The news from China in recent weeks has been dire. Violent strikes and protests are reported almost daily. Millions of workers are out of jobs. Economic indicators presage more gloom, with electricity production for industry falling 4% in October, the first time it has declined in a decade. So is China — the "fragile superpower," as historian Susan Shirk memorably termed it — about to experience the one thing its leaders have feared for years: a so-called hard landing of its economy that could spark widespread social unrest?

Question

Can you consider this sentence as the thesis statement?
The news from China in recent weeks has been dire. Violent strikes and protests are reported almost daily. Millions of workers are out of jobs.

Answer 1

Which one? I see three sentences (statements) there. Or... how can you combine these ideas smoothly into one effective statement?

Read these to see what is and is not an effective thesis statement:
http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/thesistatement.html