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Xinhua: 850,000 Volunteers to Guard Security in Beijing during the Upcoming National Day Events

Xinhua reported that 850,000 volunteers registered as security guards in order to safeguard security in Beijing during the upcoming events for China’s 65th National Day on October 1. According to the Beijing Comprehensive Management of Public Security Committee, these volunteers will assist the public security bureau to conduct inspections at checkpoints that have been set up at bridges and tunnels on the passageways to enter Beijing. They will also work with the cameras installed in certain neighborhoods to monitor any unusual situations.

Source: Xinhua, September 29, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2014-09/29/c_127047858.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Xinhua: Testimony from the Court Trial of Uyghur Separatist Ilham Tohti

On September 24, 2014, Xinhua published some of the testimony from the court trial of Uyghur economics professor Ilham Tohti, one of the few moderate Uighur dissidents within China. The court in Urumqi sentenced the Uyghur scholar to life in prison for “inciting separatism,” stripped him of all political rights, and seized all of his assets. 

According to the Court testimony, Ilham Tohti denied that he had engaged in “splitting the country deliberately or leading and organizing a criminal group.” None of the articles published on his website “Uighurbiz.net” called for separation. The court showed a video of Ilham Tohti’s lecture in class and charged him with “the crime of promoting separation in public.” His attorney claimed that the damage was not big since not many students were in his class. “Defendant Ilham Tohti argued, ‘I (should) have the right of academic freedom and freedom of expression.’” The video “evidence” of his “separation speech” in class included his words, “Does Xinjiang belong to your Chinese people? No, I am a Uighur in the first place. We belong to the Central Asian ethnicity first of all.” “I am not a Chinese because I am a Uighur. Our pride is the great Turkistan.” In court, Ilham Tohti repeatedly said, "I have expressed my view on autonomy very clearly." "I’m a pro-autonomy (person)." [That means] "I want Xinjiang to remain inside China in the form of a federal district."   

Source: Xinhua, September 24, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2014-09/24/c_1112614703.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Nearly 100 Million Poisonous Pill Capsules Sold on the Market

Well-known Chinese online news site Sohu recently reported that a company in Zhejiang Province manufactured over 90 million capsules of medical pills containing poisonous materials and sold all of them to a large number of customers. Chinese law enforcement discovered it and captured the primary criminal. He had lost his job two years ago and then hired over ten other workers to found a new company producing the capsules. Two years ago, the workers had worked for another company that made poisonous capsules. When the police closed the company, it made big news nationwide. The new poisonous capsules main ingredient was the heavy metal chromium, which exceeded the maximum permitted level by 65 times. This level of poison could result in significant damage to the patient’s vital internal organs. The sales channels and the whereabouts of the capsules still remain a mystery. The case is currently under investigation. 
Source: Sohu, September 2, 2014
http://business.sohu.com/20140902/n404001909.shtml
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

A Shanxi Township Party Secretary Wrecked a Restaurant Because She Did Not Get Quality Alcohol

During working hours, a female Party Secretary from Xintangshi (Town), Hongdong County of Shanxi Province brought a nine-member team of Party officials to dine at a village restaurant located outside of the town center. After dining there, the team, led by the female Secretary, demolished the restaurant because the alcoholic beverage served there was not up to their standard of quality. On September 3, the picture of the restaurant, after it had been wrecked, was posted and spread on the Internet. The woman was later demoted and the involved officials were also punished. 

Source: Sina.com, September 4, 2014 
http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2014-09-04/021030791036.shtml
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Emergency Restrictions Imposed on Tour Groups to Tibet

Xinmin Evening News, a popular newspaper published in Shanghai, recently reported on an emergency notice that the Tibet Tourism Bureau issued regarding new restrictions on tour groups going to Tibet. The new rules required that, starting August 19, all groups and individual tourists who have not yet reached Tibet must cancel their travel plans. For those who are in Tibet already, all buses are limiting the total number of passengers to no more than 20, including the driver, the tour guide, and one policeman. Many travel agencies confirmed the news and are adjusting their business offerings to Tibet. However, many said that they did not receive the “official announcement.” Instead, they obtained the notification from their partners in Tibet.
Source: Xinmin Evening News, August 22, 2014
http://xmwb.news365.com.cn/gzfw/201408/t20140822_1241038.html
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Ministry of Environmental Protection: Ninety Percent Cities Suffer Low Air Quality

Xinhua recently reported that the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection released statistics on air quality for the first half of 2014 covering large and mid-sized cities. Only 9 out of the 161 cities that use the new and improved air quality standards met the air quality requirements. For the 166 cities that are still using the old standards, only 105 met the requirements. This represents a 7.1 percent decline. The new air quality standards now include standards for PM10, PM2.5, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and ozone. The old standards lacked PM2.5, carbon monoxide and ozone. The newly released statistics also showed there was a 2.6 percent decline in the number of “state monitored pollution sources” that met the national requirements for environmental protection controls. There are 3,631 such “pollution sources.” 
PM2.5 particles are air pollutants with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less, small enough to invade even the smallest airways. These particles generally come from activities that burn fossil fuels, such as traffic, smelting, and metal processing.
Source: Xinhua, August 5, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/local/2014-08/05/c_1111949368.htm
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

BBC Chinese: Christian Churches Suffer More Demolition in Zhejiang

BBC Chinese recently reported that, in Wenzhou City of Zhejiang Province, the police were using force to demolish a large local church. As of July 21, at least fourteen Christian church members had been injured. Unconfirmed reports indicate that three of the church members have started hunger strikes and are prepared for “martyrdom.” The local police have refused to provide any information to reporters and all online posts are rapidly deleted. This has been the third attempted demolition in two weeks. The first attempt was to remove the cross at the top of the church, but the police could not provide any official document or permit as justification. Not long ago, two other churches were torn down in Zhejiang Province. 
Source: BBC Chinese, July 23, 2014
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2014/07/140723_china_church_protest.shtml
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

People’s Daily: Top One Percent of Chinese Families Hold over One-third of the Wealth

People’s Daily recently reported on the People’s Livelihood Development Report newly released by the Chinese Social Science Research Center of Peking University. The report focused on six aspects of Chinese families: wealth, the spending model, health-related costs, self-employment, housing, and their “subjective sense of happiness.” The inequality in the distribution of wealth in China has been increasing rapidly. The research showed that the top one percent of Chinese families own more than one-third of the total of Chinese wealth. Meanwhile, the twenty-five percent of families at the bottom own one percent of the nation’s wealth. The difference between urban and suburban populations and the difference between different geographic regions are the two primary causes of the imbalance in wealth. The imbalance is also reflected in the spending model. The research shows that the vast majority of Chinese families spend most of their income on basic needs, while a small number of families enjoy an extremely high-end life-style. Also, China’s healthcare costs are higher than the world’s main developed countries.
 
Source: People’s Daily, July 25, 2014
http://society.people.com.cn/n/2014/0725/c1008-25345140.html
Briefings | | |   Social Stability