The Tip of the Iceberg

China is bound to erupt internally. The people of that great civlization are getting antsy under the Communist rulers and are slowly starting to dispute land use in their country. Riots in the interior of the country are becoming more frequent - but do you hear about them? Not from the goverment controlled Chinese media.

This is just the tip of the iceberg in China. Their internal problems are starting to get the type of news coverage and attention around the globe that will be necessary for the Chinese citizens to affect democratic change in their homeland.

As the AP reports, the people of China are fighting, and sometimes dying, to retain property rights in provinces across their country, not unsimilar to the plight of the plaintiffs in the Kelo vs. New London case, which is the start of nearly all democratic revolts.

Thousands of people took part in Tuesday's demonstration in Dongzhou, a village in Guangdong province, international rights groups said. They were anger [sic] over plans to construct a wind power plant on local land.

Police fired into the crowd, killing at least two people, the reports said. Villagers have put the number as high as 10.

State media have made no mention of the violence and both provincial and local governments have repeatedly refused to comment. This is typical in China, where the ruling Communist Party controls the media.

"The riot police are gathered outside our village. We've been surrounded," said one villager reached by phone on Friday. "Most of the police are armed. We dare not to go out of our home."

Reading how the Chinese Communist government handles protests like this one made me wonder what would have happened if international cameras were not on the scene during the Tianenmen Square demonstration in 1989.

Rural protests have multiplied in recent months as anger comes to a head over corruption, land seizures and a yawning wealth gap that experts say now threatens social stability. The government says about 70,000 such conflicts occurred last year, although many more are believed to go unreported.

The clashes have also become increasingly violent, with injuries sustained on both sides and huge amounts of damage done to property as protesters vent their frustration in face of indifferent or bullying authorities.

Good luck to the Chinese people. Their day will come, but hopefully before the Chinese Communists become a real threat to American interests.