Sheng Deyong, Deputy Chief Justice of the China Supreme Court said, "Currently, some people distrust the justice system, and the feeling is becoming a common sentiment in society. This is a very dangerous phenomenon."
Mr. Shen made the comment at a conference held from August 10 to 14 in Beidaihe, Hebei Province.
Source: People’s Daily, August 19, 2009
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2009-08/19/content_322925.htm
(A China News Agency report based on a China Youth Daily article) Refering to the recent arrests and sentencing of several Communist Party officials in Chongqing and Henan, the article states: "The black society (underworld) and the corrupt politicians are getting closer and closer…Yesterday’s murderer can dress up in an expensive suit and become a gentleman; but today’s official with a charming smile may kill his enemy in cold blood tomorrow." Although a person right may now be "a government official sitting on a stage talking about advanced culture," once he is off from work, he may "wine and dine with his buddies in the gangs."
Source: China News Agency: August 19, 2009
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/news/2009/08-19/1824789.shtml
China Youth recently republished an article by Legal Evening News on the unemployment rate for 2008 college graduates. The report revealed that the popular majors such as Law, English, Management and International Trade were among the top unemployment categories for the past two consecutive years. Civil Engineering had the highest employment rate, and the Medical field had the lowest income. Experts suggested that this situation was largely because, a few years ago, universities had been setting up majors solely by following the trend.
Source: China Youth Online, August 12, 2009.
http://news.cyol.com/content/2009-08/12/content_2802032.htm
On July 14, Zhou Jianguo, the town chief of Dianmen in Hengshan County of Hunan Province, ordered a force-demolition of more than 50 residential households in the Guihua village. He was reported stating “We just stress Party nature but human nature. Demolish!” The forced-demolition left hundreds of villagers to live and sleep in the open fields. Villagers said, “We suffer more than the victims of the Wenchun (Sichuan Province) earthquake. What they suffered was natural disaster… But what we experienced was a man-made disaster. No one will pay attention to us.” One deputy town chief also said proudly, “Who can fight to beat the Communist Party?”
Source: Boxun News, Aug 4, 2009
http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2009/08/200908040935.shtml
On July 27, 2009, the Ministry of Public Security announced a plan to train its local captains at the grass roots level. The trainees include heads of police stations, detention centers, crime investigation squads, traffic administrators, and public security administrators. The priority is to train heads of police stations. Each training session is 10 days. Training will start in the second half of this year and end in June 2010. The training will focus on the build-up of information technology, law enforcement standardization and the relationship between the public and the police.
Source: Ministry of Public Security, August 3, 2009
http://www.mps.gov.cn/n16/n1237/n1342/n803715/2000939.html
The China National School of Administration plans to build a national training base for officials to deal with sudden or disastrous incidents. The training will most likely target the officials including those at the county level. It will last five to seven days and will use eight to ten typical cases so that the officials will have an overall understanding in handling emergency incidents.
According to the 2005 Social Blue Book, China’s mass incidents grew from 10,000 to 60,000 between 1993 and 2003, with the number of participants increasing from 730,000 to 3.07 million. In 2008, mass incidents took place in Wenan of Guizhou Province, Longnan of Ganshu Province, and Menlian of Yunnan Province. On June 25, 2009, the party secretary of Shishou city of Hubei Province was dismissed for his failure in handling a mass incident.
Source: Nanfang Daily, July 31, 2009
http://www.nanfangdaily.com.cn/nfjx/200907310004.asp
Radio Free Asia reported that Chinese scholars had shown that the highest per capita income in mainland China was 55 times the lowest. The difference is much higher than the officially published figures. Scholars believe that corruption is the reason for such a wide gap. It is the result of an ill-conceived system, and of the "gray" income to special groups [that is, income in the form of bribes — Ed.]. The wealth gap causes widespread dissatisfaction among the members of the public and poses the biggest threat to a harmonious society and sustainable economic development.
Source: Radio Free Asia, July 28, 2009
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/shouru-07282009104520.html
In the aftermath of the July 5 crackdown on Uyghur protests in Xinjiang, the State Council issued a notice calling for further development of minority culture in order to “promote national unity” and “common prosperity and development.” It claimed that “the party and the State have always attached great importance and concern to the cause of minority culture.” The notice asks that cognizant laws and regulations be put in place and that the Party’s leadership of minority cultural development be strengthened.
Source: Xinhua, July 23, 2009.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-07/23/content_11762069.htm