data question

[Martin Hart-Landsberg <marty@lclark.edu>]

I have been reading lots of articles recently which talk about the growing
social unrest in China.  They all contain the statistic that "mass
protests" rose to 74,000 last year, an increase of some 20,000 over
the previous year.  I am not however quite clear what that statistic
actually represents.  Can someone tell me what is actually being counted
and by whom?

Thanks in advance,
Marty Hart-Landsberg