Social Stability - 166. page

Chinese police at Aba prefecture in Sichuan Province shot a 24-year-old Tibetan monk after he set himself on fire at a market, just after Losar, the Tibetan New Year. Earlier he and his fellow monks were refused entry to the main prayer hall at the Kirti Monastery in Aba. The Chinese authorities had forbidden observation of Monlam, a traditional prayer festival held after Losar. The monk was shot three times and was taken away by police after he fell.

Source: Epoch Times, March 2, 2009
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/9/3/2/n2448219.htm

The first four police helicopters will be patrolling above Beijing and will play a major role in cracking down social unrests, according Beijing police authorities on February 26, 2009. “During social emergencies, the police helicopters will work with ground police to track, search and arrest the targets.”

The police helicopter team consists of forty-three pilots. 86% of them are air force servicemen. It is the largest and best-equipped police helicopter team and will fly monthly schedules, three days a week, between 4 to 8 flights. In times of social emergencies, helicopters will take off within 30 minutes of the order. The helicopters were imported from Italy, models AW139 and AW109.

Source: China National Defense Information, February 27, 2009
http://info.cndsi.com/html/20090227/60815075742.html

511 lawyers in Shenzhen signed a petition challenging the sentencing of a fellow lawyer and calling for a fair trial. On December 17, 2008, Lawyer Liu Yao in Shenzhen was sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment for providing legal services to farmers who lost their land to a power company. He was charged with “intentional destruction of property.” Liu has filed appeal. The petition is the largest campaign to date by China’s legal community on rights issues.

Source:
Epoch Times, February 1, 2009
http://epochtimes.com/gb/9/2/1/n2414246.htm
Xinhua, September 27, 2008
http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2008-09/23/content_10095057.htm

2009 will be most challenging for social stability with increasing risks, said a high level Party official. Mr. Chen from the Party’s Politics and Law Committee states that new social conflicts will emerge as the old ones intensify; particularly growing complaints of the government and strong rights ideology may lead to extreme actions. Mr. Chen stated that forceful "attack" is the No. 1 action that the authorities will take to maintain social stability and it is the requisite for implementation of other measures of control.

Source: Xinhua, January 12, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-01/12/content_10643830.htm

Escalated social unrests, major industrial safety incidents and food and medicine safety incidents marked the year of 2008, concluded Outlook, a Xinhua magazine. The public attention focus on a few problems: abuse of power combined with money has infringed on the interest of the people; lack of actions of the government officials in response to public appeals has intensified social conflicts; accountability of government officials must be institutionalized and enforceable, final solution of major incidents must predicate on democratic consultation with the public to neutralize any potential outbreaks, etc.

Source: Xinhua, December 22, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2008-12/22/content_10541258.htm

Beijing Health Bureau announced that one person died of H5N1 on the evening of January 5, 2009. Ms. Huang, 19, was admitted to hospital on December 27, 2008. This is the first case in Beijing and twenty first in China. Authorities have tightened inspection of poultry shipments into Beijing. No other cases were found.

Source; Xinhua, January 7, 2009.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/health/2009-01/07/content_10615433.htm http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2009-01/07/content_10618460.htm

Beijing will implement measures to re-enforce political education at higher educational institutions, reports Xinhua. The measures include increase of faculty members, funding for student activities, training and research funds for faculty and quality assurance. Student informants will be deployed to collect feedback and evaluate the effectiveness through sitting in classes and organizing forums for students and faculty members.

Source: Xinhua, January 8, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2009-01/08/content_10626114.htm

Chinese authorities arrested 1,295 ethnic Uyghurs in Xinjiang (East Turkestan) region in the first 11 months of 2008 on suspicion of endangering state security. Of them, 1,154 were formally charged and faced trials or administrative punishment, reported the official The Procuratorial Daily on the December 27, 2008 conference of Xinjiang procuratorial authorities. . In 2008, the judicial authorities in Xinjiang took the maintenance of social stability as its top priority and struck hard on the three forces of terrorism, separatism and religious extremism that endanger state security" in the run up to China’s hosting of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Source: People’s Daily, January 4, 2009
http://unn.people.com.cn/GB/14748/8618257.html