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RFA: Ministry of Civil Affairs Official Says Peasant Worker Parents Have Not Been Responsible

Radio Free Asia carried an article that reported on the recent comments of an official from the Ministry of Civil Affairs regarding how peasant workers treat their children back home. He pointed out that, because many have not fulfilled their responsibility as parents, thereby causing serious mental and physical harm to their children, they should be subject to legal action. The article also stated that the troubled environment that these left-behind children are living in is a direct result of the “hukou” system or residential policy China has adopted which separates the rural from the urban regions. 

The article quoted an interview with a Chinese scholar who stated that the issues that the left-behind children and peasant workers face are complicated social issues and hard to resolve. According to the article, in a number of reported cases, left-behind children have been found dead or sexually abused. The article reported that China announced in December that it will issue urban residential identification cards to peasant workers as long as they can show proof that they are working, attending school, or have owned housing for over six month in the region in which they are applying. This means that the peasant workers will be entitled to medical and education benefits in these areas.

Source: Radio Free Asia, February 19, 2016
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/shehui/nu-02192016110750.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

RFA: Priest Gu Yuese was Officially Arrested

Radio Free Asia (RFA) recently reported that the Chinese authorities officially arrested Priest Gu Yuese on February 6 – two days before the Chinese New Year. Gu was the priest at the largest Christian Church in the City of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. He was also the President of the Christian Association of Zhejiang Province. Since the Cultural Revolution, he has been the highest ranking Christian leader that the government officially appointed, who the government then arrested. Gu was strongly against the government’s demolition of the crosses that are on the churches in Zhejiang Province. He was later removed from the Christian Association. Gu asked his church members to continue following the guidance of the Bible, supporting the new priest, and praying for him instead of going against the government. 
Source: Radio Free Asia, February 8, 2016
http://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/religion1-02082016080730.html
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

China’s Spring Festival Travel Season Faces a Major Cold Wave

BBC Chinese recently reported that China has entered its annual 40-day travel peak season (15 days before and 25 days after the Spring Festival which is February 8 this year). According to the Ministry of Transportation, during this season, the total travel volume will reach 2.91 billion person-trips, which represents an increase of 3.6 percent over last year. However, this year’s season may face a serious challenge from the expected major cold wave which has already brought record low temperatures to various regions in China. Many regional electricity companies and railway administrations have started to prepare for severe icy conditions and snow storms. The 2008 Spring Festival travel season suffered a similar cold wave which caused massive damage, impacting over one hundred million travelers. The scale of this year’s volume is expected to be even higher. In fact, some highways in Chongqing and Guangdong have already closed due to snow.

Source: BBC Chinese, January 24, 2016
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/china/2016/01/160124_china_chunyun_begins
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Xinhua: China Faces Serious Shortage of Pediatricians

China faces a shortage of pediatricians. With the launch of the new two-child policy which is replacing the one-child policy, Chinese parents are wondering where they will find pediatricians for their children. 

In 2012, there were only 0.43 pediatric specialists for each 1,000 children in China, or only 96, 000 pediatricians for the 220 million Chinese children who were less than 14 years old. By comparison, in the United States, the ratio is 1.46 pediatricians for every 1,000 children. Because of the shortage of pediatricians, many Chinese hospitals have had to shut down their pediatric departments. As China has just replaced its one-child policy with the two-child policy, the expected dramatic increase in births will make the pediatrician shortage even more severe. 
Because they have longer working hours and a higher work load, pediatricians encounter more medical disputes with parents. In addition, pediatricians earn less income compared to doctors in other fields because children need smaller doses of medication. [Editor’s note: The Chinese regime encourages doctors and hospitals to sell extra prescriptive drugs to patients. Whether the patients need so much medication or not, the doctors in China prescribe an abundance of expensive drugs for them. It is a secret rule in China, which is, nevertheless, fairly well known to “Use drugs to get income for doctors.”] 

Source: Xinhua, January 16, 2016 
http://www.sn.xinhuanet.com/society/2016-01/16/c_1117796882.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

People’s Daily: Beijing Public Security Bureau Openly Recruits Internet Police Volunteers

People’s Daily and Beijing Youth Daily published an article on January 14, 2016, titled “Internet Police Volunteers Reported over 15,000 Online Clues (for Police Investigations). The Main Force Consists of Young People Born in 1980s and 1990s.” According to the article, the Beijing Public Security Bureau started to recruit "Internet Police Volunteers” in 2014. By December of 2015, he Beijing Police had recruited over 3,000 people as members of its team of “Internet Police Volunteers.” The team has submitted over 15,000 reports on “clues leading to potential criminals.” Based on the reported clues, the official "Beijing Internet Police" gave “educational warnings” to 8,400 Internet users, released over 1,400 warning tips through Chinese micro blogs and the Chinese Internet messenger (WeChat) and uncovered 210 “criminal activities and public security cases.”

