LyrArc Article Gist
Class and the divide between rich and poor, educated and uneducated, urban and rural, in China. Even with rapid industrialization in the urban mostly coastal regions, a large number of China's people live in rural areas and in the hinterland away from the big cities. October 1, is the 60th anniversary of communist rule. With the internet and more communication of all types, incidents in which the rich and powerful are treated differently by the judicial system- and can get away with light sentences for wrongdoing or crimes- cause a great deal of anger among the people. In this traffic accident in Hangzhou, one of the rich people's kids- the young emperors is how they are referred to in Chinese- runs over and kills on the pavement a 25 year old telecom engineer from a rural area near Changsha. He had to work hard to get to college and become a engineer, and his parents struggled to pay his tution in college. The 20 year old racing car driver gets away with a light sentence of 3 years, and is suspected to have used a stand-in for the trial, who would also serve the sentence. The public in Hangzhou was upset about this and blogs all over China began to talk about this. The police initially covered up the incident, saying the speed was 43 mph. Only after public pressure did the police say it was double that, and that the Mitsubishi racer used by the rich kid was retrofitted for speed.