A group of urban administrative enforcement teams was formed by Guangdong Nanshan branch of the Public Security Bureau. It consists of 1000 policemen, district security guards and militia. They will assist the Public Security Bureau to deal with urgent incidents to ensure social stability.
Source: Nanfang Daily, March 28, 2009
http://epaper.nddaily.com/H/html/2009-03/28/content_743542.htm
China’s Transition Institute (Zhuan Zhixing), a think tank like NGO for socio-economic transformation published a 2008 Handbook of Citizen’s Tax Rights. The book lists sources of government waste:
"There are about four million government vehicles in China that cost the government an annual 200 billion Chinese Yuan (30 billion USD) to operate; however, only about one third of the use is for official business."
"Rough estimates say the government spends at least 200 billion Yuan on dining costs each year, which is equivalent to the cost of the Three Gorges Damn Project."
"In the past year travel overseas for government officials on fact finding/training trips has continued for many locations. At present China’s officials spend more than 300 billion Yuan (44 billion USD) on travel abroad."
"Waste from political building projects–a number of local governments went into debt building ultra-luxurious public squares, theaters, gyms, airports, golf courses, etc. A poor county government in one province spent 70 million Yuan (10 million USD) on a government building, which is equivalent to one third of that county’s yearly income."
Source:
2008 Handbook of Citizen’s Tax Rights
http://www.zhuanxing.cn/search.asp#
Xinhua posted on its website an article from The People’s Daily (overseas edition) titled “Why Does France Always Have Mass Strikes?” The article starts, “Widespread strikes, just like delicious wine and luxury products, are one of France’s ‘local specialties.’ [Note: The article refers to strikes in France on March 19, 2009.] So what has caused such a large scale strike? The article states that “it had to start with Sarkozy’s ‘Reform France’ project. As a person who likes to show-off and behave eccentrically, ‘emotional president’ Sarkozy always acts on his own will and in his own way, even in political affairs. After taking office, Sarkozy has started social welfare reform that emphasizes extending working hours, increasing medical fees and decreasing welfare, disregarding opposition from many other sides. … Even at a time of economic crisis with an ever increasing number of jobless workers, Sarkozy insists on his way and continues the reform. Obviously this has angered the French people.” The article concludes that “If conflict from both sides gets worse, one can foresee that in this nation where strikes are a ‘local specialty,’ what awaits Sarkozy will be larger scale strikes, a more difficult situation to handle, and a more perilous political career.”
Source: Xinhua, March 25, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2009-03/25/content_11067019.htm
According to news released yesterday by the Ministry of Education of the PRC, China has sent 1,391,500 students to study overseas via various avenues over the last 30 years. Among them, about one million remained abroad. Only 390,000 returned to China, a return rate of 28 percent.
Source: China News Agency, March 26, 2008
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/edu/kong/news/2009/03-26/1618111.shtml
Xinhua’s Special Military Commentator said that dispatching USS Chung-Hoon to South China Sea is a friendly gesture by the US DOD. It demonstrates US “hedging” strategy of both “engaging” and “deterring” China.
Xinhua said that selecting Chung-Hoon itself is a “well thought-out decision” by the US Pacific Command. First, instead of choosing a ship from the nearby Japanese Sea it chose Chung-Hoon, which was far from the incident water and needed 4 to 5 days to get there. Those 4 to 5 days gave US and China enough time for diplomatic maneuvers. Second, the ship itself has an “historical relationship” with China as it accompanied the Chinese Navy’s visit to Pearl Harbor in 2006.
Source: Xinhua, March 23, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2009-03/23/content_11056685.htm
In this article author Gao Yang addresses how the global recession is creating social instability in China. This is reflected in the courts as a large number of lawsuits are brought forward to settle disputes. He states that the People’s Courts should be better prepared to respond to these challenges and lists some general approaches.
Gao lists several sources of the social unrest: disputes between companies and their employees due to layoff or salary reduction; home owners not applying for mortgages or being delinquent on mortgage payments; increase in begging and petty theft as people living on the edge lose their means of living; popularization of illegal fund-raising as investors looking for alternatives; counterfeit money and credit card crimes; land expropriation disputes as the government pushes through its economic stimulus package; land struggles as farmers return from the city to the country; and mounting unemployment pressure, especially from college graduates.
Source: Study Times, March 23, 2009
http://www.studytimes.com.cn/WebPage/ny1.aspx?act=0&id=2520&bid=5
Study Times:
The Party School of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party produces Study Times; it was established in September 1999. The paper targets the national party organization and party cadres of all levels, as well as intellectuals. It is the only party paper that specializes in training and is publicly distributed in and outside of China.
Internet surfers in China are no longer able to visit the video sharing website Youtube.com, due to the site carrying some scenes of Tibetan monks being beaten by the Chinese Armed Policemen.
A spokesperson of the China Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Internet is open in China, but for national security purposes, it needs to be managed to prevent spreading “poisonous information.” He said that he is unaware of the case of Youtube.com.
BBC Chinese reported that since January, China has closed several hundred websites, including some popular blogs, as well as websites popular among Tibetans. Investigations confirm that China still blocks access to certain websites, including BBC Chinese.com.
Source: BBC Chinese, March 24, 2009
http://news.bbc.co.uk/chinese/simp/hi/newsid_7960000/newsid_7961100/7961110.stm
After Coca-Cola’s acquisition of Hui Yuan failed the antitrust review by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the news quickly gained media attention. The failed acquisition triggered a range comments.
Many Foreign media cited trade protectionism as the cause. Because the case sets the precedent for Chinese Antitrust Law governing a foreign acquisition, Chinese researchers indicated that the reported reactions reflected a worry about future foreign acquisitions. The Wall Street Journal insisted this was a warning to foreign investors.
Foreign media also brought up the potential negative effect on Chinese investments overseas. Chinese experts dismissed this view as they believed the ruling was merely based on protecting healthy competition as they stated that there was no bias against international corporations.
Source: Xinhua News/International Herald Leader, March 23, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2009-03/23/content_11056881.htm