The latest peasant revolt

The Financial Times notes a new kind of peasant revolt, a coordinated effort in four different provinces.

They say the co-ordinated release of the four declarations is just the beginning of a movement that is set to spread across the country. According to a person who claims to have drafted the original statements (which were all quickly removed from the internet by government censors), thousands more peasant farmers in dozens of other locations in 20 provinces have already signed similar declarations and are preparing to seize land. If this happens the government will be faced with a real grassroots rebellion that could threaten its tight grip on power just as the world’s attention is focused on the Beijing Olympics.

Just watched last night on Dutch TV a item on the actions against the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Really very upsetting as the people pro and con displayed a total ignorance of what is really going on in China. China is changing very fast and this new kind of revolt is only one of dozens of developments that need to be closely watched.