 The Weiquan movement coalesced in the early 2000s in response to these inherent contradictions and the arbitrary exercise of legal authority in China , though its roots could be traced to the consumer protection movement that began in the 1990s . The movement is informal , and can be understood as including lawyers and legal activists who advocate for civil rights and defend the interests of citizens against corporations , government or Communist Party organs . Fu Hualing and Richard Cullen note that Weiquan lawyers " are generally always on the side of the weaker party : ( migrant ) workers v. employers in labor disputes ; peasants in cases involving taxation , persons contesting environmental pollution , land appropriation , and village committee elections ; journalists facing government censorship ; defendants subject to criminal prosecution ; and ordinary citizens who are discriminated against by government policies and actions . " 
