China's Jasmine Revolution Is Back: Trucker Strike Hits Shanghai In Protest Over Surging Fuel Costs And Low Wages

Submitted by Tyler Durden
04/20/2011 13:48 -0400
46 comments

And now for the latest does of reality from China, which will no doubt be reported by precisely zero of the mainstream media outlets. According to Stratfor, there has been a trucker strike in the Waigaoqiao zone in Shanghai on the morning of April 20. As the attached video reports: "The protests the morning of April 20 were in one of Shanghai’s busiest container ports and they were the result of rising fuel prices and low wages. In 2008, we saw similar strikes over fuel prices as taxi drivers took to the streets across China, highlighting how inflation can easily translate into social issues. These protests come a week after residents gathered in the Sonjiang district in Shanghai on April 13 in protest of cheng guan officials, also known as urban management officials, were said to have beaten a pedestrian in a traffic dispute and Shanghai is also the area where we saw the largest gathering during the Jasmine Movement on February 27." So how much longer will China be able to pretend that its USD-pegged monetary policy, not to mention the Fed's inflation exporting efforts is contained? And how long until China's inability to contain its inflation results in a Tiananmen-lite (or not so lite) redux?

Video: From Stratfor http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/201104 ... e-shanghai

And a transcript of the video for the play button challenged.

We received news of the trucker strike in the Waigaoqiao zone in Shanghai on the morning of April 20. This is just the latest in large-scale protests in Shanghai that further illustrates rising social unrest.

These protests come a week after residents gathered in the Sonjiang district in Shanghai on April 13 in protest of cheng guan officials, also known as urban management officials, were said to have beaten a pedestrian in a traffic dispute and Shanghai is also the area where we saw the largest gathering during the Jasmine Movement on February 27.

Shanghai is one of China’s most international cities but, despite its foreign exposure, the government has clamped down on local media reports of the protests, where there’ve been rumors of several deaths. While all these issues were sparked by different grievances, combined they show the desire of people to take these issues to the street. Ultimately the biggest fear of the Chinese Communist Party is that these issues can collide, leading to ever bigger demonstrations that could be both harder to contain and control.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/chinas ... uel-costs-