As the Arab Spring revolts spread from Tunisia to Egypt and Libya after vendor Mohamed Bouazizi’s self-immolation on Dec. 17, 2010, the reports said, some Politburo members questioned whether protests might follow against Chinese provincial politicians demanding bribes; local party officials confiscating land; and products and government services rendered shoddy by influence peddling, the U.S. officials said.
I did wonder how the Chinese rulers could sleep well at night watching the Arab Spring unfold.
And as scandal unfolds in China and focuses attention on corrupt rulers, the rulers may interpret a foreign crisis as an attempt to disrupt China or the rulers may attempt to exploit a foreign crisis to quell unrest at home.
