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The middle class are increasingly well-off and more highly educated. They have access to social media and may be exposed to foreign Western ideas like human rights and civil liberties, which are at odds to the authoritarian CCP government. They are participating more and demanding new change of the government in areas like rule of law, social welfare, freedom of religion, education, food safety, etc. Some of these may be aligned with CCP interest and priorities, but some topics like freedom of religion and human rights could cause tension between the people and the government and result in instability.
- Jasmine

Better links to the question
Egs of social unrest in these areas (Middle class unhappiness) = Instability

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The middle class make up the large group of people who are well educated and have constantly rising income, and this rising income impacts overall consumption patterns and growth as Middle class takes up a chunk of domestix consumption in China. However the middle class also has potential to create political and social tenaions, where income inequality within rural and urban residents has led to larger social discontent. Middle class also has strong political participation and their own views towards politics and can oppose the state and raise political advocacy towards their cause where they insist on their stand.
Ting Rui

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The middle class make up the group of people who are increasingly well-off and educated, making them connected to social media and exposed to the  foreign ideology. This creates the problem of increasing demands for the Chinese government to be more liberal and increased social demands from the government. This increases the pressure for political change from the CCP government because of the political impact of the middle class citizens. The citizen’s growing demands pose a threat of instability for the government because the CCP will not be able to meet the demands of the middle class due to a shift in ideology and traditional communist ideals
-meera

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The middle class emerged in the context of China's Open Door policy, and increasing levels of education. With exposure to foreign ideas through interacting with Westerners, both online and physically, Western ideals of freedom of speech, greater welfare and better environmental protection, the middle class thus have a greater desire for reforms in many different areas. Being highly educated means they are able to find means to advocate for their ideas despite China's tough censorship laws. As the middle class endeavours to speak out against the CCP, state-society tensions increase and thus the middle class is a source of instability.
- Aliya

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The middle class in China have improved their standards of living, and are increasingly educated and exposed to western ideals. This has led to increased levels of participation and new social demands of the government, in terms of areas of  social welfare, environmental protection and high expectations of social justice. As such, with their desire for greater reforms in these areas, the inability of the government to meet the needs will result in potential unhappiness and tensions between the people and the CCP, undermining their legitimacy as the ruling party of the state.
- gloria

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Due to the middle class growing increasingly educated and exposed to western ideals such as democracy, there have been an increase in the number of pro-democracy movements and collective actions by the middle class, causing the middle class to be a source of instability. As more protest and demand elements of democracy, the CCP will be forced to loosen its strict one-party rule and will face an erosion of its right to rule, causing instability. For example, the Jasmine Revolution in 2011 shows that too many reforms had caused Chinese society to push for democratisation and cause instability in the process. China Mass Bulletin shows that 65% of the 180000 mass incidents, which contribute to instability that took place in China in 2018 were due to increasing demands by primarily the middle class for civil liberties and freedom of expression as well as unhappiness regarding the CCP's policies regarding them. Thus through these pro-democracy movements, the CCP faces a threat to its existence as more people desire for democracy and this undermines social stability showing that the middle class is a source of instability.

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Following the opening up of China, many members of the middle class have had increased interaction with western values, ideals and ideas, whether this is through the internet or through overseas education. Uncensored and unfiltered information about the realities and pitfalls of China’s governance may be revealed to the population, whose increasing demand for equality and greater freedoms may pit them against certain fundamentals of CCP governance. As an educated and tech savvy population, they can and have utilised the internet as methods of dissent and protest, and are able to disseminate information and opposing ideals quickly and effectively.
-Audrey

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The middle class in China is a source of social instability due to their increased interest in advocating for social change. Many of them are not only well-educated and wealthy, due to the rise of globalisation and openness in China, they are also increasingly exposed to social media and foreign ideals. This has resulted in increased participation in political matters, as well as new social demands for the government. Although the demand for improvements in social issues such as environmental protection are in line with CCP objectives and do not pose a strong threat, other social issues such as freedom of religion that directly oppose CCP objectives and ideals would pose a threat and lead to greater social instability in China. In the long run, if their social demands are not met, the social support and political legitimacy of the CCP would ultimately be threatened.
-Adele

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the middle class is a source of instability because they are seen as agents for social change. As middle class is generally able to access good education, they may be exposed to different thoughts across the world. Some of the thoughts may not be aligned with CCP's interest, therefore threatening the legitimacy of the party.
-elena

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The middle class is a source of instability as they have more demands for the government to fulfill and poses a risk for CCP's performance based legitimacy if CCP is unable to meet their demands.
-Elaine

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The middle class have access to the Internet which they can use to advocate for certain policies that are detrimental to the tight grip the CCP has on China. They have more voice which the CCP may not be able to control, resulting in many undercurrent tensions being brought to the surface. This causes social instability as society and the government come into conflict
- Beatrice

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They are more educated and more globalised, leading to them advocating for certain viewpoints to change society, which may not be what the CCP want, threatening CCP legitimacy and weakening their power through aggressive campaigning and actions to push for certain things
- Hans

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Due to their relatively higher education and exposure to foreign ideals, the middle class in China serve as agents of change for certain social norms and issues in Chinese society. However, some of these issues that they advocate for may not fully align with the interests of the CCP. This could potentially threaten the legitimacy of the CCP, especially if the middle class take action by staging demonstrations and protests in demanding for change. Some of these issues include greater demand for human rights, better environmental protection, freedom of religion, etc.
- Claudia

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The rise of the middle class in society has led to the increase in the demographic being a vehicle of social change. The chinese middle class are increasingly well-off and connected to social media and thus connected to foreign ideas in which they carry foreign ideals they hope to see implemented back in China. Furthermore, many of the people in the middle class are not passive with their sense of advocacy but much rather are very vocal and aggressive in the way they convey such ideals. Such actions are clearly seen from the rise of insurgency incidents. Such incidents are not one off and are a sign of a rising source of instability since such actions disrupt social stability

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Given their well-educated nature whereby they are increasingly connected to social media and exposed to foreign ideals such as basic freedoms and civil liberties, this has imbue in them the desire for change and socio-political reform which is in complete contradiction to the CCP's self-acclaimed authoritarian centralised political system and one party rule. They then become key members of advocacy and activism whereby they actively spearhead and champion various social issues and demands that goes against the policies and agenda of the CCP, thereby turning the middle class into a potential destabilising force in China which threatens the political authority and position of power of the CCP.
~ Lucas

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The middle class in China may be a source of instability as they are a group of people that are rather well to do and educated. With the rise of social media and the accessibility of education overseas, many of them are exposed to western ideologies which differ from the Chinese. This leads many of them to be advocates for social issues in China which they are passionate about, increasing the likelihood of Chinese citizens going against CCP’s beliefs, increasing the chances of instability in China as its people have different opinions from the government.
- alicia

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The middle class in China are generally more well-off, educated and connected to western forms of education. They are also more exposed to foreign ideas such as human rights, civil liberties etc. With these different views, they may come back to China with a certain conception that things need to change and the idea that they should be the figures of advocacy for some of these issues. Moreover, they are generally more tech savvy and connected on social media. Voicing out their opinions and calls for change can challenge the political authority of the CCP and social stability in China. Middle Class citizens also do participate in certain social forces of advocacy and social demands for the government to change certain things, heightening government-public tensions and thereby causing instability.
- estelle