It did not take a direct attack on the Party for the Party to feel threatened. The Party is not quite the popular institution the Chinese press would have the people believe. Being a Party member means privilege, access to scarce commodities and power. The Party spies on and interferes with the lives of people. Demonstration is a threat to the status quo of the Party.
China has four distinct classes-cadres, intellectuals, workers and peasants.
The present unrest is clearly confined to the big cities. In their propaganda campaign the Chinese government seem to be winning, taking the country as a whole. A war of truth is on, however. The universities have mostly closed down early for the summer and students have returned home - many to the countryside. Hong Kong broadcasting has kept the whole of southern Guandong alive to the real events in China.