Social Stability - 169. page

Ms. Liu Jing, a Falun Gong practitioner, was sentenced to three and half year imprisonment on November 3, 2008. Ms. Liu was arrested November 2007 for downloading from the Internet and distributing Falun Gong materials. In March 2008 she was charged of undermining the implementation of the laws and administrative rules and regulations of the State under Article 300 of the Criminal Law. During the November 3 trial at the People’s Court, Fangxian District, Shanghai, her attorney Mo Shaoping presented oral argument stating Ms. Liu was not guilty as charged and that her actions were protected by freedom of speech and freedom of religion under the Chinese Constitution.

Source: The Epoch Times, November 3, 2008
http://epochtimes.com/gb/8/11/3/n2318310.htm

As of November 1, 7 students were diagnosed as cholera out of the 30 with the symptom of diarrhea at Hainan University, located in the southern island of Hainan province. It’s the second batch of cholera outbreak in the island after the 17 cases found in Zhanzhou city on October 20.

The campus is now closed up. All students, faculty, and staff members are required to take preventive medicine for three days in a row so as to deter the spread of the infectious disease.

According to the local health authority, 51 cholera cases were identified between October 3 and November 2 across the province. No death was reported.

Source: China Youth Daily, November 4, 2008
http://news.sohu.com/20081104/n260431486.shtml

Close to half of Shanghai population are migrants according to the release of the National Population and Family Planning Commission of China on October 30.   Shanghai has a population of approximately 18.6 million.  8.6 million of it are migrants.  70% of these migrants are from adjacent provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Zhenjiang and Jiangxi.  This large migrant population in Shanghai has been the priority and problem area for the National Population and Family Planning Commission of China to ensure compliance of one-child policy.

Source: Xinhua, October 30, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-10-30/content_10281899.htm

As of October 30, 8,311.7 metric ton of milk products were taken off the shelves since the Sanlu milk contamination breakout, said an official from national Administration of Industry and Commerce.  Manufacturers and distributors were inspected 1.713 million times.  626,000 complaints were filed with the authorities.  Consumers returned 917.4 metric tons of milk products.

Source: Xinhua, October 30, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-10-30/content_10282020.htm

Gansu provincial Pubic Security Division’s Visual Command & Coordination System (VCCS) was in operation on October 27. VCCS, composed of large screen monitor, visual command function, and phone recording facility, is mainly used as a central command system for major emergencies.

The current visual surveillance monitor covers 14 cities and a mining area with high resolution. In real time, the monitor can switch to and zoom in any geographic target inside the province, provided incorporated into the system. The VCCS allows a centralized control of daily dynamics of public security across the whole province. Gansu is the last province in the country to equip the provincial PSD with VCCS.

Source: Xinhua, October 28, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2008-10/28/content_10265748.htm

On October 20, a mass incident took place at Su Yu Middle School in Su Qian City of Jiangsu Province. It involved over ten thousand local citizens against one hundred policemen. The cause was on a student who committed suicide because he was frequently subjected to physical punishment by school teachers. The parents went to school to request a resolution. But the school called the police who then used the force to beat up the victim’s family members.

Over ten thousand citizens were at the scene. People were flared up over the beating and started to beat the policemen, turn over the police vehicles and eventually chase the police away. The news is tightly blocked by the City of Su Qian and no media is allowed at the scene.

The related internet postings were circulating widely among the websites in mainland and quickly picked by overseas Chinese websites. But most of the postings in mainland have been taken down since.

Source: Various Chinese websites in China and US, October 24

http://www.xici.net/b7000/bderror.asp?s=UnDeleted
http://sanqingzi.blogspot.com/2008/10/blog-post_26.html
http://news.boxun.com/forum/200810/boxun2008b/13379.shtml
http://www.gettao.com/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=10114
http://www.64tianwang.com/bencandy.php?fid=8&aid=3559

105 new patients were admitted to hospital on October 22 as the result of melamine tainted milk powder.  3, 654 infants remain hospitalized as of October 22, stated China’s Ministry of Health. 46,717 were treated and released from hospitals.

Source: Xinhua, October 23, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-10/22/content_10235302.htm

As of October 23, over 1,200 people petitioned for Special pardon of Yang Jia. Yang Jia, a young man in his twenties, was sentenced to death on September 1 2008 by Shanghai No.2 Intermediate People’s Court, after a closed trial, for killing 6 policemen in Shanghai. On October 20, the Shanghai Higher People’s Court turned down his appeal. The petition initiated by 44 in China on October 21 calls for abolishment of death penalty and cited unfair treatment of Yang while in government custody and during the trial.

Source: Chinese Human Rights Defenders, October 23, 2008
http://crd-net.org/Article/Class53/200810/20081023075704_11301.html