Wukan Spring?

HONG KONG - If, as the African proverb goes, it takes a village to raise a child, then can the now iconic village of Wukan in China's southern Guangdong province raise a nation on principles of free speech, transparent governance and democracy? 

That is the hope - for the Wukan villagers whose protests against the wholesale theft of their land by corrupt local officials made international headlines over the holiday season and for the growing mass of Chinese netizens who have taken up their cause in cyberspace. 

Some overly exuberant analysts see a possible Chinese Spring in the making, mirroring the political upheaval that has rocked the Arab world over the past year. But don't count on it.

Read it at The Asia Times Online
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