Social Stability - 178. page

On May 9, 2008, three days before the earthquake in Sichuan Province occurred, Sichuan government in its website posted an article reporting that the Earthquake Bureau in Aba Prefecture successfully quelled an earthquake rumor. The article revealed that the bureau received a telephone inquiry asking if it is true that an earthquake was about to occur. The local government immediately identified the source of the rumor and clarified the rumor was a misunderstanding of a telephone conference about geological disasters. The article was removed after the earthquake happened but the picture was captured and circulated on the Internet.

Source: Boxun, May 12, 2008
http://peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2008/05/200805121812.shtml

Part of two preschools in Beijing were closed after discovery of EV71 cases, according to local authorities on May 6, 2008. EV71 cases in Fuyan City, Anhui Province have increased to 4,496 with 22 deaths. Zhejian Province is reported to have over 1, 198 cases between January and May 4, with one death. Hunan Province reported 368 cases as of May 5, with most patients being children under 5 years old. Guangdong Province has 3 deaths, with 1,692 infections.

Source: Beijing QianLong.com, May 6, 2008
http://beijing.qianlong.com/3825/2008/05/06/ 3562@4427593.htm

An inside source has informed Boxun that in the last few days the authorities have begun forcing non-locals to leave Beijing, including those who hold temporary residence permits. The action was said to be needed in order to ensure the safety of Beijing Olympics. This has caused widespread complaints and anger from the non-locals being affected.

Source: Boxun, May 5, 2008
http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2008/05/200805051207.shtml

According to Ministry of Education, in 1978 there were 860 Chinese students who departed China for education abroad. 30 years later, a total of 1,211,700 Chinese students went overseas for higher education, 319,700 of which have returned to China. 657,200 are currently in various bachelor, master or PhD programs abroad. 

In 2007 alone, 144,000 left China for education abroad.  8,853 of them were sponsored by the State.

Source: Xinhua, April 30, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/overseas/2008-04/30/content_8078255.htm

As of April 29, 2008, Fuyang City in Anhui reported 1,884 cases of infections of Enterovirus 71, with 20 deaths, according to China Center of Disease Control. No new deaths reported in the past 5 days. Early March, People’s Hospital of Fuyang City admitted 5 infants with similar symptoms. Bewteen March 27 and 29, all 5 died.  Panics among parents ensued.  On April 15, local authorities issued a statement that several infants died of respiratory diseases and that none of these cases were related to each other. On April 23, EV71 was determined as the cause of deaths.

Source:
Xinhua, April 30, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-04/30/content_8080131.htm
Xinhua, April 30, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2008-04/30/content_8077180.htm
Nanfang Daily, April 30, 2008
http://www.nanfangdaily.com.cn/southnews/jwxy/200804300055.asp

The large population of petitioners, a.k.a fang min, is becoming one of the biggest headache of Beijing regime before the Olympic Games. Recently, photos have appeared on overseas Chinese websites that petitioners are holding signs of Human Rights Torch Relay, a global Olympic campaign exposing Chinese regime’s human rights violations.

Source: Epoch Times, April 24, 2008
http://news.epochtimes.com/gb/8/4/24/n2093887.htm
Boxun, April 24, 2008
http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2008/04/200804240856.shtml

Hundreds of thousands of college students in Hefei, Anhui Province, have been ordered to stay on campus according to Boxun. On April 18, 2008 tens of thousands of students took to the streets protesting outside the French chain store Carrefour in Hefei. The momentum continued on April 19. On April 20, the authorities ordered that students must not leave campus, except for in the case of an emergency and with the permission of their instructors.

Earlier, President Hu Jintao reportedly directed the Minister of Public Security to rein in student protests following the showing of Paris residents’ support for the Dalai Lama and Tibetan monks. Hu’s move was viewed as signs of his concerns that the protests might get out of hand, as happened during the June 4th student movement in 1989.

Source:
Boxun.com, April 22, 2008
http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2008/04/200804220005.shtml
Aboluowang.com, April 20, 2008
http://www.aboluowang.com/news/data/2008/0420/article_46711.html

Dr. Wang Juntao, a prominent democracy activist in the United States, warned that the current tour of the Global Human Rights Relay may lead to an unprecedented crisis for the Communist Party, surpassing the Tibetan protests. Wang stated. “According to statistics published by the Party, experts estimate every year there are about 100,000 group protests and 2.6 million petition visits by victims of government abuses in Mainland China.  They are potential participants in the China tour of the Global Human Rights Torch Relay. Their emotions can be easily ignited by the Torch. … The crisis triggered by the Human Rights Torch Relay will be the ultimate test of the ruling party.”

Source: Boxun, April 9, 2008
http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2008/04/200804090850.shtml