The yellow ribbon has become the symbol of the protest against the expansion of the chemical industry in Xiamen and yesterdays march has been remarkable for many reasons. Up to 20,000 people marched in a reasonable peaceful demonstration, asking for the local party secretary to resign. And then went home.
The march has been organized through mobile phones and the internet, by using up to a million SMS-messages to mobilize people. China Mobile must love those protesters, until of course the government ordered China Mobile to switch off they systems, reports John Kennedy on Global Voices. His minute to minute account of the demonstration shows how the local blackout of local media to report on the march gives the internet a free ride.
09：02：05 群众推进了5米。 现人群聚集在市府门口右侧十米处，警察三道人墙，僵持中。
The crowd has pushed forward five meters. The crowd is gathered about ten meters to the right of the city gov’t gates, police are lined up three rows deep, refusing to budge.
2 comments:
Blacking out the lines of communication is less confrontational than rolling out the tanks. Watch out when the Web goes dead. Anything is possible.
Fons, No other observations about this Orwellian phenomenon by anyone else? Silence at its loudest.
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