Expressions of urban discontent have become common in China, if not widely reported. The Groan of Reform More than a symbol, the human pain and frustration are very real. Worse now, their burden is compounded by the responsibility to support both their parents and their children. The situation intensifies, however, when the cash runs low, when you have no way to treat your elderly parents' sicknesses or buy your child's school supplies, and when you know the factory management team that says they do not have enough money to pay your severance fees are driving Pajero jeeps and dining out. It's all enough sometimes, like it was in Yangjiazhangzi, to cause low-grade discontent to roll to a boil.
Corruption is the real thorn in the flesh.
The result is often, increasingly it appears, combustible. The situation is indeed severe. Chinese scholars and government officials regularly point out in informal conversation that corruption levels in their country have surpassed the pre-1949 levels of the Nationalist government, identified by many experts as one of the primary reasons the regime fell to the Communists. In the face of this reality, Beijing realizes the challenge to navigate worker-employment issues will not be easy. Senior officials have no clear answers.