Social Stability - 142. page

On September 2, 2011, Chutian Metropolis Daily, a newspaper in Wuhan, Hubei Province, reported that an 88-year-old man fell on the street in Wuhan and onlookers watched him dying.

The old man fell over near a vegetable market, less than 100 meters from his home. Though more and more onlookers surrounded him and watched, no one helped him up. After his wife and son came, more than an hour later, he was taken to the hospital. He died of suffocation from a nosebleed. “If someone had helped him by turning him over and letting the blood flow out from his nose, he might not have left … ,” cried his wife.

Source: Chutian Metropolis Daily, September 3, 2011
http://www.cnhubei.com/news/ctdsb/ctdsbsgk/ctdsb12/201109/t1818246.shtml

On September 6, 2011, People’s Daily Online published a commentary suggesting the use of video surveillance to restore people’s confidence in social morality.

Regarding a recent report of an incident in which no one helped an old man who fell over on the street and suffocated to death due to a nosebleed, the commentary said that such tragedies are not uncommon in China. Not all the onlookers who stood by were cold hearted. Due to incidents in which some people fell to the ground and then sued or framed the good hearted people who helped them, many people dare not offer help anymore. Therefore, the commentary proposed using “video surveillance” as a strategy to solve the dilemma so that people’s confidence in social morality can be restored.

Source: People’s Daily Online, September 6, 2011
http://opinion.people.com.cn/GB/15594017.html

In a recent interview with Beijing News, the Chief of the Forbidden City Museum offered acknowledgements and apologies regarding widely reported scandals. In the past three months, the national museum was reportedly involved in at least ten scandals. The scandals were mainly about stolen treasures that had been on display, the incorrect use of words as an academic authority, secretly using part of the Palace as a private club, breaking several historic relics, lying about wrongdoings, bribing informants, selling museum-owned collections for profit, the loss of hundreds of historic books, and tax evasion. The Museum promised that it will continue to investigate some of these issues internally and will plug some of the holes discovered. The Museum is cooperating with the police department on some leads and legal investigations.

Source: Beijing News, August 20, 2011
http://epaper.bjnews.com.cn/html/2011-08/20/content_266817.htm?div=-1

To learn a lesson from the “7.23” (Wenzhou high speed train wreck) accident, the Ministry of Railways of the PRC issued a notice demanding that no violations of regulations, no violations of discipline, and no accidents (the three NOs) occur before the end of the year. The notice requires that every Party division and member working in the front line promise publicly to achieve the goal of the “three NOs.” Additionally, they should do so in the form of having a public promise ceremony or setting up an open poster board, so that the people can monitor them. The Surveillance group of the Political Division at the Ministry of Railways will examine the performance of the Party division and the members’ security work.

Source: People’s Daily, August 25, 2011
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/15502282.html

The 2011 Summer Universiade is under way in Shenzhen, China. The government arranged highly tightened security for the event. For the opening ceremony, 500 families near the stadium were prohibited from staying home. They were required to leave their houses for 5 hours – for security reasons. Meanwhile, they had to leave their lights on – so the area would be well-lit for better views. If the home owners refused to leave, security officers would stay in their homes for that period. The government also established three areas in Shenzhen for security inspections. Hundreds of security inspection stations were established to allow civil-military joint checks on vehicles arriving from nearby towns and provinces. Regular helicopter patrols were scheduled and all purchases of cooking knives required the registration of the buyer’s real name. Shenzhen international airport was closed during the opening and closing ceremonies.

Source: NetEase, August 15, 2011
http://help.3g.163.com/11/0815/08/7BG3G75R00963VRO.html

China has deployed its top anti-terrorist "Snow Leopard Commando Unit” to Aksu City, 286 miles west of Xinjiang district. According to China Daily, two incidents of violence took place in the area in July, causing more than 20 deaths. On August 12, 2011, Zhang Chunxian, the head of Chinese Communist Party in Xinjiang, told the media that, lately, violent attacks have occurred frequently in Xinjiang and the government needs to use both soft and hard measures to fight back.

The “Snow Leopard Commando Unit” is a special police force directly controlled by Beijing. It was formed in December 2002 and participated in the US-Russia anti-terrorist exercise in 2007. China Daily disclosed that the “Snow Leopard Commando Unit” will also handle security for the "China-Eurasia Expo," which will take place in Urumchi in the first week of September.

Source: Voice of America, August 13, 2011
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/news/20110813-CHINA-UNREST-127650223.html

According to a report from Xinhua, the People’s Supreme Court of China approved the death sentences of two Chinese deputy mayors. They were executed on July 19, 2011. Xu Manyong, the deputy mayor of Hangzhou City (the capital of Zhejiang Province), solicited and accepted bribes totaling 145 million yuan (about US$22.5 million). Jiang Renjie, the deputy mayor of Suzhou City (in Jiangsu Province), solicited and accepted bribes totalling 108 million yuan (US$17 million).

Source: Xinhua, July 19, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2011-07/19/c_121687423_2.htm

During an interview with Outlook Weekly, Zhou Xiaozheng, a professor at the Institute of Law and sociology, China’s People’s University, discussed the government’s credibility. Zhou said that China’s current lack of social integrity is primarily due to problems with the government’s integrity. According to Outlook, the integrity crisis has become the most urgent social issue in China. Zhou believes that there are serious problems of varying degrees with the integrity of the government, businesses and individuals, the most serious being the government’s integrity. “If the government is not truthful, it will be difficult for businesses to maintain their integrity, not to mention personal honesty.”

Source: Outlook Weekly, July 25, 2011
http://www.lwgcw.com/NewsShow.aspx?newsId=22249