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
Source: Chinese Human Rights Defenders, October 23, 2008
http://crd-net.org/Article/Class53/200810/20081023075704_11301.html
Among all of China’s college graduates, as many as 15% cannot find a job, according to a recent report issued by China Youth Research Center. The Report on China Youth Rights and Welfare also forecast the deteriorating trend in the imbalance in the gender structure of the nation’s youth population in the coming decade, with 15 to 20 surpluses of males in every 100 females. The report is compiled based upon a survey on a sample of 4,000+ people in 108 counties in 12 provinces.
Source:
Xinhua, October 22, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/employment/2008-10/22/content_10231406.ht
As Chinese courts refuse to accept suits seeking damages over the contamination of dairy supplies with the industrial chemical melamine, a group of victims under the name of Federation of Victims of Shengyuan Infant Milk Formula have hired a U.S. lawyer to claim compensation. This is the first time that a foreign lawyer involves in the toxic milk scandal.
Shengyuan group, one of the major Chinese diary manufacturers, owns a Delaware-registered venture capital company headquartered in Maryland. The linkage allows U.S. courts to have a jurisdiction over Shengyuan. The first trial is scheduled at a federal court in Maryland.
Mr. Liu, a representative of the group, said to RFA that “it is Shengyuan that violates the law, not we.”
On courts rejection of toxic milk lawsuits, Dr. Zhang Boshu at Chinese Academy of Social Science felt regretful. “We could have handled the issue through normal legal channels, which should be encouraged instead of suppressed by the government.”
Source:
RFA, October 20, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/lawyer-10202008102514.html
After a Shanghai court’s rejection of the appeal from Yang Jia, who killed six policemen in revenge for a wrongful arrest, 44 intellectuals publicly signed on an open letter, asking for the authority’s amnesty.
“Whereas death penalty is a punishment of cruelty in violation of human dignity. … More than two thirds of 193 UN member states have abolished death penalty in law or in essence.” The letter said.
“Mr. Yang has taken extremist actions and caused human tragedy, after failed attempts to seek justice through legal channels over a long period of time. This is why he was overwhelmingly sympathized by the public.”
“Shanghai authorities have refused to publicize the entire facts of the accident. Yang Jia’s mother, a key witness, was kidnapped. Seven Shanghai policemen, also key witnesses, refused to testify on court. The initial death sentence was out of a close-door trial against legal procedure.”
Among the signers are lawyers, writers, professors, and journalists, including a famous economist Mao Yushi and artists Ai Weiwei, who designed Bird Nest or Beijing National Stadium. The execution of 28-year-old Yang Jia is awaiting the approval from the Supreme People’s Court, according to his lawyer Zhai Jian.
Source:
Epoch Times, October 21, 2008
http://epochtimes.com/gb/8/10/21/n2304365.htm