In December 2008, 300 people in China risked arrest to sign and distribute a document called Charter 08. It demanded the abolition of Communist Party rule, free elections, a new constitution, separation of powers, an independent judiciary and freedom of expression, assembly and religion. Charter 08 was not a specifically middle-class manifesto. Its most notable-and, to the Communist government, alarming-feature was the wide range of those who had signed it: farmers, former party officials, dissidents from the Tiananmen Square era, a Tibetan blogger.rnBut the signatories did include representatives of China's new middle class, especially lawyers active in the so-called "rights movement" who take up cases involving property law and environmental protection. The document calls for the protection of private property, a quintessen-tially middle-class concern everywhere. Although the official media stifled news ofrnthe charter, discussion of it quickly spread on the internet, the favourite medium of China's new middle class. Within a week 5,000 people had added their signatures.rnThe appearance of Charter 08 came against what might be called the run of play in politics in China and elsewhere in the developing world. The middle class used to be seen as the single most important force in democratisation.
展开▼
