“Rising unemployment and the economic slowdown could cause massive social turmoil in China, a leading scholar in the Communist Party has said.

“The redistribution of wealth through theft and robbery could dramatically increase and menaces to social stability will grow,” Zhou Tianyong, a researcher at the Central Party School in Beijing, wrote in the China Economic Times.

“This is extremely likely to create a reactive situation of mass-scale social turmoil,” he wrote.

China: BBC

I had heard of a massive taxi driver strike in China a few weeks back, and as a former SF cabbie (3 years) I was of course very interested. I only wish my fellow hacks could write so well.

To all taxi driver friends in Guangzhou city:

Affected by the global financial crisis, the taxi industry in Guangzhou is going through a survival crisis. Recently taxi drivers have been suffering because of the vicious competition from private cabs from other provinces. However, the Guangzhou city government and the Transportation committee fail to control the situation and improve our business environment. The contract fee from taxi company is too high, our burden is too heavy. We are oppressed by many regulation, any violation would lead to suspension of our driving license. All these together have make our Taxi driver friends suffocated.