Social Stability - 30. page

On February 23, an explosion was reported at a restaurant 650 meters (0.4 miles) away from the CCP headquarters in the Zhongnanhai district in Beijing possibly causing one death, while six people were injured. The video and pictures from the scene showed that the restaurant had turned into rubble. Doors and windows of nearby residential areas and the windows of roadside vehicles were shattered. The drivers inside the nearby parked cars were injured. The official media reported that the explosion happened during the installation of a gas tank that had been delivered to the restaurant. The restaurant was still on Chinese New Year shutdown and was not open to public. The official media reports on the explosion included CCTV, Sohu, Sina and The Paper. However, as of February 24, the relevant media reports had been removed from the Internet.

The timing of the incident was also sensitive. Beijing will be holding the 2021 two sessions on March 4 and 5. At present, Beijing has entered a high-level security stage. There is tight security screening of pedestrians, vehicles, parcels and the mail. There is a visible police force deployed to guard the area surrounding the Zhongnanhai compound.

Sources:
1. China News, February 23, 2021
https://news.creaders.net/china/2021/02/23/2325014.html

2. Epoch Times, February 24, 2021
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/21/2/24/n12771043.htm

A Chinese official notice shows that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is stepping up its efforts to extinguish the ethnic language and culture of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Recently, the Education Department of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region issued a notice dated January 8, 2021, to publishing houses. The notice stated that in the fall of last year, in accordance with the instructions of the China National Textbook Committee, the department conducted an “Ideological Special Investigation” and an audit of the textbooks such as Inner Mongolian History and Culture, Mongolian History, Hulunbuir History and Culture, Hetao History and Culture, and Korqin History and Culture (Trial).

The notice claims that the textbooks did not adequately highlight “the awareness of common roots.” Rather, they emphasized individual “ethnic identity” and “ethnic awareness.” As a result, the Department of Education of Inner Mongolia will ban the use of the textbooks of Inner Mongolia History and Culture, Mongolian History, and Hetao History and Culture starting from the spring semester of 2021. The textbooks of Hulunbeier History and Culture and Korqin History and Culture (Trial) will no longer be used starting in the fall semester of 2021.

In August 2020, the Inner Mongolian government mandated that primary and secondary schools must use Chinese, not Mongolian, as the language of instruction. The authorities implemented a unified Chinese language teaching plan. Hou Yuan, then Director of the Education Department, claimed that “textbooks reflect the will of the Communist Party and the State” and the use of unified textbooks was a “major decision” made by the Communist Party Central Committee. The mandate triggered massive resistance among the Mongolians. People worried that the unique Mongolian language and culture will be extinguished as a result.

Source: Radio Free Asia, January 18, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/shaoshuminzu/gf1-01182021052648.html

Tuo Jiguang, a professor at Sichuan Normal University, fell from a campus building around 8 o’clock on the morning of Monday January 18 2021. His friends said that Tuo, after experiencing 10 years of forced eviction and different forms of suppression, finally chose to fight with death.

Professor Tuo Jiguang was a doctor of literature, a postdoc in journalism and communication, and a postdoc in law. Before teaching at Sichuan Normal University, Tuo worked as a reporter and editor at the two largest local newspapers, West China Metropolis Daily and Chengdu Economic Daily.

In October 2020, Tuo Jiguang, filed a public complaint against Pu Fayou, head of Chengdu’s Chenghua District, for abusing power and violently demolishing citizens’ legally owned property. Tuo mentioned in the complaint letter that, since 2011, his two residences in Chenghua District had been subjected to the immediate danger of demolition. During the process, the demolition staff resorted to a number of means such as threats, pressure from his workplace and online defamation to force him into an agreement. “But the family finally withstood the pressure and did not succumb.” In the end, Pu Fayou presided over an executive meeting of the district government and ordered the two houses to undergo “violent demolition.”

Mr. Chen, one of Tuo’s friends, told Radio Free Asia that the reason for his suicide was because the Chenghua District government demolished his two houses. These two houses were his legal residences. He has been defending his rights since 2011. Mr. Chen also pointed out that even with dual post-doctoral degrees and qualifications as a lawyer and journalist, under the suppression of government agencies, social elites like Tuo Jiguang can only be forced to fight with death.

In 2009, Li Chuncheng, then head of Chinese Communist Party committee of Chengdu city, carried out massive demolition and triggered intense government-civilian confrontation. A woman named Tang Fu-zhen burned herself to death in protest of the forced demolition, drawing widespread attention. Tuo is another tragic case of human death due to “forced demolitions” which are rampant across China.

Source: Radio Free Asia, January 18, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/professor-01182021060434.html