Grapevine - 5. page

On August 25, 2012, NetEase (http://www.163.com/) published a series of photos displaying 30 bridges that have collapsed in China in the past 10 years. Seven of those bridges fell in 2012. The most recent collapse of a bridge happened in Harbin on August 24, 2012. Three people were killed and five were injured. According to the article, “More bridges have collapsed like this one, either due to the overloading the bridge or erosion due to rainfall.”

(Editor: Media and netizens have identified corruption, cutting corners to save money, and Tofu Construction as the causes leading to such failures. According to Asia News, for example, "Tofu engineering work leads to a tofu bridge.")

Sources: NetEase (http://www.163.com/),  August 25, 2012
http://news.163.com/photoview/00AP0001/26798.html#p=89P9K9V900AP0001
Asia News, A public menace, China’s ‘Tofu’ bridges in danger of collapse, August 28, 2012
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/A-public-menace,-China%27s-%27Tofu%27-bridges-in-danger-of-collapse-25662.html

On August 22, 2012, Xu Huaiqian, the former editor-in-chief for the Dadi (Earth) supplement of People’s Daily, committed suicide. Xu’s suicide elicited heated responses from Chinese netizens. Xu Huaiqian’s words were quoted in Chinese media and quickly circulated on the Internet.

Xu said: “My pain is that I dare to think but I cannot speak out; I dare to speak out but I cannot write; I dare to write but I have no place to publish.”

Source: BBC Chinese, August 24, 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/chinese_news/2012/08/120824_media_suicide_ana.shtml

On August 21, 2012, Global Times published an article regarding the Diaoyu Islands dispute between China and Japan, titled “Luo Yuan: Make the Diaoyu Islands a Target Range and Launch a People’s War on the Sea.” Luo Yuan is deputy secretary general of the China Society of Military Science and one of the most "hawkish" generals in China.

In the article, Luo recommended, “China should make a big deal of the Diaoyu Islands issue. We should clarify our national maritime strategy; establish a National Oceanic Commission; fight a guerrilla war on the sea; launch a people’s war on the sea; engage in group collaboration to protect the Diaoyu Islands; and keep the Japanese exhausted.”

Source: Huanqiu, the Chinese version of Global Times, August 21, 2012
http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2012-08/3048388.html

On June 16, 2012, Capital University of Economics and Business and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences jointly released their report on the results of a survey conducted in 35 cities on Chinese people’s satisfaction with the quality of life. According to the survey, the (subjective) satisfaction index was 50.88, just having reached the minimum level of satisfaction.

“The loss of morality results in the family’s instability. The decline in social trust means no one will help a fallen senior or a child in danger. Corruption and bribery lead to poor quality buildings everywhere. Greed and a lack of supervision have contributed to food safety problems everywhere. Selfishness and blind short-sightedness have created a deteriorating environment. The lack of faith and the loss of any sense of community contribute to a feeling of anxiety across the whole country. More and more Chinese people feel worried. Facing such an aimless society, which we cannot rely on spiritually, a sense of security brought by the social and economic development has vanished. How can we talk about happiness?”

Source: China Review News, June 18, 2012
http://www.zhgpl.com/doc/1021/4/4/7/102144732.html?coluid=73&kindid=7151&docid=102144732

On May 22, 2012, Xinhua reprinted an article originally from Beijing Evening News reporting that the Beijing Metropolitan government issued new provisions on public restrooms. According to the new provisions, public restrooms in parks, supermarkets, railroad stations, airports, train stations, and other public places may not be closed before the close of business hours in those places. The number of flies allowed in a public restroom may not exceed two. A toilet blockage must be fixed within 12 hours.

Source: Xinhua, May 22, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2012-05/22/c_112014885.htm

On April 1, 2012, China Review News published an article about how widespread the use of contaminated food is in China, holding the “relevant government authorities” accountable for not doing anything to solve the problem.

“Food safety problems such as eggs in the cancer-causing industrial dye Sudan Red, tainted milk, and cooking oil that has been recycled from discarded food waste are shockingly serious across the whole of China. As a result, everyone in China is panicked about what to eat. Consumer confidence has greatly declined because enterprises add all sorts of harmful supplements at will and the ‘relevant authorities’ have not done anything to solve the problem.”

Source: China Review News, April 1, 2012
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1020/5/9/7/102059793.html?coluid=45&kindid=0&docid=102059793&mdate=0401003733

On February 13, 2012, Boxun reprinted an article from Apple Daily, a Hong Kong newspaper, titled “Selecting a Country for Refuge; Why High Ranking CCP Officials Especially Love the U.S.” With an overtone of sarcasm, the article listed examples of those CCP officials who, on the one hand, openly criticize the United States and on the other, send their children to the U.S. for education and green cards. The examples included Bo Xilai, a member of the CCP Politburo and the Communist Party secretary of the Chongqing municipality and Xi Jinping, the 6th ranking member of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee and China’s Vice Chairman.

Starting with Deng Xiaoping, the article continued, it has become an unofficial rule that the United States must accept all of the CCP’s top leaders. Deng Xiaoping did not gain a solid footing in the CCP leadership until he visited the U.S. in 1979. In 2002, Hu Jintao made a high-profile visit to the U.S. before he ascended to the throne, so as to show the Chinese people that the U.S. acknowledged him. If the U.S. praises Xi Jinping, the article concluded, he will successfully gain the top CCP position.

Source: Boxun, February 13, 2012
http://www.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2012/02/201202130751.shtml

On December 23, 2011, People’s Daily Online published an article titled, “In China the Corruption of Individual Officials Is Spreading; Now Whole Groups of Officials Are Colluding in Corruption.” This was the conclusion of "China’s Anti-Corruption Report No.1," issued by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. According to the report, the means of corruption are more hidden, with many new guises; corrupt officials seek short-term illegal gains such as enjoying the pleasures of consumption, as well as long term ones, such as possessing capital. Corruption can be financial, or involve resources or contracts. The scope of corruption runs from the gamut from the economic, political, and judicial fields to the social, cultural, and educational, and even overseas.

Source: People’s Daily Online, December 23, 2011
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/99014/16697289.html