Social Stability - 15. page

Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism has issued a draft of a new regulations about online concerts and performances. The plan will tighten up requirements for online live broadcasts and will mandate delayed live programs so that inappropriate moments can be blocked in a timely fashion. The planned regulations require that those engaged in the business activities of online performances (or programs) should apply to the local provincial cultural and tourism administrative department for an online cultural business license. To provide imported or international online performances, they should report to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism for content review. They can provide content to consumers only after the content review has passed. For domestic online performances, the provider should report to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism for record, within 30 days from the date of providing them to consumers. The plan also requires the online business to establish and improve the content management system, setting up a dedicated content management unit, and assign professional content reviewers to monitor the content as well as the consumer comments.

Primary Taiwanese news agency Central News Agency (CNA) also reported that the licensing, content review and monitoring with delayed broadcasting requirements triggered a widespread criticism among Chinese netizens. With the Covid controls in place for the past three years, online performances and live programming became really popular among Chinese viewers. Many netizens complained, saying, “It will be too difficult just to listen to concerts.” “Live shows will no longer be live.” “Foreign enemy penetration is too strong. Why don’t we cancel everything.” and “As usual, gradually regulate first, then completely ban.”
Sources:
(1) Lianhe Zaobao, September 26, 2022
https://www.kzaobao.com/shiju/20220926/125029.html
(2) CNA, September 26, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202209260103.aspx

According to a Citizen Lab, which is affiliated with the University of Toronto, China’s police have conducted a mass DNA collection program in Tibet. It is estimate that between June 2016 and July 2022, police have collected DNA samples from between 1/4 to 1/3 of Tibet’s total population, targeting men, women and children and even including Buddhist monks.

In early September, a report released by Human Rights Watch disclosed that Chinese police had collected DNA from people in Tibet in at least 14 locations. Procurement documents on the Chinese government’s official website show that the Tibetan police authorities conducted a public tender for “DNA database construction” back in July 2019, with a budget of RMB 10 million ($1.43 million).

Chinese authorities have justified mass DNA collection as a tool to fight crime, find missing people, and ensure social stability. There have been media reports on a mass DNA collection campaign in the Xinjiang area and a police-led national program of male DNA collection. Since the Y chromosome in males is rarely mutated during genetic transmission, having the Y chromosome DNA data of a male is equivalent to having the data of multiple generations of paternal members of his family. While in other countries this collection is primarily used to assist in criminal investigations, China has been collecting samples of male DNA on a large scale.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), September 15, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202209150352.aspx

Recently, Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet, suffered a severe COVID outbreak. The Epoch Times interviewed residents there. One interviewee said that people were telling each other that a quarter of the total 800,000 residents have already been infected. When a city reported COVID cases, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) imposed a strict “Zero-COVID” policy and took drastic measures to quarantine people including even many who were not infected. On the other hand, the authorities reported low infection counts to make things look good and to hide the real situation.

The numbers released by the authorities are at a low one hundred or even lower. There were 86 cases on September 14, 95 cases on September 13, 137 cases on September 12, and 122 cases on September 11.

The interviewee said that authorities conducted PCR tests every three or four days and each time an additional person in the community would be reported as positive. Then the authorities sent loads of buses at night to take all the people in the same building to quarantine them in a centralized location.

Another interviewee mentioned that Lhasa has three big modular hospitals, each of which can hold 10,000 people and a dozen smaller ones, each with a capacity of one or two thousand. All of them have been filled. The authorities are building new modular centers in suburban areas, but that’s not fast enough. So they started to take buildings from schools and construction sites, most of which were not completely finished yet, as quarantine sites.

Source: Epoch Times, September 18, 2022
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/22/9/18/n13827559.htm

The police scolded a young woman while she was taking a photo in a kimono on Huaihai Street in Suzhou. She was not allowed to take a photo in a kimono. She could only wear Hanfu (the traditional style of clothing worn by the Han Chinese). The woman asked if there is any regulation on this issue. The police forcibly took her away on the grounds of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” ”She was taken to the police station and questioned for five hours and her phone was searched. “

According to Phoenix.com, in the video, a woman’s weak voice talks to the angry police. She asked, “Can you yell at me like this?” “Yes,” “What’s the reason for (taking me)?” “You are suspected of picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”

It can be seen from the photo that the date of the photo was August 10, which is not sensitive. It was not near the relevant museum or memorial. It was just a general kimono and there was no sign such as the Japanese military flag. The girl posted her story on the internet.

Source: UDN, August 15, 2022
https://udn.com/news/story/7335/6538918

Due to the low vaccination rates among the elderly population, there have been reports in China that the country sometimes uses unconventional means to add incentives for the senior population to be vaccinated.

The Chinese cybersphere recently circulated the story that a middle school in Jiangsu Province requires newly admitted students to provide proof that their grandparents have had the COVID-19 vaccination. Those who fail to submit the proof will not be eligible to register for the new semester.

The story sparked widespread discussions. According to officials from Xuelang Middle School in the city of Wuxi, the school at the center of the controversy, the purpose of the requirement was for “the students to have a safe environment.” After the exposure of the story, the school has dropped the requirement that grandparents must offer proof of vaccination. However, it is still required that negative PCR test results are provided for family members living with the student.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), July 26, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202207260226.aspx

In Shanghai, China, people who recovered from Covid-19 have hit walls in their job hunting. Some job openings openly state, “Those who were admitted to Covid mobile hospitals are not wanted. Those who previously tested ‘positive’ are not wanted.”

The Shanghai municipal government said to all government branches and all units in Shanghai that all those who have previously tested positive and have recovered should be treated equally and without discrimination.

However, according to the Chinese media Caixin, a number of business owners said that if an employee who already recovered from Covid unfortunately got infected with Covid again, everyone in the company would have to be quarantined for two days and the office spaces would have to be sealed off. This would have a great impact on the normal production and operations. According to Shanghai municipal government’s policy, the company is responsible for preventing the spread of the disease. Once there is an infection, the person in charge of the company has to take the responsibility.

Under China’s “Dynamic zero Covid” policy, even a single case of infection is treated as a total disaster. Even if government officials ask that there be no discrimination, it is still impossible to prevent discrimination against those who have recovered from the disease.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), July 12, 2022
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202207120282.aspx