Social Stability - 131. page

China’s National Population and Family Planning Commission recently released statistics showing that there are over 13 million abortions in China every year, the highest in the world. Over 50 percent of the abortions are performed on women under 25 years old. College students are now considered a high risk group. The statistics also showed that only about 12 percent of China’s young people believe that they have adequate information about contraception. The State’s China National Radio commented that such behavior mirrors both society and the parents and may very well be the result of seeds that adults have sown.

Source: China National Radio, October 4, 2012
http://china.cnr.cn/xwwgf/201210/t20121004_511053320.shtml

Guangming Daily carried an article that Qilu Evening News had originally published.

Qilu Evening News, the provincial evening newspaper in Shandong Province, carried an article in which the reporter interviewed an Internet policeman about his work and his life. Fan Lei, an Internet policeman, has worked for the Internet surveillance team in the Jinan Municipal Public Security Bureau for four years. Fan explained in the interview that he spends over ten hours a day in front of the computer monitor. His main responsibilities are to develop online virtual police stations on websites and to answer inquires received through that channel. In the past two years, Fan and his team have set up over 1,300 online virtual police stations on local social and news websites, received 1,879 online tips and inquiries, and provided service to over 2,400 people. His team has grown from 20 people in 2002 to 100 in 2012.

Source: Guangming Daily, September 29, 2012
http://life.gmw.cn/2012-09/29/content_5243881.htm

The BBC’s Chinese edition published a report on China’s aging population and the related social challenges China will face as a result.

According to the report, at the end of 2011, China had 180 million people who were 60 years of age or older; they accounted for 13.7 percent of the total population. By 2015, the number will reach 200 million. The United Nations estimated that, by 2050, China will have 440 million people who are 60 years of age or older.

One of the social issues related to the aging population is caring for the elderly. Not only have people’s lifestyles changed, but families have fewer children. It has been estimated that the current senior living homes in China can only accommodate one percent of the elderly population versus the international standard, which is five to seven percent. Another issue is the shortage of laborers. According to the data disclosed by the Ministry of Statistics, in 2012, the number of Chinese laborers between the ages of 15 and 64 declined for the first time since 2002. Currently, there are five to six laborers to support each retired person. However, by 2030, there will only be two laborers to support each retired person. The aging population not only affects the population structure but will also affect the ability to innovate, which will weaken China’s competitiveness in the international market.

Facing the rapid growth in the aging population, many experts have asked the Chinese government to drop the one child policy but the government has not yet given up this policy. Some have suggested raising the retirement age from 60, the current legal retirement age, to 65, but many people object to the proposal. Meanwhile, the Chinese government also recognizes that it will face major challenges in providing 100 percent of the pension coverage to all retirees in the cities and in the countryside.

Source: BBC, September 20, 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/chinese_news/2012/09/120920_china_ageing.shtml

Last Friday, September 14, 2012, the International Institute for Urban Development released the “Blue Book on China’s Social Management.” According to the Blue Book, the income disparity between the rich and poor in China continues to widen. China’s Gini coefficient hit 0.438, which is above the 0.4 United Nations warning level. (The UN usually draws the line for alarm at 0.4. Above that number indicates a high potential for social instability.) The figure went from 0.275 in the 1980s to 0.438 at the end of 2010 and will likely rise further.

The Blue Book cited statistics showing that urban residents’ income is three times that of rural residents. Within the same industry, the highest salary is 15 times that of the lowest salary. The income of senior management at companies whose stock is listed on stock exchanges is 18 times that of frontline employees. The salary of senior management at state-owned enterprises is 128 times that of the average salary of people in society. In 2007, the top 10 percent of the population received incomes that were 23 times those of the lowest 10 percent, an increase from the 7.3 times that was reported in 1988.

(Editor’s note: Radio Free Asia reported in January 2012 that the National Bureau of Statistics stated China’s Gini Coefficient for the year 2010 was “a little higher than it was for the year 2000.”)

Sources: Beijing News reprinted at sina.com, September 15, 2012
http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2012-09-15/021925177383.shtml
RFA, January 9, 2012
http://chinascope.org/main/content/view/4218/109/

According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), Changjiang Commerce Newspaper in Hubei Province recently carried a news article reporting that 3,000 elementary students in Ma Chen City need to carry their own desks with them when they go to school. After this news was published, the reporter was threatened and the newspaper’s Deputy Editor was removed.

The reporter, Zhang Xuerong,  posted on his micro-blog that, since the news was published, he has received one text message after another warning him not to cause trouble. He had established a donation campaign to collect funds so the school could buy desks, but he had to stop it.

According to RFA, Changjiang Commerce Newspaper refused to comment on the removal of their Deputy Editor. An Internet writer told RFA that all the news media in China are currently under tight scrutiny due to the sensitivity of the upcoming Party Congress. Another overseas scholar expressed his concern about the lack investment in education in China and the imbalance between the city and the countryside in the allocation of resources for education.

Source: Radio Free Asia, September 6, 2012
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/xql-09062012162032.html

On September 7, 2012, the National Public Security Bureau held a forum in Dalian City, Liaoning Province.The Deputy Chiefs of the Public Security Bureaus around the country attended the forum. The forum summarized the experiences gathered in recent years in handling the emergency management of unexpected public events.

Zhou Yongkang spoke at the forum. He asked all levels to study and learn from how the situation of dealing with unexpected public events has been dealt with both domestically and abroad; to improve the ability to apply the law, the ability to work on civilians, the ability to manage the accident sites, and the ability to properly guide the media. He also asked all parties to firmly safeguard social stability and the people’s interest as well as the authority of the nation’s legal system in order to create a safe and stable social atmosphere in the period preceding the Party’s 18th National Congress.

Source: Xinhua, September 8, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-09/08/c_113005691.htm

On August 18, 2012, the Chinese Social Sciences Academic Press and the Shanghai Jiaotong University Center for Public Opinion Research jointly published the 2012 Blue Book, “Chinese Public Opinion and Crisis Management.”

According to the Blue Book, digital and online media continue to grow and, for the first time, have become the major channels in delivering breaking news. There has been a significant increase in news appearing on micro-blogs. Of all traditional media, newspapers have published the most breaking news, but they are falling behind the digital and online media. Statistics suggest that, in 2011, the breaking news carried by digital and online media increased 15 percent over 2007, and now accounts for 65 percent of all news reports, while traditional media only account for 30.8 percent.

The Blue Book reported that newspapers, the Internet, and micro-blogs are the three major channels for covering and presenting the news. In 2011, a total of 20.3 percent of the news was first published on micro-blogs compared to 9.3 percent in 2010. It has been predicted that more and more people will choose micro-blogs to expose the news, express their feelings, and share their knowledge.

Source: China News Service, August 18, 2012
http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2012/08-18/4116699.shtml