Is the government resorting to repressive instruments to stop unrest from the outset?
First of all, the government is likely to enforce the country’s local registration rules more strictly than before. Chinese law ties citizens to their places of birth or employment. The Chinese are not allowed to choose freely where to live. So far, these regulations have been implemented in a rather relaxed manner, particularly so in the industrial areas of the Pearl River Delta. After all, the low wages of migrant workers helped to bring about the economic boom. Once migrants lose their jobs, however, they will probably be kept away from the big cities – if necessary, by force. Is there reason to fear that the gradual and intermittent liberalisation of recent years will be undone? Sebastian Heilmann, a sinologist from Trier, once differentiated between the “normal mode” and “crisis mode” of politics in China. In the normal mode, political decisions are reached in lengthy processes of compromise, allowing leeway for gradual reforms or experiments. By contrast, in crisis mode, the part
