Social Stability - 123. page

On April 15, 2013, the People’s Forum under the State media People’s Daily conducted an online survey on the Communist Party’s credibility. The survey, titled “Confidence, Belief and Faith” had four questions and was shut down within 24 hours after over 80 percent of those surveyed indicated that they disapproved of the Communist Party.

In response to Question 1, “Do you agree that the Chinese Communist Party has sufficient courage and wisdom to push forward reform?” 72.1 percent selected “No.”

To Question 2, “Do you agree with the statement that upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics benefits the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people?” 82.1 percent answered “No.”

As for Question 3, “Do you completely agree that only the Communist Party of China can lead the people to successfully take the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics?” 83.53 percent said “No”

In answering the last question “What do you think positively about China’s system of one party rule with multiple parties participating?” 80.90 percent expressed “No.” About 10 percent answered “not clear about it” or “do not know.”

The survey and its results were taken down from Internet within 24 hours of its being posted, but not before approximately 3,000 people submitted answers to the survey.

Source: Epoch Times, April 24, 2013
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/13/4/24/n3854521.htm

Xinhua reported that, as of 17:00 Beijing time on April 17, 2013, China had a total of 82 H7N9 cases with 17 deaths, five released and 60 under treatment. From 20:00 April 16 to 17:00 April 17 alone, an additional 5 new cases were reported, one in Shanghai and 4 in Zhejiang Province.

According to Xinhua, as of April 17, the distribution of reported cases was as follows: one in Beijing, 31 in Shanghai (11 deaths), 20 in Jiangsu Province (three deaths), 25 in Zhejiang Province (two deaths), three in Anhui Province (one death), and two in Henan Province. The authorities stated that there is no epidemic connection between these cases, which have spread to 30 prefecture-level regions.

A week ago, on April 10, there had been a total of 33 reported cases and nine deaths.

Sources: 
Xinhua, April 17, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-04/17/c_115429085.htm
Xinhua, April 10, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2013-04/10/c_124564934.htm

Xinhua reported that Beijing will implement a Residential Permit System this year in order to systematically regulate the (booming) population. It was reported that the public security bureau is conducting research on all residents currently residing in Beijing and plans to use the data as the foundation for the Residential Permit System.

Source: Xinhua, April 13, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-04/13/c_115372583_2.htm

Xinhua reported that, as of 7:00 p.m. Beijing time on April 10, 2013, China had a total of 33 H7N9 cases with 9 deaths and no epidemiological connection between these cases. On that same day, China’s Ministry of Agriculture said that, in lab tests, 14 more poultry samples in the three provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui in east China were discovered to have been H7N9-positive. The samples were from 2,099 samples collected in poultry farms and markets. Eleven of the 14 positive samples were found to have been taken from the 743 samples from Jiangsu Province.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Avian Flu Reference Laboratory concluded from a gene sequence analysis that that the strain of the H7N9 virus found in the 14 samples was highly congeneric with that found earlier in a pigeon on April 4.

The Ministry of Agriculture has ordered the three provinces to shut down and thoroughly disinfect the markets from which the samples were taken and to cull all live poultry.

Source: Xinhua, April 10, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2013-04/10/c_124564934.htm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-04/10/c_115342190.htm

As of the end of April 4, 2013, Shanghai had reported four more H7N9 bird flu cases with four fatalities and two undergoing treatment, bringing the total number of cases in Shanghai to six. According to the local authorities, there is no connection between the six cases. One person who had contact with a diseased H7N9 patient has developed a fever, running nose and an itchy throat, and is presently undergoing treatment.

On April 4, China’s agricultural authorities announced that they had detected the infectious H7N9 avian flu virus in some pigeon samples collected at a marketplace in the Songjiang District of Shanghai, where agricultural products are sold.

[Editor’s note: So far, China has confirmed 14 H7N9 cases, six in Shanghai, four in Jiangsu Province, three in Zhejiang Province and one in Anhui Province. Of all, four died in Shanghai and one died in Zhejiang Province.]

Source: Xinhua, April 5, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2013-04/05/c_124541810.htm

On April 3, 2012, Zhejiang Province reported two H7N9 bird flu cases with one death, bringing the total number of H7N9 bird flu cases in China to nine with three deaths. According to local authorities, no epidemiological connection between the two Zhejiang cases has been found.

On April 2, Jiangsu Province reported four H7N9 bird flu cases with all four patients in critical conditions. The local authorities stated that there is no epidemiological connection between these four cases. Earlier, both Shanghai, and Anhui Province reported a total of three cases with two fatalities.

Source: Huanqiu, April 3, 2012
http://china.huanqiu.com/local/2013-04/3796213.html
http://china.huanqiu.com/local/2013-04/3792565.html

China.com, a website sponsored by the State Council Information Office, issued a report on the 2013 budgets that the Beijing Public Security Bureau and the Transportation Bureau published. The report stated that the total 2013 budget for the Beijing Public Security Bureau was over 3.8 billion yuan (US$610 million). Of that money, 3.2 billion yuan (US$520 million) was allocated to “public safety.” That figure represents an increase of 18.5 percent from the 2.7 billion yuan (US$430 million) that was allocated for 2012.

Hu Jia, an activist from Beijing told RFA that China has never been transparent about its spending on the military and on public safety and the situation in China has worsened compared with last year. Hu said that a politically empowered interest group makes this investment in maintaining public safety in order to maintain its monopoly on power. That group is the “Politics and Law Committee,” the group that Zhou Yongkang used to head. Hu stated, "The ‘Politics and Law Committee’ is not a state organ but rather a Party agency. … Zhou stepped down four months ago, but we felt that the situation in China worsened during the recent Lianghui (two meetings: the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference) compared with the 18th National Congress last year.”

Wang Juntao, a Chinese dissident currently living in the U.S., believes that many people in China have hope that the new leadership will bring change to China, but based on what has happened so far, the new leadership is more or less trying to continue the old policy from Deng, Jiang, and Hu, which means to continue the policy of maintaining stability.

Source: Radio Free Asia, March 22, 2013
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/jz-03222013154114.html