• Tianjin Explosion Erodes Faith in Leadership for Many in China

    Blast in port city brings ill effects of China’s breakneck growth to surface

    TIANJIN, China—The deadly blasts that killed 114 people here also put a deep dent in the compact between China’s government and its middle class.

    The hundreds of millions of Chinese who have ridden the country’s breakneck growth into comfortable middle-class lives have traditionally shied away from direct challenges to the Communist Party, accepting little say in the government’s workings as long as their living standards continued...

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