“Young people are back on top with strong demands”

tTwenty-three years after the crackdown in Tiananmen Square, we are once again seeing protests in the streets of Beijing and other major cities. In fact, popular protests have not been entirely absent in China in recent decades, in particular against poor wages, illegal confiscation of personal property and land, unfair legal rulings… These “Glorious Thirty” have permeated them in China. They belong above all socially to the category of non-political social protests, often remaining local, specific and limited in size. Politics is absent from the public sphere, except in rare instances of bravery by isolated dissidents, which are soon suppressed by the authorities.

This tendency towards depoliticization is the result of the bloody repression of the authorities in 1989. But it can only be achieved by improving the living conditions of the Chinese, at least for some of them. caused by rapid economic growth. Power has replaced economics with politics, and pushed the citizen to be a mere consumer. He buys peace from society through his promise of certain prosperity and framed freedom, an implicit contract firmly established.

However, this contract is still weakened by the lack of legitimacy at the political level, which is a guarantee of justice and a harmonious social life. The force knows it and society too, so the tension continues. Carrot and [du] Stick ” – Renmin Wei Renminbi Jeju (People’s problem is solved with money, renminbi Being the “people’s” Chinese currency) and feirenmin goi zhuanzheng jiejue (“The problem of those who do not belong to the people is solved by the dictatorship”) – the authorities skillfully and cynically, without hesitation, practice it.

This empire disguised as a nation

Meanwhile, power with its characteristic arrogance sinks into widespread corruption, which, as so often in world history, drags society into moral erosion. This leads to a loss of common sense and justice, Philiaan Aristotelian term referring to affection and enthusiasm for others.

But now there is a sudden renewal of demonstrations in this vast country, this empire disguised as a nation. The phenomenon affected dozens of cities and a hundred universities. So, in this country where the system continues to discredit Janice Gaming (color revolutions) f “plots” Westerners in this regard, holding in their hands a blank but meaningful white paper, a symbol of anger and despair meaning “we have been reduced to nothing, without rights, without freedom, or dignity,” the demonstrators pass through the streets and university campuses.

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