Mass Protests in China (I): Provincial and Local Reports

The current and following two issues of the journal is a selection of official documents on mass protests in China compiled and published by the Ministry of Public Security in June, 2000. The 562-page compilation includes national policy on managing mass protests, provincial and municipal reports and analysis of local incidents, and case histories of selected types of protests. The Introduction refers to instructions from the top leadership of the Ministry that initiated the project, which began in the previous year. The timing is significant as 1999 was the year of two large scale and momentous mass incidents – the widespread anti-American protests in May of that year, after the U.S. bombed and destroyed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, during which the U.S. Ambassador Sasser was confined to his embassy for four days, separate from his family. Two months later, China launched its nationwide suppression of the Falungong in July 22, 1999, leading to the mass detention of its myriad practitioners. Added to these two large scale collective action was the two major anniversaries of two mass movements in China’s political history – the tenth anniversary of the 1989 Democracy Movement ending in the Tiananmen crackdown, and the 80 Anniversary of the May Fourth Movement of 1919 that toppled the Beiyang regime. Both to learn the lessons of history and to prevent instability for the future, these documents provide the empirical base for security planning to manage mass protests at both the national and local levels. The three issues are organized as follows. The first issue is a selection of reports by the provincial and municipal public security bureaus. The second issue focuses on the different types of mass protests ranging from those staged by laid-off coal miners to losers in financial markets. The third is a summary report and policy measures dealing with mass protests at the national level.