Chinese Governor, Demonstrators Hold High-Profile Meeting

Destroyed cars litter a street in Longnan, Gansu province, after protests Monday against a city resettlement plan. More than 70 people were seriously injured. (By China Photos Via Getty Images)

"There's a clear lack of consensus in the party on how to deal with these protests," said Russell Moses, a China analyst based in Beijing. "Usually that would lead to stalemate, but in this case it's an opportunity for experimentation about how to quell them effectively. This is first and foremost about information-gathering."

Increased coverage of recent protests has sparked debate over the media's role as a government watchdog here and whether perceived changes in the way the government reports negative news indicate a new direction.

"How better to tell whether people are satisfied than to let the media be a real barometer?" said UCLA political science Prof. Richard Baum.

Some observers cautioned against assuming that recent government responses to isolated incidents mark a change.

"The party has always used two hands to deal with such crises," said Zhou Xiaozheng, a professor of sociology at Renmin University in Beijing. "One hand arrests a few scapegoats, and the other hand tries to calm down everyone else."

During the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, "the party sent high-ranking officials to negotiate with the students, but they also sent troops," he said. "It's still the same today."

Meanwhile, journalist Chen Daojun was sentenced to three years in prison Friday on charges of subverting the state. Three of his articles were presented as evidence against him in his trial, which lasted just over half an hour.