The fatal crash took place in Wenzhou at around 20:00 on July 23. The tragic information soon spread over the microblogs. Netizens, angry or sober, stayed awake for the whole night.

Two days later, memorial activities in Wenzhou were seen across the nation via reporters and bloggers. Civilians cried, yielded and sang the national anthem, as if it would bring them truth and justice.

The scenes were absolute duplicate of those after the dreadful inferno that took 58 lives in the Jing'an district of Shanghai on September 15, 2010.

This is actually just a glimpse of the rising power of the people. From the gathering of volunteers during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake to the current red-hot microblog phenomenon, it's easy to track how the public has grown from strength to strength. Since 1978, the public has benefitted from reform and opening-up, and now they're demanding more than just material satisfaction.

Social force, also called the "third sector" or "voluntary sector," is the country's third source of strength, after the government and the economy.

In comparison with the compulsive state apparatus and the interest-driven market, social force comes into existence spontaneously and can become a supplement to public welfare. The opening-up policy caused China's economy to dash forward, and this overall development has resulted in the emergence of social force.

The Chinese are now facing difficult choices en route to the fulfillment of social fairness and justice. Do they simply blame the local authorities or look for the deep-rooted reasons behind the accident? Should they establish a brand-new social management system or continue to be restricted by the concept of maintaining social stability at the grass-roots level? Should they ban or allow the nongovernmental exchange of interests and opinions? Bow to the all-powerful government or encourage the blossoming of NGOs?

The right answers to these questions could be the key to deciding whether China can convert its political and economic power into social well-being and find a steady way of development.

Why is the emergence of the third sector so important? Past experience in both China and developed countries proves that long-suppressed popular power will turn violent when its development is not in line with that of politics and the economy. Such futile demands were seen in many parts of China in the form of mass gatherings and riots.

We have to say that in a society where some indisputable things are becoming controversial, things are a little bit different. If the direction of our development is not altered to a better path, people will have every reason to use violence to draw public attention or simply to vent anger. Ironically, those troublemakers were often considered as heroes by the mass.

Violence is not a rare thing when the development of social force is in its early stages. Only when popular power is given some kind of freedom under the current political framework will the wild part of such power be tamed.  The dignified mourning activities of Wenzhou civilians well illustrates this.

The development of social force is related to the establishment of a coherent cultural and political system. If a society dominated by political and economic power wants to restore the proper balance, we must absolutely allow social force to develop to guide and coordinate the overall advancement of the whole society.

A mature government, during the early and irrational phrase of the rising of the third sector, must maintain the utmost restraint while recognizing the important role which public opinion plays.

Only by doing so can the violent aspect of social force be converted into a more rational expression.

The power of the people, sharing the burden of social risks, will help the authorities manage political life for everyone.

The author is a Taiwan-based scholar with Lung Yingtai Cultural Foundation. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn

Violence must be condemned, not rationalized by principles