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87 People Arrested Since March 1 for Violating HK Baby Formula Limits

A new amendment to Hong Kong’s export and import law took effect on March 1, 2013, which allows persons who are 16 years old or above to carry only two cans, or 1.8 kg, of baby formula with them when they leave Hong Kong. Violators face fines of up to HK$500,000 (US$64,500) and two years in prison. In the past two years, the shortage of baby formula in Hong Kong has been acute because the milk that is widely distributed in Mainland China is often tainted. Mainland Chinese parents no long trust the quality of mainland-produced infant formula, so they come to Hong Kong to purchase baby formula because of its high quality and inexpensive price.

In the past several days, 87 people have been arrested in Hong Kong for violating the new limit on the amount of infant formula that can be taken to the mainland.

Source: Xinhua, March 5, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/gangao/2013-03/05/c_124419631.htm  
http://www.hkcna.hk/content/2013/0305/181785.shtml
http://www.hkcna.hk/content/2013/0304/181666.shtml
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/hk-sets-baby-formula-limits-033002438.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

CASS: 80 Percent of Poor Families Did not Receive Low Income Subsidy

The China Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) recently released its 2012 Social Security Green Book, reporting the results of a survey it had conducted. Close to 80 percent of the households surveyed, who were at the poverty level, did not receive a low income subsidy. The survey was conducted in five provinces. Of the 8,777 surveys returned, 23.5 percent were from households at the poverty level. The results also revealed that over 60 percent of those that received a low income subsidy were not households at the poverty level. However, close to 80% of the households that were in poverty did not receive any low income subsidy.

Source: The Beijing News reprinted by People’s Daily, February 24, 2013
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2013/0224/c70731-20579608.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Xinhua: Degree of Mutual Trust in Chinese Society Fell Significantly

Xinhua recently reported that the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences released the latest bluebook entitled, "Chinese Social Mentality Research Report 2012-2013." The research, which involved a survey of over 1900 people, showed that the overall trust level among Chinese people fell below 60 points, which is the redline, or bottom line for trust among people. Only around twenty percent of the people surveyed suggested they might trust a stranger. The conclusions in the bluebook triggered strong responses from the Chinese public. In addition to the distrust among individuals, the research showed that the trust degree between consumers and commercial businesses has reached a low point. The trust relationship between citizens and the government, people and the police, and between patients and doctors has also worsened. Experts pointed out that the research results demonstrated clearly that the moral standard in today’s Chinese society is rapidly slipping downwards. The report called for reforms in the legal and the social systems, as well as stopping the government’s abuse of power.
Source: Xinhua, February 17, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2013-02/17/c_124352323.htm
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Finding a Job is Tough for College Graduates in China

People’s Daily published an article in which it reported on the results after the Mycos Institute polled college graduates who were searching for jobs in China. The poll was conducted during December 2012 and January 2013. It showed that 35 percent of the trade school graduates surveyed signed employment contracts, nine percentage points lower than last year; 38 percent of graduates with college degrees signed employment contracts, eight percentage points lower than last year; and 29 percent of those with masters degrees signed employment contracts, 7 percentage points lower than last year.

The highest success rate was for jobs in manufacturing, followed by telecommunications and information technology.

Source: People’s Daily, February 14, 2013
http://edu.people.com.cn/n/2013/0214/c1053-20485368.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

CRN: Safety of Food Supply Calls for New Strategy

China Review News (CRN) recently published an article discussing the growing risk of managing the availability of food. China’s food self-sufficiency rate has been on a continuous decline. Chinese Customs has provided statistics which show that, in 2012, China’s food imports increased by 25 percent over the year 2011. Imported food now constitutes almost 14 percent of all of China’s food supply. In 2012, China’s food importing demands accounted for 20 percent of the global food exporting market. This means any fluctuation in the international food market will have a major impact on China’s food supply. China is currently the second largest food buyer in the world (after Japan). The article suggested that China must have a significant policy focus as well as implementation on domestic agricultural development. In the meantime, China should invest internationally to secure food supply sources on a nation-to-nation level. Lastly, the author called for serious action to be taken on activities that waste food, such as having no control over public funds spent on meals. 
Source: China Review News, February 8, 2013
http://www.zhgpl.com/doc/1024/3/3/9/102433990.html?coluid=53&kindid=0&docid=102433990&mdate=0208072923
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

