Social Stability - 135. page

On April 27, 2012, Liu Qi, the secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Beijing Municipal Committee, spoke at Beijing’s first quarter financial review teleconference. Liu called for the party cadres and the general public to "clearly understand the current situation, be confident, do a solid job, advance while maintaining stability, and make an effort to finish the second quarter tasks in the run up to the 18th National Congress of the Party".

In addition to the second quarter directions, Liu particularly highlighted the importance of “security and stability” work. He asked all levels of the government to "ensure stability with a high level sense of political responsibility and historic mission, increase efforts to resolve conflicts, be strictly on guard against the sabotage activities carried out by domestic and foreign hostile forces, strengthen the guidance of public opinion, and strengthen and innovate in the area of public administration so as to create a favorable social environment for promoting scientific development in the capital."

Guo Jinlong, the Mayor of Beijing, gave the first quarter financial summary: in the first quarter, Beijing’s nominal GDP grew 7 percent compared to the same quarter last year. Guo concluded, “It was reasonable and met with expectations.”

Source: Xinhua, April 28, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/local/2012-04/28/c_123050620.htm

According to an article carried by the People’s Daily, Qidong Village of Hunan Province has installed and launched a Skynet Electronic Surveillance system throughout the village; even the bus lines are included. The surveillance system is a high resolution system that is rated first class and is the first of its kind in Hunan Province. The village also formed a surveillance team that consists of members from the public security, transportation, city management, electric and water power departments to perform surveillance duties 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, using real time images.

Source: People’s Daily, April 27, 2012
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/70731/17763532.html

On April 18, 2012, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) announced that China’s Northwestern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region had reported an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu virus in poultry. “On April 13, more than 23,000 chickens at some farms in Yanglang Village of Touying Town in the city of Guyuan in Ningxia showed symptoms of suspected avian flu. On April 18, after testing samples collected at those sites, the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory confirmed that the epidemic was a case of H5N1 bird flu virus.” According to the MOA announcement, a total of 95,000 chickens have since been culled. 

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, April 18, 2012
http://www.moa.gov.cn/zwllm/yjgl/yqfb/201204/t20120418_2605976.htm

Legal Daily reported on a new type of illegal food oil that is being used in food preparation. In the past, illegal food oil, which earned the name "gutter oil," was generally extracted from waste oil and leftovers from restaurants. Such gutter oil was then illegally sold to restaurants as food oil. Recently, a new type of “gutter oil” has been circulating in the marketplace and is being used as food oil. It was extracted from filthy and rotten internal animal organs, skin, and parts that slaughterhouses had thrown out. The daily newspaper reported that the Chinese Public Police Ministry cracked down on a large "gutter oil" network, confiscating over 3,200 tons (about 3.5 million pounds) of such “new gutter oil.”

Source: Legal Daily, April 10, 2012
http://www.legaldaily.com.cn/Social_management/content/2012-04/10/content_3485592.htm?node=35360

People’s Daily published an article revealing more information on corrupt government officials’ new tactics. The article reports that corruption remains rampant and that some corrupt officials have obtained dual nationality in secret [in case the need it]. It summarized the changes in the style, characteristics, and means of corruption that officials have been using: First is mortgaging their power for personal gain. In order to hide the evidence of corruption, some corrupt officials have carefully planned the timing of exchanging power for money, waiting for years before harvesting the fruits of their corrupt acts. Second is illegally collecting wealth indirectly through a third party such as a spouse, child, sex partner, friends, or relatives They have even designated third person to harvest the gains through engaging in business activities. Third is using a more intelligent way to counter anti-corruption. Many officials conducting illegal activities hide their bribes by using the name of a joint investment, money management under trustees, and trading stocks through agents. Fourth is using their overseas connections as their base for corruption. Some corrupt officials commit their crimes outside of China’s borders, or move the proceeds of their criminal activities overseas. Some have even used different means to secretly acquire citizenship in foreign countries.”

Source: People’s Daily, April 11, 2012
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/30178/17622484.html

On April 8, 2012, the Internet Society of China published an open statement calling for the Internet industry to resist the spread of rumors on the Internet and create a civilized Internet environment that would abide by the law. The statement asserted that Internet rumors had become a public threat and had caused serious harm to the public interest, national security, and social stability. It asked for the industry to exercise measures to resist the rumors and create a healthy and civilized Internet environment.

Xinhua also followed up with another article titled “Crack Down on Internet Rumors; the Public Actively Supports and Vows to Uphold a Clean Internet Environment.” It described the dissatisfaction that the general public has towards the rumors and quoted a number of people who use the Internet as supporting the statement that the Internet Society of China issued.

Source: Xinhua, April 8, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-04/08/c_122944865.htm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-04/08/c_111750277.htm

U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke met with the senior management of Tianya, a top Internet forum in China, which currently has 66 million registered users. Locke stated that the U.S. Embassy would like to work with Tianya to establish an official Embassy space with updates on the latest news, policies, and events, and to engage directly with extremely dynamic Tianya users. To Tianya users, Ambassador Locke said,“I believe that new technologies and social media are changing the entire world. They are transforming the globe. … [One] can even learn about events that take place anywhere in the world. This is what Tianya is doing every day."

Source: Nainan.net, April 6, 2012
http://news.hainan.net/newshtml08/2012w4r6/858377f0.htm

Following the shutdown of websites in China and the arrest of Chinese Internet users for allegedly fabricating or disseminating online rumors, state media continue to publish commentaries that show the authorities have a deep apprehension about online postings pertaining to Communist Party leaders. For example, a People’s Daily commentary states, “If we allow ‘the rumors’ to run amok, it will seriously disrupt the social order and stability and endanger social integrity.” Xinhua’s  commentary, titled “Resolutely Say ‘No’ to Rumors and Their Followers,” states that those who fabricate or spread rumors are not law-abiding. “Making ‘jokes’ about important matters of social security and stability demonstrates a lack of responsibility toward society and toward themselves. It is very harmful.”

Sources:
People’s Daily, March 31, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-03/31/c_122911504.htm
Xinhua, April 1, 2012
http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-04/01/c_111731139.htm