Social Stability - 155. page

The Qiushi journal, the official periodical of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, featured an article by Zhou Yongkang, a Politburo member and the nation’s security czar. The article, signaling serious social instability and problems within the public security authority, was from his speech at a conference of public security officials last year. The speech was carried by major official media. 

On February 2, 2010, People’s Daily published an article on a current media rule, the “Golden 4-Hour,” for reporting an unexpected incident in China. “Golden 4-Hour” requires Chinese journalists to release an authoritative news report on a sudden incident within four hours so as to lead public opinion and quell the incident.

As for how to report an emergency, a considerable number of local leaders, such as Tianjin Mayor Huang Xingguo and Shanghai Party Secretary Yu Zhengsheng, have reached a consensus to “release a news report immediately but be wary about any causes or reasons” with follow-up reports on the government’s effort in terms of what has been done, what is being done, and what will be done. 

Source: People’s Daily, February 2, 2010
http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/1026/10905674.html

Recently cell phone carriers started disconnecting cell phones in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangdong. The disconnected phones were believed by the service provider to be sending “inappropriate” text messages, which had sex related content. The reactions from the public were mixed. Some believed it was a good idea, but people’s privacy should be protected as well. Some believed the focus should not be on the end users but the ones who originally produced these messages and made a profit from them.

The current system monitors all users’ text messages, filters out the ones in question, and then it cuts the user’s service connection and alarms law enforcement.

Source: Xinhua, January 21, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/internet/2010-01/21/content_12849824.htm

In preparation for the upcoming “two conferences” (plenary sessions of the National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference), the NPC is conducting a survey of the top ten most important issues. Currently, the top 10 issues, according to readers’s votes, are corruption, income disparity, land use for urban housing, government intervention in the housing market, democracy, judicial impartiality, medicare reform, education, unemployment, and retirement pensions.

Source: National People’s Congress
http://npc.people.com.cn/GB/28320/180060/index.html

On January 4, 2010, about ten thousand PLA soldiers and one hundred military officials from the Tibetan military region armed with one thousand armored vehicles had a combat drill on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau in minus 20 degrees centigrade weather. The purpose was to strengthen the PLA’s capability to respond to emergencies in severe cold conditions, reported the PLA Daily on January 10, 2010. 

Source: PLA Daily, January 10, 2010
http://www.chinamil.com.cn/jfjbmap/content/2010-01/10/content_17734.htm

Yang Jin, Director of State Ethnic Affairs Commission, recently delivered a speech on six aspects of the 2010 work plan of the Commission: (1) Earnestly deliver on the duties of supervision and policy recommendations; (2) Improve the mechanism for implementing laws and policies relating to ethnic minorities, especially in cities; (3) Significantly widen the scope of publicity and education work; (4) Carefully resolve conflicts in Tibet and Xinjiang to maintain stability; (5) Enhance research and communication to play a better assisting role for the Party Central Committee, the State Council and below; (6) Enhance the work on building the talent pool of ethnic minorities to provide a reliable base for organizational growth.

Source: Xinhua, December 23, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-12/23/content_12695669.htm

Zhou Yongkang, member of the Politburo Standing Committee and Chair of the Chinese Communist Party’s Political and Legal Affairs Committee, was recently in Sichuan Province. While there, he emphasized three key tasks that had been highlighted in the December 18 National Video Teleconference on Political and Legislative Affairs: resolving social conflicts, innovations in social management, and ‘fair and honest law enforcement.’ 

According to Xinhua news, 150,000 comprehensive social management cadres from municipal, county, township, and neighborhood levels participated in a 3-day national teleconference training. At the end of the training, on December 22, 2009, Meng Jianzhu, State Councilor and deputy director of the Party Central Committee for Comprehensive Society Management, gave a speech.

Meng pointed out that China is currently in an important strategic period of opportunity for social and economic development and of social contradictions. It is an arduous task to sustain stable and rapid economic growth and maintain a harmonious society at the same time. Therefore, the Party committees, the local governments, and the comprehensive social management departments at all levels must take more forceful measures to create a stronger cadre team that is firm in its political stance and competent in its work.

Source: Xinhua, December 22, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-12/22/content_12689541.htm