The Foreign Service Journal, September 2012

32 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 2 zens. The Chinese people are rightfully proud of their na- tion’s accomplishments, but many young people, particu- larly the “Post-90s Generation” (those who were born after 1990, and so were not alive for the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown), do not equate the expression of discontent with government performance with a threat to national pride. A sense of pervasive unfairness in the system and de- mands for political openness, less corruption, and more ac- countability come not only from less privileged Chinese youth and workers, but also from members of the urban elite, who are increasingly rich, well-educated and wired. Although there are no publicly available official figures for the number of Chinese strikes and protests each year, non- governmental groups estimate there were about 30,000 col- lective protests by workers during 2011, including wildcat strikes in the Pearl River delta. Younger Chinese workers tend to organize these strikes to contest wages, demand improvements in health and safety, protest the mistreatment of migrant workers or ad- dress other workplace issues. Despite government at- tempts to stop them, and the fact that independent unions are illegal, the strikes continue. The State Department engages on labor issues with Chi- nese officials at a variety of levels, and we work and ex- change ideas with labor activists who understand that China’s transition to a modern industrial relations system that permits collective bargaining and independent unions will promote better conditions for workers and greater so- cial stability, avoid the economic disruptions caused by fre- quent strikes and help to build the new middle-class con- sumers that can drive China’s economy. By stressing this connection between improvements in human rights and the interests of the Chinese government in fostering social stability, we have sought to build bridges and trust with Chinese officials and Chinese workers. We offer diplomatic support for labor reform where appropri- ate, and technical expertise where desired. Jumping the “Great Firewall” The Chinese government has responded to the advent of the Internet and other new communication technolo- gies by attempting to control the content available online. But here as well, while China is a controlled system, it is not a monolith. The “Great Firewall” continues to filter the Internet in China and local censors troll theWeb delet- ing millions of pages and posts; yet the Post-90s Genera- tion and many other Chinese citizens have learned how to “jump the wall” to access blocked content and share it. With bipartisan support from Congress, the State De- partment and USAID have spent or committed $100 mil- lion to promote Internet freedom around the world. While media reporting about political strife or the cases of dissidents is strictly limited, reporting on “quality of life” issues, such as land and labor rights, is nowwidespread (ex- cept in Tibetan areas and Xinjiang, where muchmore strin- gent controls on information are the norm). Citizen reporting, including tough criticism of the government, permeates the Internet in China and drives social media sites, despite the government’s exhaustive efforts to delete it. A recent Harvard University study concluded that Chi- nese censorship is now primarily directed toward thwarting collective action, not suppressing criticism of the state, its policies or even its leaders. Ordinary Chinese citizens are using the Internet to im- prove their lives in myriad ways, from building businesses and taking online courses to connecting with far-flung fam- ily members. A significant number are also struggling against censorship and protesting the lack of a say in the way they are governed. And in some cases, they prevail. In early July, mass protests in the city of Shifang in southwestern China forced the local government to halt its approval of plans to construct a $1.6 billion copper plant because of pollution fears. OnWeibo, a major Chinese mi- crobloggingWeb site withmore than 300 million registered users, photos showed clouds of tear gas fired at demon- strators, and citizens reported that riot police had fired stun grenades in an attempt to disperse a crowd reported to number in the tens of thousands. Chinese reporters were reportedly blocked from entering the city, and the official media did not run accounts of the July 3 announcement by the Shifang local government that it would halt the copper- smelting project. Nevertheless, news, images and video spread rapidly on Weibo, even after “Shifang” abruptly disappeared from the list of frequently searched terms. Several media outlets re- ported that high school and university students had been the initial driving force behind the movement to halt con- struction of the factory, prompting a state-run newspaper to editorialize that high school students should stay out of pol- itics and study. The Shifang incident follows a number of other cases in which Chinese citizens have challenged local officials — with varying degrees of success — on a range of issues. In F OCUS