China quake could speed growth of ad-hoc activism

By Emma Graham-Harrison and Lindsay Beck

CHENGDU (Reuters) - It was just an afternoon stroll down the streets of his hometown, but every step blogger "Yellow Peach" took was revolutionary.

There were no placards or banners, no slogans or matching T-shirts, but by "taking a walk" together for a couple of hours, a few hundred citizens of a laid-back southwestern city were illegally challenging government plans for a new oil refinery.

They wandered in quiet clusters down a route circulated by Internet and mobile phone, watched by uniformed and plainclothes police who knew exactly why they were there and later punished six people for their role.

"This was a victorious meeting, a rally. The kindling has already been scattered. What follows now depends on everybody," Yellow Peach wrote, signing off on a string of messages to a fellow blogger giving a blow-by-blow account of the protest.

The protest was typical of a new type of activism spreading rapidly through China -- ad hoc networks of the well-educated and relatively well-off, usually focused on one issue they feel threatens their health or wealth.

The Chengdu walkers hoped to imitate middle class pioneers from the more prosperous east coast who forced local governments to move or reconsider multi-billion dollar industrial and infrastructure projects when they took to the streets.

They largely ignore formal NGOs which Beijing monitors, emasculates or ties up in red tape, connecting instead through blogs, chatrooms or SMS phone messages to spread their message.

At their most effective, these creative, driven groups can change how and where firms do business in China and force the ruling Communist Party to be more responsive, experts say.