and Cities with Severe Conflicts
The Summary Report revealed that a total of 182 large-scale (with over 5,000 people involved) protests occurred in 2005. Of the 1,327 regional and county-level cities with mass unrest, 12 provinces had the most severe conflicts, including Liaoning, Hebei, Shanxi, Henan, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Anhui, Chongqing, Henan, Xinjiang, Shandong, and Jiangsu provinces.
Causes and Trends of the Mass Protests{mospagebreak}
The Summary Report disclosed that 92 percent of the mass protests resulted from people receiving unfair or illegal treatment.
The last part of the report described the following new trends of mass protests:
- Participants in the mass protests come from many social classes, including retired communist officials and senior workers.
- (The mass protests) arise spontaneously, with mass organizations developing without a name.
- The protests are often held in the name of protecting people’s interests and their constitutional rights.
- People are against the corruption of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and government officials, and against the conspiracies between officials and business people; these protests are widely supported.
- Although the protesters claim to support the central government and the CCP, their protests aim directly at the current social system.
- The protesters openly demand to dissolve some local communist and administrative governments.
- Many social organizations, democratic parties and organizations are widely in sympathy with and supportive of the protesters’ demands.
- The media tends to be sympathetic and supportive of the protesters’ actions.
- The scale of the mass protests in both urban and rural areas is escalating. The protesters have a tendency to resort to violence.
- The political, social, and workload pressures on local governments, police, and judicial organs is increasing.
- The government is facing new pressures and challenges in maintaining a harmonious society.
- The attention and publicity that the international community has given to the mass protests have brought about [negative] impacts [on the society].
Translated by CHINASCOPE from Dongxiang Magazine (Hong Kong)