An Estimated 80,000 Prayed at Yonghe Temple on the Chinese New Year

According to CCTV, an estimated 80,000 people went to Yonghe Temple, a Buddhist temple located in the northeastern part of Beijing, to burn incense and pray on Chinese New Year’s Day. According to People’s Daily, people have established a pattern of going to Yonghe to burn incense and say their prayers every Chinese New Year’s Day. Some of them even lined up overnight in front of the temple so they could be the first to burn the incense.

Due to the large number of incense-burners, the metro stop at the Yonghe Temple in Beijing was shut down. People had to walk an additional three kilometers to get to Yonghe Temple. By midnight on New Year’s eve, there were more than a thousand policemen on site. Each four of them stood hand in hand to form a “human wall divider” to cut the long lines of the crowd into small groups of about one hundred people each. There were about 10 meters distance between each of the “groups.”

Source: People’s Daily, February 11, 2013
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2013/0211/c70731-20478188.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Woman Petitioner Detained in a Mortuary for 3 Years; Now a Paraplegic

Departments of the local government detained Chen Qingxia, a resident of Yichun City in Heilongjiang Province, in an abandoned mortuary for 3 years because she persisted in petitioning the higher level government. After her story was exposed on January 24, 2013, people throughout society discussed it. 

Reporters from China Youth Daily learned that the room where Chen had been detained was guarded 24/7. A surveillance camera was installed on one side of the door and the rear window was fitted with iron railings. The guards told the reporter that these bungalows were part of a former mortuary used for the storage of bodies and wreaths. 
Chen Qingxia was a paraplegic, wearing diapers all the time. According to Chen herself, the condition came about because the beatings at the detention center injured her legs. 
An eyewitness told reporters that many people had seen Chen Qingxia lying in the rain in front of the detention center. Now however, few people dare to come forward to testify. “Her issue is quite serious. However, if neighbors or friends get involved in her matter, the Public Security Bureau will come after them, so nobody dares to do anything." 
Source: China Youth Daily, January 25, 2013 
http://zqb.cyol.com/html/2013-01/25/nw.D110000zgqnb_20130125_1-03.htm
Briefings | | |   Social Stability

CRN: Experts Criticize China’s Official Gini Coefficient

China Review News (CRN) recently reported on the Gini Coefficient that the National Bureau of Statistics released. It has been over a decade since the Bureau last released China’s Gini Coefficient. In this current new release, the Bureau published official numbers for the past ten years. All numbers were between 0.473 and 0.491. Immediately after the official announcement, many economists posted their comments online. Some called the official numbers “unbelievable” compared to unofficial numbers that are typically around 0.6. Some even described the official results as “braver than fairy tales.” The most conservative comments suggested that these numbers “still reflected a big income gap between the rich and the poor.” The Gini Coefficient is commonly used as a measure of the inequality in income or wealth. The global average Gini Coefficient is 0.44, and the Index number of 0.4 is a widely accepted international red line. All experts asked for the details on the methodology used for the official calculation.

[Editor’s Note: The Washington Post reported on December 11, 2012, for example, that a new study from Southwestern University of Finance and Economics found "that China’s Gini coefficient was, as of 2010, an alarmingly high 0.61."]

Source: China Review News, January 19, 2013
http://www.zhgpl.com/crn-webapp/doc/docDetailCreate.jsp?coluid=45&kindid=0&docid=102408573&mdate=0119153611
Briefings | | |   Social Stability