Word: shanghaiing
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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They took to the streets last month. Tens of thousands of student demonstrators marched in cities from Beijing to Shanghai, in what Western newspapers have heralded as the most serious challenge to the Chinese Communist Party in years...
...Yuwen '90, a 19 year-old from Shanghai, has similar doubts about the impartiality of American news. "The West has too much concern about the demonstrations themselves, and not full awareness of the possible consequences," he says...
Peer pressure may also play a role in the marches, which have attracted thousands of students, says Li, who is a freelance writer for Shanghai Youth, a campus magazine. Although he won't say whether he is a Communist, Li questions the motives of the protesters. "There is a very big psychological factor. Many people just write things and play with words to show off. For example, my friend joined the marchers because he wanted his girlfriend to think he was brave...
Some students have expressed frustration at the slowness of such political reforms. But their demands frequently seemed to reflect a breezy assumption that Western-style democracy could be grafted painlessly onto Deng's bold economic experiment. Indeed, foreign reporters covering the demonstrations in Shanghai were sometimes cheered and applauded by the crowd. Said one student: "We simply want to have the freedom to do what we want." A medical student said his idea of democracy was "freedom of expression, freedom of the press, publication and association." At one confrontation between Shanghai students and the city's reform-oriented mayor, Jiang...
Such idealism would not normally engage ordinary workers, but the protests have worsened dislocations created by Deng's economic reforms. In Shanghai, Peking and other Chinese cities, reports have circulated of panic buying and hoarding in anticipation of price increases that are part of the government's deregulation program. Noodles, rice, toilet paper and matches are said to be out of stock in many stores. Declared a Peking intellectual: "The ordinary masses might not be able to relate to calls for democracy, but they sure would take to the pavement if the issue turns to price increases...