New York Times
March 16, 2006

New report describes spreading pattern of “collective protests and group incidents,” and says relations between party officials and the masses are “tense, with conflicts on the rise.”

A startlingly frank new report from the Communist Party’s inner sanctum describes a spreading pattern of “collective protests and group incidents” arising from economic, ethnic and religious conflicts in China and says relations between party officials and the masses are “tense, with conflicts on the rise.” The unusual report, produced by a top party research group and published this week by a Central Committee press, describes mounting public anger over inequality, corruption and official aloofness and it paints a picture of seething unrest almost as bleak as any drawn by dissidents abroad. It describes a growing pattern of large protests, sometimes involving tens of thousands of people, and an incident in which a defiant farmer cut off a tax collector’s ear. The report warns that the coming years of rapid change ‚Äî driven in part by China’s plans to accelerate the opening of its markets to foreign trade and investment ‚Äî are likely to mean even greater social conflict. It makes urgent but vague recommendations for “system reforms” that can reduce public grievances. “Our country’s entry into the World Trade Organization may bring growing dangers and pressures, and it can be predicted that in the ensuing period the number of group incidents may jump, severely harming social stability and even disturbing the smooth implementation of reform and opening up,” states the report, “China Investigation Report 2000-2001: Studies of Contradictions Among the People Under New Conditions.” The study was conducted by a research group of the Central Committee’s organization department, which runs crucial party affairs including promotions, training and discipline.