From CNN’s special report Eye on China, an article about rural discontent and the recent riots in Huankantou:
The hardships and resentments felt there — against corrupt local officials, pollution, land seizures, and the growing wealth gap between the urban rich and rural poor — are felt by millions of rural Chinese across the country.
A massive chunk of China’s population — between 800 million and 900 million people — live off the land. The situation is a legacy of what, until recently, was a system that imposed strict regulations on rural migration to the cities.
It has created a fertile base for rural discontent.
