Social Stability - 114. page

Radio France International reported on April 18 that more workers from the Yuyuan Shoe Factory have joined the strike that started a few days ago. The factory is located in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, which is very close to Hong Kong. The factory is owned by a Taiwanese company that is an important supplier of Nike and Adidas. The Yuyuan Shoe Factory is the largest shoe manufacturer in the world. The strike started a few days back when around 30,000 workers called for the company to make larger social security payments [some media reported that worker’s wanted the company’s social security contributions to be made in accordance with Chinese law]. The number of workers on strike quickly doubled within four days, to over 60,000 in total. This strike is becoming the largest labor strike in the history of China under communist rule. The communist labor union and the local police are siding with the company management by forcing the workers to go back to work. As of the time Chinascope published this briefing, the situation was still developing.

Source: RFI, April 18, 2014
http://www.chinese.rfi.fr/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD

Study Times recently published an article on how to improve the handling of crises that spread over the Internet. The article recommended that China should develop an Internet security and information control mechanism, strengthen its monitoring and emergency response capability for such crisis, develop new technologies, improve communication between the government and the people, and educate the media and the people about how to be cautious. The article suggested that the government initiate efforts in the following areas:

1. Strategy and institutional structure: The government should include Internet crisis management as part of its national security strategy and develop a proper institutional structure and laws on Internet information management. Also the government should clarify the structural relationship between the National Security Commission, the Central Internet Security and Information Leading Group, and local governments.

2. Early detection of and emergency response to Internet crises: The government can establish Internet information collection teams to monitor news discussion groups, forums, and search engines’ search results; it can also collect information on the hot issues and events as well as on people’s opinions on these issues and events.

3. Internet technology: The government should put the R&D of Internet technology in a core position and strive for China’s own innovations of core Internet technology.

4. Crisis management: The easiest way is for the government to tell the truth, so as to gain people’s trust and weaken the impact of negative opinions.

5. Education: The government should educate media professionals on professional ethics and professional “discipline.” It also needs to educate the general public about Internet crisis – to train citizens on how to tell, criticize, and evaluate information on the Internet. It can do this through the use of television, newspapers, the Internet, school, and special education programs.

Source: Study Times, March 24, 2014
http://www.studytimes.cn/shtml/xxsb/20140324/4272.shtml

Xinhua published an article on China’s so-called "naked officials" who have moved their spouses, children and assets overseas while they remain at home in China. 

Yixin Wealth (Credit Ease) and the Lianban Finance Institute recently released a report on the distribution of wealth in China. According to the report, the top 10 percent of the population owns 63.9 percent of the wealth in China.