The recruited “internet police volunteers” are from all over China. 80 percent of them are young people born in the 1980s and 1990s. These “volunteers” who work regularly at scientific research institutes and security companies, also actively carry out “safety inspections” on over 45,000 websites that are in the records of the Internet Security Headquarters. They use their professional technological skills and inspection equipment in their work. The article on People’s Daily and Beijing Youth Daily on January 14, 2016, calls for more people to join the “Internet Police Volunteers” team by sending an email to a listed email address.

Sources: People’s Daily and Beijing Youth Daily, January 14, 2016
http://it.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0114/c1009-28050676.html
http://epaper.ynet.com/html/2016-01/14/content_177158.htm?div=-1

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

People’s Daily: Beijing Public Security Bureau Openly Recruits Internet Police Volunteers

On January 14, 2016, People’s Daily and Beijing Youth Daily published an article titled, “Internet Police Volunteers Reported over 15,000 Online Clues (for Police to Investigate). The Main Force Consists of Young People Born in the 1980s and 1990s.” According to the article, the Beijing Public Security Bureau started to recruit "Internet Police Volunteers” in 2014. By December of 2015, the Beijing Police had recruited over 3,000 people as members of its team of “Internet Police Volunteers.” The team has submitted over 15,000 reports on “clues leading to potential criminals.” Based on the reported clues, the official "Beijing Internet Police" gave “educational warnings” to 8,400 Internet users, released over 1,400 warning tips through Chinese microblogs and the Chinese Internet messenger (WeChat) and uncovered 210 “criminal activities and public security cases.” 

The recruited “internet police volunteers” are from all over China. 80 percent of them are young people born in the 1980s and 1990s. These “volunteers” who work regularly at scientific research institutes and security companies, also actively carry out “safety inspections” on over 45,000 websites that are in the records of the Internet Security Headquarters. They use their professional technological skills and inspection equipment in their work. The article on People’s Daily and Beijing Youth Daily on January 14, 2016, calls for more people to join the “Internet Police Volunteers” team by sending an email to a listed email address. 
 Sources: People’s Daily and Beijing Youth Daily, January 14, 2016 
http://it.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0114/c1009-28050676.html http://epaper.ynet.com/html/2016-01/14/content_177158.htm?div=-1
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

The Inequality between the Chinese People’s Income and Assets Continues to Worsen

According to a recent survey, the inequality of people’s income and assets is getting worse. The top one percent of the population owns one-third of China’s total assets, while the bottom 25 percent of families own one percent of total assets. The survey, “The China Livelihood Development Report,” was based on a study of 14,960 families in 25 provinces and cities. 

In addition to the inequality in income and assets, there are deepening gaps in terms of education between the urban area and the countryside, between the eastern and western regions, and between males and females. In the area of healthcare, the social security programs that the State funds have expanded the inequality instead of narrowing it. The survey showed that the population that has a higher income receives more medical subsidies than people who have a lower income. 

Source: Yicai, January 13, 2016 
http://www.yicai.com/news/2016/01/4738424.html
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

China Youth Daily: Local Governments’ Zero Loss in Lawsuits Is Not Necessarily a Good Record

China Youth Daily published an article commenting on the “zero loss” records of local governments when they are defendants in lawsuits. 

Since its opening on December 28, 2014, until the end of 2015, the Third Shanghai Intermediate People’s Court has handled a total of 610 administrative cases in the pilot phase that involved trials in administrative cases. This figure included 242 administrative cases in which the municipal people’s government was a defendant for the first time. Others were second instance administrative cases in which the municipal administrative organs were the appellant or appellee. As of now, the Shanghai municipal government has not yet suffered a single loss in any of its lawsuits. 
The local governments that achieved “zero loss” were not limited to Shanghai. Late last year, the Legislative Affairs Office of Sichuan revealed that the provincial government was a defendant in 126 administrative cases [in 2015] and had a "zero loss" record. 

The article commented that a government under the rule of law is not necessarily one with a "zero loss" record [in lawsuits]. Similarly, the dazzling "zero loss" record may not directly convey a positive signal to the public. In the process, the suppressed discontent, the injustice, and even the unfairness may very well result in the loss of the last appeal channel. The result might be silence, but [the problem is] that this silence might not completely disappear, especially when the situation continues and gives rise to new injustices. As a result, local governments do not have to consider "zero loss" as an achievement. 
The reason why the people take on the local government as a defendant is not that they have got nothing better to do or because they want to embarrass the government deliberately. It is because the people regard the government as the final solution to the problem. 
Source: China Youth Daily, January 20, 2016 
http://zqb.cyol.com/html/2016-01/20/nw.D110000zgqnb_20160120_4-02.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability