The New York Times has a very interesting article describing how social unrest seems to be on the rise in China -- but not because of more calls for democracy. Instead, the underlying grievances now center on growing economic inequality between China’s emerging upper class on the one hand, and on the other, the poor, comprised mainly of low-skilled physical laborers, peasants, and migrant workers. As the article describes, the latest civil unrest was triggered by government official who badly beat and threatened to kill a porter after a minor incident on the streets of Wanzhou:

The Wanzhou uprising, which occurred on Oct. 18, is one of nearly a dozen such incidents in the past three months, many touched off by government corruption, police abuse and the inequality of the riches accruing to the powerful and well connected. “People can see how corrupt the government is while they barely have enough to eat,” said Mr. Yu, reflecting on the uprising that made him an instant proletarian hero - and later forced him into seclusion. “Our society has a short fuse, just waiting for a spark.”

Though it is experiencing one of the most spectacular economic expansions in history, China is having more trouble maintaining social order than at any time since the Tiananmen Square democracy movement in 1989. Police statistics show the number of public protests reached nearly 60,000 in 2003, an increase of nearly 15 percent from 2002 and eight times the number a decade ago. Martial law and paramilitary troops are commonly needed to restore order when the police lose control.

The NY Times also has a multimedia presentation entitled “China’s Great Divide: Rural Poor and Urban Rich” which provides seceral intersting case examples of this emerging inequality. It all seems quite ironic that such a staunchly communist country is slowly being torn apart by the inevitable march of its deadliest enemy -- capitalism.