Social Stability - 3. page

A recent online video showed that tens of thousands of Chinese netizens collectively mocking China National Radio – a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) mouthpiece.

On December 10th, China National Radio reported on a conflict between China’s Coast Guard vessels and Philippine ships in the South China Sea, putting full blame for the conflict on the Filipinos. Among the 50,000 comments in the comment section, the majority were not the patriotic responses that the CCP would have expected. Instead, they were comments on an irrelevant topic – the weather. People from all over China, from south to north, participated in these discussions, and the comments seemed quite amusing.

The responses were just weather at difference regions, such as “Guangzhou is hot again, when will it snow?” “When can I wear the new down jacket I bought this year, it’s so hot in Guangxi.” “Shenzhen is wearing short sleeves today, it’s so hot,” etc.

A netizen summed it up, saying, “The comments section is full of amazing people!”

Source: Aboluo, December 11, 2023
https://www.aboluowang.com/2023/1211/1989157.html

According to primary Taiwanese news agency Central News Agency (CNA), the current surge of respiratory disease in China now is severe. Multiple diseases are prevalent at the same time in the current epidemic. According to China’s National Administration of Disease Control and Prevention, common respiratory infectious diseases circulating in China now include COVID-19, the influenza virus, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, respiratory syncytial virus, etc. These are mainly spread through respiratory droplets, inhalation of aerosols containing pathogens, or close contact [with contagious persons].

A new policy and guidelines issued by the National Administration of Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing a mask when taking public transportation or entering a crowded place. Furthermore, the policy requires people to wear masks when going to medical institutions or places where vulnerable groups gather. The policy also requires public service personnel such as medical, catering, cleaning, and security personnel to wear masks during work. People should also wear a mask when entering supermarkets, theaters, passenger terminals, elevators, and other closed and crowded places.

According to the guidelines, patients with respiratory infectious diseases or those with symptoms of respiratory infectious diseases should wear particle protective masks such as N95 or KN95 (without a breathing valve) or medical protective masks; other personnel should wear disposable medical masks or medical surgical masks.

Source: CNA, December 9, 2023
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202312090218.aspx

Recent data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics shows a decrease in the country’s birth rate and an increase in provinces experiencing negative natural population growth in 2022.

China Business Network (CBN) reported on the new data, which included statistics on the country’s birth rate, death rate and natural population growth rate in 31 provinces. China recorded 9.56 million births in 2022, a decrease of 1.06 million compared with 2021. The birth rate was 6.77 per thousand (6.77‰), a decrease of 0.75 per thousand from 2021. In 2022, the birth rate in nine provinces exceeded eight per thousand (8‰). In 20 provinces, the natural population growth rate was negative. That’s seven provinces more than in the previous year.

According to the official data, Guangdong has been the largest province in terms of births for five consecutive years. Guangdong Province had a birth population of 1.052 million in 2022, making it the only province in China that had an annual birth population exceeding 1 million in each of the years 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Meanwhile, Henan Province, which currently has the largest registered population of any province in China, had a natural growth rate of -0.08‰ last year. This was the first time since 1961 that the Henan’s natural population growth rate has been negative. Data released by the Henan Provincial Bureau of Statistics showed that the number of births in the province decreased by 60,000 compared with 2021.

China’s rate of first-child births has dropped by 51.3 percent over the past six years. In 2022, the number of first-child births in China was 4.41 million, the number of second-child births was 3.72 million, and the number of third-or-later child births was 1.43 million.

Source: CBN, November 20, 2023
https://m.yicai.com/news/101908004.html

There is a virus spreading widely in China. Beijing said it is mycoplasma pneumonia, while some other commentators have suggested that it is likely something else. The Chinese Communist Party has a track record of withholding information about pandemics unfolding in China, including the 2002-2004 SARS outbreak and the 2019 COVID outbreak. The World Health Organization (WHO) has requested that China provide details about viruses currently circulating and any increased burden on Chinese hospitals.

China’s hospitals are currently full of patients, including children. The Pediatric Department at Beijing Tsinghua Chang Gung Hospital is used to receiving 300 cases daily, but numbers have now risen to 800. The Deputy Director of the pediatric department called it “the most significant pressure for the hospital’s pediatric department since its establishment.” Meanwhile, the internal medicine department of the Beijing Children’s Hospital has been receiving over 7,000 patients each day, and its infusion center is packed with children and their family members. Tianjin Children’s Hospital is receiving 13,000 patients each day, with some nurses feeling dizzy due to the overload of work. Shanghai’s Renji Hospital, affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, reported that its pediatric outpatient visits exceeded 8,000 people between November 1 and November 13, a 175% increase from the same period last year.

Source: Epoch Times, November 23, 2023
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/23/11/23/n14122818.htm

Source: Nature, November 27, 2023
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03732-w

After the death of former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Chinese authorities have moved to prevent protests and unrest. Internet searches for Li Keqiang have been restricted to only return content from official news sources. Many universities received orders prohibiting gatherings and limiting memorial tributes. By the evening of Li’s death, some people had visited Li’s former residence to lay flowers.

The news of Li’s death was announced October 27 and quickly trended online. However, despite 2.24 billion reads on Weibo, only 609,000 comments remained on the Weibo post, showing self-censorship. Only condolences appeared in comments; other posts were deleted. Official accounts disabled comments. Foreign embassies’ condolences were also blocked. On WeChat and Baidu, only official media appeared in searches regarding Li Keqiang.

Messages showed several universities were ordered to ban student gatherings honoring Li. Notices from Shanghai Jiaotong and other schools ordered monitoring of memorial activities, banning gatherings, and reporting to authorities. The Hainan University Student Union was told student leaders could only repost the official obituary with the text “In Memory of the Former Premier.” Online or offline group memorial activities were prohibited.

When former leader Hu Yaobang died in 1989, gatherings to mourn him led to demands for democratic reforms and eventually the Tiananmen Square protests. Chinese authorities aim to prevent any similar unrest after Li Keqiang’s death through censorship and banning public memorials.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), October 27, 2023
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202310270339.aspx