Social Stability - 147. page

The Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China published a report on January 13, 2011, originally from its own newspaper www.cpd.com.cn, regarding new policies, rules, and technological improvements recently taken by either a provincial Public Security Department or a Municipal Public Security Bureau in China.

For example, the Lanzhou Municipal Security Bureau in Gansu Province has recently upgraded its Command Center. A large display screen is connected to 4200 city roads, "social order" monitoring points, and traffic control points. The Command Center can send out police officers quickly, according to the situation, to wherever the police are currently located.

Source: The Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China, January 13, 2011
http://www.mps.gov.cn/n16/n1237/n1342/n803715/2666879.html

Behind the increase in luxury brands, China’s manufacturing industry is silently creating poverty, said Twenty-first Century. Per Goldman Sachs, China is becoming the second largest consumer of luxury goods. With consumption in 2010 at $6.5 billion, luxury goods scored the fastest growth three years in a row. The Ministry of Commerce predicts that, by 2014, China will become the largest market for luxury goods in the world, accounting for 23% of the market share. However, “this may be a blessing for luxury brand names, but not for improving China’s domestic demand,” said the article. “Residential consumption in GDP spending has been on the decline every year, while government consumption is rising consistently. … Booming luxury consumption now has become a symbol of the gap between the rich and poor, and of sluggish domestic demand. It is very worrisome.”

Source: Twenty-first Century, December 30, 2010
http://www.21cbh.com/HTML/2010-12-30/yNMDAwMDIxMzcyNQ.html

The Political and Judiciary Commission of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party decided that, in 2011, theme-based educational training activities will be planned to deal with significant issues of beliefs, goals, and the law-enforcement attitudes of the “Political Judicial System” personnel. “Lecture groups” will be formed to tour the country to promote “revolutionary traditions, ideals, and beliefs.” Self-regulation activities will be encouraged to ease the people’s severe complaints about the laxity in law-enforcement and the unfairness in sentencing. The mission is to ensure that the people believe justice is “right there. “ Meanwhile, the planned campaign is to get serious about effectuating police discipline. “Zero tolerance” will be enforced in cases involving the abuse of power. The police will also be required to take reports from the masses seriously.

Source: Xinhua, December 20, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2010-12/21/c_12900764.htm

Study Times, a newspaper published by the Party School of the Central Committee of the CCP, published an article discussing the urgent need to solve the problem of serious social injustice in China. According to the article, social injustice is becoming more serious among most social groups in China. The younger generation, e.g., the “Rich 2nd Generation” and the “Poor 2nd Generation” has also inherited it. If China does not solve the problem of social injustice now, it may be too late.

China’s per capital GDP has reached U.S. $3,600 based on the foreign exchange rate in 2009. Thus it has the necessary economic foundation to enhance social justice by establishing a basic social security system. The article concludes that China must not miss the current opportunity to establish a basic social security system.

Source: Study Times, December 27, 2010
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2010/12/27/01/01_30.htm

Sun Liping, a sociology professor at Tsinghua University, stated that there is an enormous black hole in Chinese society that sucks up wealth. According to Sun, “The crux of the problem is that an enormous black hole has formed in society, and it is sucking up wealth. The black hole absorbs a considerable part of the achievements in social development, leaving a very limited share for the people. Within this limited share, improving one part will hurt another part. There is limited space." How big is the black hole? According to Professor Sun, in 2009 the government raked in, using various means, fiscal revenue of 11,500 bn yuan, about one-third of the GDP.

Source: China Securities Journal reprinted at Soho.com, November 1, 2010
http://business.sohu.com/20101101/n276881426.shtml

On December 8, 2010, the International Herald Leader, a newspaper under Xinhua News Agency, published a report titled “The Alarming Misuse of Antibiotics in China’s Animal Agriculture.” The report included results from a survey conducted by Professor Xiao Yonghong and others from the Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Peking University. The survey found that “China produces about 210,000 tons of antibiotics annually, 97,000 tons of which are used in animal agriculture. Other experts estimate that over half of the antibiotics produced annually in China may be used on animals.”

A Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ investigation revealed that “not only are expired antibiotics, which have serious side effects, over-used, but some new antibiotics, which are still in the trial stage for use on humans, are also used in fish breeding and on livestock. Many animals have died from overdoses of drugs instead of from diseases. ”

Source: International Herald Leader, December 8, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2010-12/08/c_13639958.htm

According to China Review News on December 17, 2010, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) "Social Blue Book" reported that both urban and rural populations in China, especially in small towns, feel their overall satisfaction with life has declined. On the same day, the People’s Bank of China announced that, in the fourth quarter, nearly 74% of residents thought prices were too high. Over 70% of residents thought that apartment prices were too high. Measurable satisfaction is at its lowest point in 11 years.

“In the first three quarters of 2010, urban residents had per capita disposable incomes of 14,334 yuan, an increase of 7.5% (over the previous year). Rural residents had per capita incomes of 4,869 yuan, an increase of 9.7%." However, "not only are the growth rates of urban and rural residents’ income much lower than the growth of revenue; they are also lower than the GDP growth rate.”

Source: China Review News, December 17, 2010
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1015/4/0/5/101540502.html?coluid=53&kindid=0&docid=101540502&mdate=1217085608

As of the end of 2009, 46.6% of China’s population – 620 million people – now live in urban areas. If the country’s 211 million migrants are factored in, each urban community committee is now responsible for over 10,000 people. “As reform deepens and the economy continues to grow at a rapid pace, urban community committees now have a fundamentally different and significantly important responsibility: to maintain stability.” More incidents of social unrest are occurring due to heightened disputes pertaining to land use, eminent domain, pollution, income disparity, public security, and so on. “This requires that community committees establish a mechanism to resolve conflicts, … and resolve them at the grassroots level while they are minor.”

Source; People’s Daily, November 30, 2010
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/1027/13349638.html