China’s Premier Wen Jiabao visited Wenlou Village in Henan Province on Friday, November 30, when World AIDS Day was approaching. It is a village heavily plagued by AIDS. Before Premier Wen’s arrival, local authorities not only put a group of activists and outspoken AIDS patients under house arrest; they also arranged for 1,600 policemen to dress up as villagers to welcome Premier Wen.
Social Stability - 184. page
China’s Family Planning Work Faces Eight Challenges
Xinhua News reported on August 21, 2007, that the directors of China’s Family Planning Association at the provincial levels held a meeting in which they discussed that China’s family planning work faces eight challenges [1].
College Tuitions Have Skyrocketed in the Ten Years Since Combining Tracks
In 1997, colleges in China combined the tracks for the tuition system. Previously there existed two tracks: one track was that most college students paid nothing or only nominal fees for a college education; the other track was that some students financially supported their college education. Various scholars have found that since the two tracks were combined, most students have had to pay the full tuition. College tuitions across the country have skyrocketed. [1]
China Has Highest Rate of Executions: 5000 to 8000 in 2006
According to the 2007 Annual Report on Capital Punishment released by Hands Off Cain, between 5,000 and 8,000 prisoners were executed in China in the year of 2006. Chinese official Xinhua News reports that more would have been executed in the first seven months of 2007 had mandatory case review by the Supreme People’s Court of China not passed in 2006. [1]
Public Display of Prostitutes’ Photos Draws Criticism
On September 5, the Yinchuan (银川) Public Security Sub-bureau posted a street bulletin showing photos of 28 prostitutes. Many pedestrians saw it. [1] The photos showed both frontal and profile views of the women. Their features were clearly recognizable, except for simple blurs around the eyes. Both pedestrians and an attorney criticized the display.
Water Safety Problems Afflict 300 Million People, the Chinese NPC Standing Committee Regards It an I
Half of the cities in China have severely polluted groundwater; 300 million people in the rural areas are drinking water with safety problems. In some areas, "all the rivers have dried and all the water has been polluted." A member of the Chinese NPC Standing Committee stated that "The pollution is a result of profit pursuing. However, the cost to treat the water pollution will be more than a dozen times the profit we have gained."
China Officials: the Pope Wants to Appoint Anti-Communist Bishops
Since 1958 when China and the Vatican stopped having diplomatic relations, the CCPA (Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association) has appointed all bishops in China. The current Pope, Benedict XVI, has been trying hard to bring Catholics in China back to the Roman Catholic Church. However recently, according to a high official in the CCPA, the Vatican has been attempting to appoint anti-communist bishops in China. [1]
Website Ordered to Delete the Henan AIDS Report
Domain name provider www.net.cn has been ordered to delete a report on the Henan AIDS disaster from its website, according to the Beijing Aizhixing Institute.