Social Stability - 152. page

On May 25, 2010, www.21ccom.net published an article titled “Chinese Suicide vs. Chinese Model “ by Lu Nanluojia, one of the chief editors of 21ccom.net. Lu Nanluojia pointed out that the repeated Foxconn Group’s employee suicides reflect the cruelty and the social costs of “Made in China.” Among large countries, China has become a country with high suicide rates.

"While some scholars boost the superiority of the ‘Chinese Model,’ have they ever thought that suicides also exist as the other ‘Chinese Model?’ Have they realized the negative effects of the ‘Chinese Model’ on social morality and the human heart?”

“The suicide problems in China may symbolize a broken and defeated society. The solution is to reform so as to improve the degree of integration into the social structure, in addition to precautions at the individual psychological level.”

Source: www.21ccom.net, May 25, 2010
http://new.21ccom.net/articles/ztyj/hot/spec_2010052510146.html

On May 30, 2010, www.ChinaReviewNews.com reported that more than 100 million Chinese people have various forms of mental illnesses, according data provided by China’s Health Center for Disease Prevention and Control; 16 million of them have serious mental diseases (Global Times, May 29).

“From the reports in recent years, we know that some petitioners and some families who refused to move out of their houses when facing the forced evictions, were jailed. Many people are worried that some organizations may use such a big proportion of data on mentally ill patients as an excuse to ‘arrest more people’ more freely.”

Source: www.ChinaReviewNews.com, May 25, 2010
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1013/3/8/7/101338749.html?coluid=5&kindid=24&docid=101338749&mdate=0530160358

On June 3, 2010, www.21ccom.net reprinted an article from http://www.taosl.net/ called, “Many Cases of Injustice Caused by ‘The Superiority of the Party above the Law’" by Du Guang.

According to the article, torture and forced confessions provided the basis for the wrongful imprisonment of Zhao Zuohai [1], but they are not the major reason of the miscarriage of justice. Guangzhou Daily reported on May 16 that the prosecutor found a lot of suspicious points and was reluctant to prosecute Zhao in 1999. In 2002, the Shangqiu City CPC Central Committee Political and Law Commission decided to "prosecute Zhao within 20 days." The prosecutor did not dare to defy the Party Committee’s decision and had to submit the case to the court, which also found problems and thus only sentenced Zhao to “death with reprieve”.

[1.] Editor Note: Zhao Zuohai was tortured and imprisoned for 11 years for a murder he did not commit. Earlier this year the alleged "victim" turned up alive.

Source: www.21ccom.net, June 3, 2010
http://new.21ccom.net/articles/sxpl/pl/article_2010060310729.html

2009 saw a 100% increase of EB-5 category applications for immigration to the United States, with the intent to be an investor. In 2008 the number was 500. According to the Economic Observer, there are two reasons for China’s rich to immigrate overseas: children’s education and finding a of safe haven. The latter pertains to the lack of social stability. The domestic investment environment is far from the rule of law. More importantly, “the rich people are on pins and needles because the ever widening income disparity has led to public challenges of their ‘original sins’ [getting wealthy through illegal or unfair practices] and to ‘hatred of the rich.’” “You never know. Maybe one day people will rob the rich to give to the poor. It is too unsafe,” said a rich Mr. Li.

Source: Huanqiu, May 30, 2010
http://china.huanqiu.com/roll/2010-05/833734.html

The ever deepening social instability, as shown in recent killings of school children and other incidents, has caught the Party’s attention. The Committee for Comprehensive Management of Public Security (CCMPS), an agency under the Central Committee of the Party in charge of societal control, is having a national conference for directors of provincial offices of the Committee. CCMPS is headed by Zhou Yongkang, the Party’s security czar and also head of the Political and Legal Committee. 

The Guangdong Provincial Supreme Court and the provincial social stability office jointly released a statement that local courts, police, and community stability offices will join hands to resolve “civil disputes” at a “one-stop” at the local level. They initiated a streamlined process of mediation, summons, execution and post-judgment stability.  

According to the Guangdong Provincial Supreme Court, social conflicts have led to more cases filed, with a 12.33 % annual growth from 2006 to 2009. In 2009 alone, the courts in Guangdong Province handled 536,212 cases. As of February 2010, 1,584 communities have set up social stability centers with over 17,000 full time staff and large numbers of part time personnel

Source: Guangdong Daily, May 25, 2010
http://gzdaily.dayoo.com/html/2010-05/25/content_974950.htm

China Review News reported that the official National Labor Union, led by the Communist Party, recently called for an immediate wage increase and described it as a must-do. The ratio of wages to GDP declined from 56.5% in 1983 to 36.7% in 2005. Meanwhile, the rate of return on capital rose by 20% in GDP. Typical working class citizens suffer a lower rate of wage increase. They are not only behind the rate of economic development, but they are behind the consumer price increase and the increase the rate of taxes as well. The report quoted Henry Ford’s 100-year-old comment on wages: “There is nothing more important than the labor wage, because most people rely on it for a living. Increasing people’s quality of life determines the prosperity of our nation.” The report called for sharing the fruit of The Reform with the people.

Source: China Review News, May 15, 2010
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1013/2/3/0/101323092.html?coluid=53&kindid=0&docid=101323092&mdate=0515083737

Globe Magazine, a branch of Xinhua News, published a recent poll of seven cities on the quality of life. The results show that 70% of the people are unsatisfied and only 10% are satisfied. The number one cause of the problem is high consumer prices, especially housing prices. Other reasons include: the growing wealth gap, the worsening environment, poor social security, disorderly city planning, low transportation efficiency, high unemployment pressure, a low safety index, and overly rapid urbanization. Among the top expectations are “more time to enjoy life” and a “harmonious society.” According to the poll, only 10% voted for Beijing and Shanghai as having a high quality of life. Principles of the New Jersey State Planning are widely acknowledged as a positive model.

Source: Xinhua, May 12, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/globe/2010-05/12/content_13478247.htm