China’s tough handling of recent protests by villagers in Taishi, southern Guangdong province, has thrown into fresh doubt its claims to be introducing genuine democracy “from the bottom up”.
Direct elections of local officials by almost a million villages across the country have in recent years been widely welcomed as a possible first step towards a multi-party state.
See also “Groundswell of protest feared by party officials” from The Guardian and “Beating complicates China’s political reforms” from Reuters.
