The "People's Republic" of China: Is the end near?

The NY Times is reporting unrest and the declaration of martial law near Zhengzhou in Henan Province, in the heart of the country, southwest of Beijing (see map). Some 148 people are estimated to have died, including 18 police officers, in the Han Chinese and Hui Muslim violence that erupted over a compensation dispute, after a Hui taxi driver hit and killed a 6-year-old Han girl.

Most people think of Han Chinese when they think of China: this group is the ethnic majority. However, China is made up of over 91% of Han Chinese (see the CIA's World Factbook). Tensions often flare between the ethnic majority group and the dozens of ethnic minority groups throughout the PRC (e.g., the Tibetans or the Muslim Uighurs in Autonomous Region of Xinjiang). The PRC typically imports Han "immigrants" into these areas to try to assert dominance. We are seeing a variation of this activity much closer to the heartland of China now--primarily related to economic conditions of these populations and the disparities that result from PRC's domination by Han Chinese.

What's interesting is that this comes after a riot of nearly 10,000 (maybe up to 50,000) on October 18th that, even after pretty regular news reading and watching, I missed. I'm guessing most of you did as well. This riot occurred in Chongqing municipality (in the province of the same name, just southwest of Henan Province) after a worker accidentally hit a female passerby in the head with a pole. By midnight, all hell had broken loose.

The point is that there is obvious discontent being expressed in the heartland of China. I would keep my eyes peeled to the internet for news (since the mainstream Western press and most certainly the official Communist mouthpiece of the PRC will unlikely feature the news).