If one thing draws public protests in China these days, it is physical or cyberbullying of young people – and how officials handle it. In a society that prizes social harmony and feels pressed into political conformity, such protests are a rare window into what Chinese people really care about.
The latest protest involving school-age bullying began after a July 22 beating of a 14-year-old girl by three other girls in the city of Jiangyou. A video of the incident went viral on Aug. 2 and led to a quick documentary on YouTube (“Jiangyou Incident”) that drew more than 2 million views in a week.
Yet the biggest complaint was that police took two weeks to question the three girls who then received light punishment, raising suspicions. Nearly 1,000 people took to the streets in Jiangyou to question local authorities, bringing out riot police who wielded batons and pepper spray.
The protest’s slogans included “No to bullying” and “Give us back democracy.” But one comment on the documentary captured the zeitgeist in China: “I am shocked that in an age in which people only mind their own business, so many stood up and gave voice to a stranger.”
Such empathy hints at a deeper cry for accountability in a country ruled by one party.
“The crackdown on Jiangyou protestors highlights a major point of tension in China’s governance system: there is no effective channel through which people can seek redress when local governments fail to uphold public interests,” wrote Han Chen and Leon Li at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. “This means public dissent may be the only way to do so, even as such criticism is heavily censored and punished.” Cases of public dissent rose 75% in the first half of this year compared to last year, according to the China Dissent Monitor project at Freedom House in Washington.
In recent years, China’s ruling Communist Party has tried to tackle bullying in all its aspects, including doxing, or revealing personal details of a person online. According to one Chinese scholar on bullying, Wenxin Zhang, government’s programs aimed at primary schools can “build a more respectful, cooperative, helpful and safe classroom and school atmosphere.” Perhaps that same sort of respect and cooperation may someday bring democracy to China.
