On June 21 17-year-old Li Shufen died under unclear circumstances. Her parents claim that she was raped and murdered while the local police insist that she committed suicide. There are three male suspects and several new sources report that at least one of the suspects has connections with the local government and police officials. However, the provincial public security bureau claims that the suspects have no ties to the local government.    

     

When a police investigation concluded that the girl was not murdered her uncle protested to the local police and was subsequently beaten by a number of unidentified men. According to the AFP the riots started when the uncle died of the injuries sustained in the beating. That the uncle died was later proven false--both Xinhua and the South China Morning Post quote the uncle from his hospital bed. Nonetheless, the AFP reported that the uncle is a high school teacher and it was his students that descended onto the police station when they believed their teacher had died. Xinhua tells a slightly different story claiming that it was the girl's family, together with 300 protesters, that started the demonstration with banners reading "Return justice to the people" and "Petition for the people." No matter how the demonstration started, people joined the protest en-masse until around 30,000 people had gathered together. The mob destroyed about 160 government offices and burned 42 police vehicles, leaving around 150 police and protesters injured. The police and provincial Party chief claimed that people with ulterior motives and local gangsters encouraged the protest and made this "simple cause" into something bigger. Around 200 people have been arrested and over 1,500 paramilitary and riot police have been dispatched to the county.

     

The parents were offered 9000 Yuan in compensation from government officials, paid by the suspects, which they have refused to accept. Furthermore, the parents claim that they have been forced to guard the body of their daughter as local police tried on two occasions to take it away.

     

After the riots the investigation was reopened. A third and final, as the girl is now buried, autopsy was conducted by experts from the provincial government. The results from the examination are yet to be published.

     

The Chinese State Media Grapples with Changing Media Atmosphere 

     

The way in which the Chinese media handled the situation shows how complex Chinese society is becoming. It also shows how it has become impossible for the Chinese government to maintain monopoly over the flow of information. Directly after the riots a number of articles in Chinese news sources were posted; however, these were all subsequently removed and message boards and blogs discussing the issues were shutdown. It seemed as if the government wanted to put a lid on the situation. Then, in a surprising turn of events, the provincial government held a press conference Tuesday evening where the findings of the investigation were laid out and the police reaffirmed that the girl had committed suicide. Since then news of the riots were reposted--Xinhua, for instance, published surprisingly detailed reports of the incident.

     

The question as to why the government first removed news of the riots and then reissued them remains unanswered. It may be a matter of tactic reorganization, allowing time to spin the story to their advantage, or they might have tried to bury the story but realized that it was too late. The Wall Street Journal reports that Chinese netizens are using inventive methods to circumvent the "Great Firewall" (A collective name for a censorship system that automatically detects objectionable phrases). Chinese Web users for instance reorganized sentences (arranging them to be read from right to left and vertically) and avoided using easily traceable words. 

     

The media's handling of the situation reconfirms that the Chinese propaganda apparatus does not have a "one size fits all" response to major incidents. China has been plagued by natural and man-made disasters this year and the media coverage has varied on every case: from the initially very open reporting on the Sichuan earthquake to the extremely controlled coverage of the riots and subsequent crackdowns in Tibet. Indeed, Hu Jintao underlines in a recent speech that Chinese news sources have to adapt to the present time and should be the "guidance of public opinion".  However, as long as political freedom is lagging behind economic freedom this goal will be easier said than done for Chinese censors and journalists. The Chinese state media's indecisive coverage of last Saturday's riots provides yet another glimpse into this sometimes confusing predicament.      

     

The Spin: Center vs. Local Government Relations 

     

Over the last few days, it has become evident that the Guizhou riot is being 'spun' by Chinese media sources. More and more, rather than accusing local gangsters for inciting the riots (as the Guizhou provincial authorities initially claimed), local authorities are being blamed for the unrest.  Xinhua reported on a panel discussion where officials from the provincial and local governments said that local authorities in Weng'an County had been unsuccessful in solving disputes over mines, demolition of homes for city building, reform of state-owned enterprises etc. They also quoted provincial Communist Party chief Shi Zongyuan saying that their must be deep-rooted reasons behind the riots. The same tone could be seen in a China Daily article titled "Get to the root cause" where the local government was blamed for handling affairs in an "unfair and rough manner" and that they were abusing their power and "infringed upon the interests or rights of local residents". The article also offered a solution arguing that local government has to overhaul its work style and perhaps sort out some "bad apples" among its ranks. That advice did not fall on deaf ears: four local Communist Party, local government and security officials have been removed from their posts (See Xinhua articles "Police officials sacked after riots in southwest China" and "Two more officials sacked after violent protest over teens' death").  

     

The Wall Street Journal hails the sackings of local government officials as a victory for Chinese netizens who, in spite of the censors' best efforts, managed to spread the word of the blight of the death girl's parents. That is a valid point; however, what is also being witnessed is a common tactic used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)--by detaching the central government from the local government, the CCP evades criticism and responsibility for domestic problems. Fundamental issues, such as a lack of accountability within the CCP and weak rule of law, are circumvented and subsequently avoided.     

     

Xinhua also quoted Party chief Shi Zongyuan saying: "We must draw a lesson from the problems exposed." Unfortunately, it seems like the wrong kinds of lessons are being learned.