"Standing inside the temple armed with buckets of rice, the villagers gaze out at police officers armed with riot shields and sticks, the sound of shouting audible over banging drums. Then the tension erupts. A scuffle breaks out, some villagers throw handfuls of rice at the officers, a traditional custom for dispelling evil, while others hoist religious artefacts onto their shoulders and march away, past groups of police and other officials."
"The protest in itself appears minor, but these scenes of anger are being repeated in one form or another across rural China, and the number of them is soaring. By the end of November this year, China Dissent Monitor, a protest-tracking project run by Freedom House, recorded 661 rural protests in China, a 70% increase on the whole of 2024. video of protest The startling rise in unrest reflects the increasing pressures in China's economy, particularly on low-paid workers."
Villagers in Lingao county, Hainan, confronted police over a planned temple demolition, throwing rice and carrying religious artefacts during a scuffle. The scene reflects a broader surge in rural unrest across China, with China Dissent Monitor recording 661 rural protests by the end of November, a 70% increase on the whole of 2024. Rising unrest links to increasing economic pressures, especially on low-paid workers, and a slowdown in growth that undercuts urban migration hopes. Many internal migrants are abandoning big-city dreams and returning to hometowns where promised prosperity and stability are failing to materialize, fueling local dissent.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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