Social Stability - 114. page

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

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

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

Xinhua recently reported that the police in Guangzhou City announced the capture of a 25-year-old man who, the previous day, had bombed a bus used in public transportation. The bombing caused two deaths and injured 32 people. This was the sixth public transportation bombing incident in China in the past thirteen months. Public transportation safety is becoming a widely discussed topic across the nation. Some government officials observed that these deadly incidents are a clear reflection of the lack of management of inflammable and explosive materials. Some have requested that enhanced public safety education be added throughout the education system from elementary schools to colleges. The Ministry of Public Safety had an emergency national conference after the Guangzhou bombing, requiring all branches to increase the security level mainly in subway systems, while, meanwhile, cracking down proactively on serious criminal attempts in all public transportation systems.

Source: Xinhua, July 16, 2014

http://news.xinhuanet.com/2014-07/16/c_126762003.htm

Not only have China’s traditions been lost, but morality has been going downhill. Facing the harsh reality of greed and materialism, students have become confused and have no direction. 

In addition, the infiltration of the ideology of the Western hostile forces directly impedes the students from assimilating to socialist ideology. “Western countries, by virtue of their economic, military, and technological superiority, have not changed their conspiracy to ‘Westernize’ and ‘divide’ the Chinese people and college students in particular. They use many different channels and means, with well-orchestrated plans, to target the Chinese people and Chinese students in particular, to sell and spread their political culture and values.” 

Finally, multi-media led by the Internet and the ever increasing number of Internet users have formed the Internet forces in China. Particularly, college students tend to voice their opinions through Weibo and SME texts with increasing interest in politics. “Those using the Internet crowd are not necessarily law abiding. Many of them have ‘difficult to control’ features.” 

Source: Red Flag Manuscript reprinted by Qiushi, June 26, 2014 

http://www.qstheory.cn/dukan/hqwg/2014-06/26/c_1111328859.htm

On June 27, BBC Chinese reported that, on that same day, over 1,800 Hong Kong lawyers marched in silence; all participants in the march were dressed in black; they carried no signs, banners or slogans. The group walked from the High Court to the Court of Final Appeal. The widely respected Hong Kong lawyers were apparently protesting against what they saw as interference from Beijing. There has been a growing concern about the rule of law in Hong Kong. Legislative Council Member Dennis Kwok and Senior Counsel Martin Lee, who is also the founder of the Hong Kong Democratic Party, led the protesters. Also in the group were former High Court justices and eight former chairpersons of the highly respected Hong Kong Bar Association. The Association had issued an official announcement a couple of weeks earlier indicating that it is “incorrect” for the Mainland government to suggest that the Hong Kong judges and judicial officers are part of the executive branch that “rules” Hong Kong [instead of upholding the "rule of law" in Hong Kong.]

Source: BBC Chinese, June 27, 2014

http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2014/06/140627_hk_whitepaper_legal_petition.shtml

Early this year, a cleanup campaign in Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province resulted in the stoppage of low-income subsidies to 17,479 who did not meet the eligibility requirements. At the same time, the eligibility of 8,159 persons was approved so they could start to receive the 2014 low-income subsidies. Similarly, in the first quarter, Dongfang City removed 1,265 from the low-income subsidy recipient list and added 1,477 to the list. At the end of May, Ha’erbin City stopped payments to 7,470 who were not eligible and accepted 1,706 for payments of low-income subsidies. In June, Leiyang City in Hunan Province also found 402 of the current recipients to be ineligible.