Social Stability - 133. page

Huanqiu issued a commentary on the recent social unrest in Shifang City, Sichuan Province. The commentary said that, when defying a police order, high school students led a massive protest in tens of thousands against the opening of a molybdenum copper smelter. It further stated that students achieved the money driven goal of adults without serious casualties and that such student actions should not be encouraged, particularly regarding social unrest and political conflict.

Huanqiu pointed out that similar clashes between residents and the government on environmental issues are common in democratic countries. “It is certainly not a revolution.” Huanqiu criticized the interpretation of the government’s decision to shut-down the smelter as a victory for the common people. “Such a stretched interpretation is merely the wishful thinking of some people and not a reality in Shifang.” The Huanqiu commentary warned local and higher governments that they should not be fooled by such political fantasies and should not divert their focus from a proper aftermath of reflection and remedial action to vigilance for this “revolutionary” trend.

[Ed. According to the New York Times, security officers roughed up the crowd and "there were arrests, tear gas, stun grenades, riot police, guns, batons, blood." Some hyperlinks in the Times article showed bloodied victims and a woman in front of a riot squad, "evoking comparisons to Tank Man." A microblogger was quoted as saying, "America achieved independence and 236 years later, the Shifang people are fighting for their own rights and confronting the government.”]

Sources:
Huanqiu, July 6, 2012
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/1152/2012-07/2888065.html
New York Times, July 4, 2012
http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/04/a-violent-new-tremor-in-chinas-heartland/

A forum was held in Beijing on the issues that China is facing regarding its aging population. Experts from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security suggested that the retirement age should be raised to 65. They recommended, in the meantime, to increase training and education so that seniors are prepared for the upcoming extension of the retirement age.

According to the second national census results, there are over 178 million people in China who are more than 60 years old, which equals 23.6 percent of the aging population of the world. However the working class population is expected to decrease from 970 million in 2010 to 870 million in 2050. It is also expected that, by 2030, there will be a labor shortage.

[Ed. Currently, the retirement age is 60 for men, 55 for female civil servants and 50 for other female workers.]

Source: Xinhua, July 2, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/edu/2012-07/02/c_123355141.htm

On June 18, Chinese State Security Authorities detained a Taiwan businessman, Mr. Zhong Dingbang, who was on a three day trip visiting relatives in southern China. Zhong was detained at the airport when returning to Taiwan. His family in Taiwan later learned that the Chinese authorities had taken him to "help with the investigation of Falun Gong." On June 27, citing state security sources, Xinhua reported that Zhong had been placed under residential surveillance on suspicion of disrupting the broadcast of state television, thus threatening state security.

While the details were unclear as to what Zhong allegedly did, New Tang Dynasty TV (NTD) reported that Zhong was a Falun Gong practitioner. "NTD has reported on successful attempts of Falun Gong practitioners in China tapping into state-run television signals to broadcast information about the CCP’s persecution of the spiritual practice. Those involved were usually hunted down. Many have since died from torture and abuse in prison."

Sources:
Radio Free Asia, June 27, 2012
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/al-06272012102321.html
Xinhua, June 26, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2012-06/26/c_112295175.htm
New Tang Dynasty TV, June 28, 2012
http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/news_china/2012-06-27/faced-with-oppression-is-it-right-to-break-the-law-.html

Starting from June 26, 2012, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) launched a training session for the country’s 1,400 city and county level public security bureau chiefs, some some of whom are newly-appointed. According to the website of MPS, one of the goals of the training is to “accomplish the task of safeguarding the eighteenth National Congress of Chinese Communist Party.”

Since 2009, MPS has conducted trainings in Beijing for more than 3,000 county-level and 500 city-level public security bureau chiefs, nearly 1,000 of the CCP’s heads of Discipline Inspection and heads of Political Departments in provincial and city level public security authorities, 1,500 who are in leadership positions in charge of intelligence, law enforcement standardization, and community relations, and 6,000 grassroots policemen. The Ministry also made arrangements for provincial level public security authorities to train 70,000 grassroots police officials on a rotational basis.

Source: Website of the Ministry of Public Security, June 28, 2012
http://www.mps.gov.cn/n16/n1237/n1342/n803715/3312623.html

On Monday June 25, and Tuesday June 26, 2012, police and migrant workers clashed in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province. On June 26, nearly ten thousand migrant workers from other provinces surrounded the town government, confronting about one thousand police. The two sides clashed again. Several police cars were smashed and overturned. Many people were injured and sent to the hospital. Armed police blocked all roads.                          

(According to a government spokeswoman from Shaxi township, a fight broke out between a 15-year-old migrant and a student. Security personnel intervened and severely beat the young migrant, infuriating a group of relatives and other migrants who rioted.)

Sources: Southcn.com and Epoch Times, June 27, 2012
http://news.southcn.com/c/2012-06/27/content_49306195.htm
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/12/6/27/n3621780.htm

Wang Xia, head of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, stated that the male-to-female ratio in China started to narrow in 2009 and declined to 117.78 in 2011 (117.78 males to every 100 females). He said that the decline is limited. As the ratio is over a dozen points above normal, the task to stabilize the ratio remains daunting.

A natural gender ratio at birth could be somewhere between 103 and 107 males to every 100 females. As a result of the one child government policies, China’s male-to-female birth ratio has hovered at a high level, reaching a record high of 120.56 in 2008. Xinhua reported that, according to official statistics, males under the age of 30 exceed females by more than 20 million. 

Source: Xinhua, June 21, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2012-06/21/c_123313000.htm

On June 19, Epoch Times reported that 15,000 people defied Chinese authorities and signed a petition in support of a family that practices Falun Gong. Twenty-three year old Qin Rongqian wrote a petition asking for help. Qin wrote on her petition, “Every signature and thumbprint of yours, your kindness, and your attention to this matter will help my family obtain justice for my father and freedom for my sister and mother. In two weeks, she collected over 15,000 signatures and thumbprints. In February 2011, her father died in prison, where he was serving a 10 year sentence because he refused to give up the practice of Falun Gong, a meditation practice that has been banned in China since 1999. Although the father had injuries that were obviously from severe beatings, the authorities notified the Qin family that he died of natural causes. Qin’s mother and sister had recently been arrested due to their efforts to appeal the case to the authorities.

Source: Epoch Times, June 19, 2012.
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/12/6/19/n3616011.htm

On June 16, 2012, the China Economy Experiment Research Institute, which Capital University of Economics and Business and the Institute of Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences co-founded in November of 2011, published “The 2012 Report on the Satisfaction with Life Index for 35 Cities.” The report indicated that the satisfaction index broke the 50 mark, showing “satisfaction.” It reached 50.88, an improvement from 49.71 in 2011.

The results also suggested that higher living expenses, where the key components are commodity and housing prices, became an important factor that lowered the quality of life for urban residents. According to the results, the satisfaction with life, as expressed by the survey participants, are listed in the following order: human capital, social security, living experiences, living standards, and living expenses.

Among the cities that scored the lowest index numbers, Beijing ranked 7th from the bottom of the list.

Source: Xinhua, June 16, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/local/2012-06/16/c_112230565.htm