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Civil Servants Complain about Pressure from Work, Life, and Negative Publicity

Civil service has always been viewed as a profession that enjoys a high social status, is relatively stable, and offers a high income. Statistics show that, currently, 26 percent of civil servants are 35-years-old or younger. People’s Daily recently carried an article, originally published in Outlook Weekly, that was about civil servants’ lives. The examples used in the article suggested that there are misconceptions about this profession. Many civil servants complained that they suffer from pressure at work, from life, and from publicity. Many of them have to work overtime, are unable to afford housing, and face negative publicity in general about their profession. Moreover, a survey conducted recently in Guizhou Province showed that, of 900 civil servants surveyed, only 15.42 percent said they were very confident while 23.91 percent stated they did not have confidence in themselves.

Source: People’s Daily, June 2, 2013
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2013/0602/c1026-21703599.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Five Central Construction Enterprises Spend over Six Million Yuan Per Day on Reception Meals

According to Statistics published by Guangzhou Daily, in 2012, 1,720 A-share listed public companies spent a total of 13.3 billion yuan (about US$2.2 billion) on “business reception” expenses [used for hospitality and to wine and dine customers]. The vast majority of these companies are state-owned enterprises. The company that holds the number one place is China Railway Construction Corporation. Its hospitality expenses in 2012 amounted to 837 million yuan, or 2.29 million yuan per day. 

Five central enterprises, including China Railway Construction Company, China Communications Construction Company Ltd., Sinohydro Group Ltd., China Gezhouba Group Company Ltd., and China National Chemical Engineering Co. Ltd., spent a total of more than 2.2 billion yuan, averaging 6.12 million yuan (about US$1 million) per day on food, drinks, and gifts. 

Source: UDN.com May 13, 2013 http://udn.com/NEWS/MAINLAND/MAIN3/7892694.shtml

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Xinhua: Guangzhou Refused to Release Details on Rice with Excess Cadmium

Xinhua recently reported that the Food and Drug Administrative Bureau of the City of Guangzhou refused to release information on the newly discovered rice products that have excess Cadmium pollution (two times higher than the maximum level allowed by the National Standard), as well as Aflatoxin B1 and Staphylococcus Aureus. Although the Bureau announced that it had found the pollutants it did not follow the process of releasing the brand names of the products and the names of the manufacturers, as required by law. The Bureau also did not describe the level of damage that it found the pollutants to have caused. The report questioned the motivation behind hiding these “secrets.” After heavy pressure from the media, the Bureau later released the names of the products and the manufacturers. However, it did not included any details as to whom the products were sold. Excessive Cadmium can cause serious damage to the kidneys and can remain in the human body for fifteen to twenty years. 
Source: Xinhua, May 20, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-05/20/c_124732888.htm
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Massive Chinese Capital Flows Out of China through Underground Banks

Chinese media reported that large amounts of Chinese capital are being transferred overseas through many means, the majority of which are underground banks. 

According to a rule of the People’s Bank of China, the maximum for any individual’s annual foreign exchange is limited to US$50,000. Such a limitation is simply too small to meet the quota of foreign investment and immigration needs, so how do they get the money out of China? 
According the a media report, underground banks are a major channel for transferring the money. In the southern city of Shenzhen, there are many hidden underground banks. An agent nicknamed Addie told the reporter that, although the Foreign Currency Administration Bureau can control large sums of money that flow in or out, they are apparently powerless if the amount is in the millions or even tens of millions of RMB. Addie explained, "As long as the customer tells us half an hour in advance the amount and type of currency to transfer, I will be able to help the customer to send the money out in accordance with the real-time exchange rates. We charge a fee of approximately 0.8-1.5 percent." 

Source: China Economic Weekly (republished by Xinhua), May 14, 2013                                    http://news.xinhuanet.com/overseas/2013-05/14/c_124705454_2.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Rebellion in China û Villagers Captured Riot Police

On May 13, 2013, Aboluowang republished a news article from Apple Daily (the original article can no longer be found on Apple Daily) titled “About One Thousand Villagers ‘Rebel,’ Stripping Female Officials and Walking a Captured Policeman through the Streets.” There was a photo circulated on the Internet showing that ordinary Chinese people had captured riot police in Dongqiao town, Huian County, Fujian Province. With a long rope in her hand, a village woman was walking ahead of a young man in a riot police uniform; his hands were tied with a rope, which was connected with the long rope in the woman’s hand.

About one thousand villagers besieged the Village Council and threw stones and bricks at the riot police. The villagers captured one policeman and detained the mayor as well as two female government officials. To prevent them from escaping, the villagers stripped the two female officials. The reason behind the rebellion was that, in 2004, the government had forcibly taken away over 30,000 mu (4942.11 acres) of land along the sea shore from 13,000 villagers. The village council has only received ¼ of the compensation while the other ¾ of the compensation disappeared. The villagers have protested for years and some of them were even arrested and sentenced. On May 4, 2013, about one hundred police raided the village, arresting and beating rights activists. When the policemen came to the village again, on the night of May 10, and in the morning on May 11, 2013, the angry villagers pressed the siege of the city council and kept throwing stones at the policemen. The police had to step back.

Source: Aboluowang, May 13, 2013
http://www.aboluowang.com/2013/0513/305671.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

2013 College Graduates Face Tough Job Market

According to the Ministry of Education, 6.99 million college graduates will face a tough job market this year. The number of graduates is 190,000 higher than the number in 2012 and one million higher than 2009. 2013 graduates will compete with 25 million people who are looking for employment in the country and urban regions where the demand for college graduates continues to decline due to a number of changes in industrial structure and a decline in the export market. Among all the professions, there has been a slight increase in demand in the medical profession and in the consulting, business, travel, culture, and sports industries but the demand in steel, machinery, mining, energy, and architecture is shrinking.

Source: Xinhua, April 11, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/edu/2013-04/11/c_115357763.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Internet Affairs Bureau Launched Effort to Regulate Online News Communication Channels

Xinhua reported that the Internet Affairs Bureau has launched a two-month effort to regulate online news communication channels. The bureau stated that the goal is to tackle improper news posting behavior. Articles are improper if they have inconsistent references for the sources, are false reports, alter the news title, or use fictitious media agencies.

Source: Xinhua, May 10, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-05/10/c_115720522.htm

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

BBC: Hundreds Protest in Beijing over Girl’s Death

A large number of migrant workers from Anhui Province took to the street in a rare protest to demand a full investigation of the death of Yuan Liya, 22, also from Anhui.

According to the official weibo (China’s version of twitter) of the Beijing police authorities, on May 3, 2013, Yuan Liya, a 22-year-old from Anhui, fell to her death from a mall in Fengtai district in Beijing. Close to a hundred people gathered near the mall and the police quickly arrived at the scene.

Many indicated on-line that they found the death to be suspicious. The on-line pictures showed that more than a hundred people were there. Some said it was closer to a thousand. Dozens of police vehicles and hundreds of police lined the streets near the mall where Yuan had died. The pictures posted on-line showed migrant workers marching on the streets, holding banners in protest.

Source: BBC (Chinese), May 8, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2013/05/130508_beijing_anhui_girl.shtml

Briefings | | |   Social Stability