The quotes in this Washington Post story (“Shanghai’s Middle Class Launches Quiet, Meticulous Revolt“) tell a lot:
“They can’t arrest everybody,” said Yao, a 58-year-old protester who asked that his full name not be used because he is a manager at a state-owned enterprise.
“We haven’t done anything wrong,” said Wang Guowei, 51, a manager in a Chinese-Japanese plastics venture whose family lives near the planned extension. “We always follow the Chinese constitution, we never violate the law. And in our many contacts with the police, they say we are within the law.”