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In China, Conversations in Taxis Are Monitored

A netizen recently shared an experience on a social media platform in China regarding a Beijing taxi ride — there was a notice posted in the taxi indicating that all conversations would  be recorded. The notice included a line of text saying “The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is good” (probably as a reminder to the passengers not to criticize the CCP).

This incident sparked discussions among internet users. Some mentioned that taxis in many cities are conducting full-trip video recording. Some cited instances where verbal altercations between passenger and driver led to later driver reprimands.

In September 2018, Didi, China’s largest ride-hailing car servicer, announced that it would implement “safety reforms” under government pressure. China’s Ministry of Transportation led a joint investigation into Didi involving 10 departments of the government, including the CCP Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission and the Ministry of Public Security. Soon after, Didi began rolling out full-trip recording functionality for its ride-hailing service.

Source: Aboluo, November 11, 2023
https://www.aboluowang.com/2023/1111/1976870.html

Briefings | | |   @CS Social Stability

Cities in Shandong Province to Consolidate Local Police Stations

Several regions, including Qingdao, Huangdao, Linyi, and Weifang cities, in Shandong Province, have recently announced the consolidation and merger of local police stations. Police stations are a key component of the Chinese Communist Party’s stability control (people control). The move to cut down police stations has sparked discussions among netizens, with some speculating that the move is motivated by local governments’ severe budget shortfalls.

Source: Epoch Times, October 30, 2023
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/23/10/30/n14106030.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics Social Stability

After Li Keqiang’s Death, Chinese Communist Party Bans Unofficial Memorial Activities

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

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

China Quickly Removes the Word “Emigrate” from Search Rankings

According to a recent report by Taiwanese news site NewTalk, there was a recent surge of search volume for the word “emigrate” on China’s top social media network WeChat. Volume surged by 1,156 percent, with an astonishing 510 million searches in one day. A few days later, the term “emigrate” (移民, also translated as “migrate”) was directly deleted from the WeChat Index, demonstrating China’s authoritarian control and the fear it has of its own people.

WeChat’s search index, based on big data collected by the company, represents the change in popularity of a certain keywords on WeChat. As early as when China first implemented the Zero Covid policy, many people began searching for terms related to emmigration, and the keyword’s popularity in WeChat increased rapidly, exceeding 100 million searches. Later during the White Paper Protests near the end of 2022, people’s desire for physical mobility became even stronger, with the WeChat Index recording 116 million searches. China’s economic difficulties have led to more and more Chinese people being dissatisfied with their living conditions.

Although the Chinese authorities attempted to remove terms related to migration from the supported vocabulary of WeChat’s hot-search system, this amounts to nothing more than an act of self-deception; the population’s dissatisfaction with the government will not disappear just because the word “emigrate” has been deleted from the search index.

Source: Newtalk, October 25, 2023
https://newtalk.tw/news/view/2023-10-25/893847

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology Social Stability

LTN: China Ranks Last in 2023 Internet Freedom Survey

Non-profit organization Freedom House recently released its 2023 report “Freedom on the Net.” Major Taiwanese news network Liberty Times Network (LTN) cited the report, saying that, among the 70 countries considered in the report, China’s Internet freedom has ranked at the very bottom for the past nine consecutive years.

China scored only 9 points out of 100, and it rated as “not free”. Taiwan scored 78 points, ranking first in the Asia-Pacific region, and was rated as “free.” The Freedom House report researched the internet environment throughout the world, covering 89 percent of internet users globally. The report ranked the countries based on the criteria of “obstacles to accessing the Internet,” “restrictions on content,” and “user rights violations.”

The report showed that the country with the highest freedom in the world is Iceland (94 points), followed by Estonia (93 points), Canada (88 points), Costa Rica (85 points), the United Kingdom (79 points), Taiwan (78 points), Germany and Japan (77 points), and then United States, France, Australia and the Republic of Georgia (scoring 76 points each). Freedom House has published reports on internet freedom for 13 consecutive years.

The Chinese government has invested heavily in the AI industry, ensuring that internet-related companies follow the government’s authoritarian rule. After years of efforts, China’s Cyberspace Administration has successfully used algorithms, synthetic media and AI to conduct heavy-duty censorship of China’s Internet environment.

Source: LTN, October 5, 2023
https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/breakingnews/4449090

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Social Stability

China Times: Over 50 Percent of Professionals Plan to Leave Hong Kong

Major Taiwanese newspaper China Times recently reported on a survey by Robert Walters which found that, although the Hong Kong government has introduced a number of measures in recent years to retain and attract talents, more than half of professionals still plan to leave Hong Kong.

Around 15.6 percent of the professionals hope to leave Hong Kong as soon as possible, and 36.7 percent plan to leave in the next 3 to 5 years. Among those planning to leave, 51 percent are between the ages of 27 and 42, and 38 percent are between the ages of 43 and 58.

The survey shows that 96 percent of the professionals who plan to leave have already taken strategic actions to prepare for working abroad. The most common strategy was working for a multinational company, with 60 percent of the respondents adopting this strategy. Meanwhile, some 40 percent of the respondents have already applied for overseas jobs, and 31 percent have started training and studying for overseas careers.

The survey interviewed professionals in different fields such as accounting, engineering and development, financial services, healthcare, human resources, legal and compliance, sales and marketing, supply chain, logistics and procurement, as well as technology and transformation, etc.

Source: China Times, October 2, 2023
https://www.ctee.com.tw/news/20231002701097-430801

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend Social Stability

Yunan University Military Training Performance: Students Act Out Police Suppression of Workers’ Protest

A recent video circulating online shows scenes from a military training performance at Chuxiong Normal University in Yunnan Province. In the video, students acted out how police might suppress workers who have not been paid and who are protesting for their salaries.

In the video, some students dressed as the “unpaid workers,” holding white pieces of paper displaying signs that read “Pay Our Debts.” Some workers at the fore wore black masks and rushed toward the “police,” also played by students. The police dressed in camouflage uniforms, using tear gas and other methods to disperse the workers. They then surrounded and violently restrained the workers, arresting and taking them away one by one.

The video has sparked widespread discussions among internet users. People commented that the CCP “does not treat people as people,” regarding even workers’ demands for unpaid wages as illegal. A report by the Epoch Times provided a footnote saying that China’s economy is worsening, so authorities may anticipate more incidents and clashes around workers’ unpaid salaries.

Source: Epoch Times, October 4, 2023
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/23/10/4/n14087686.htm

Briefings | | |   @CS Social Stability

Third Wave of Mass COVID Infection in China

COVID-19 infection rates are on the rise again in China. According to the Beijing CDC, the number of COVID patients has surged by more than 70% in recent days, with outbreaks occurring in many places throughout China. The main strain of the COVID virus currently prevalent within China is EG.5, according to an August 19 announcement by China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

A large number of young children in various places are showing symptoms such as high fever, “white lungs” (patient’s lung appear as white in X-ray or CT picture due to infection), and difficulty in breathing. Many hospitals in China are calling the virus “mycoplasma pneumonia.” Some people have speculated that the authorities may be purposely avoiding the term “COVID,” opting to call the infection by a different name.

Many Chinese people are now being infected with the COVID virus for the third time, known as the “third positive” on Chinese social media. The “first positive” wave happened during late 2022 and early 2023, and the “second positive” wave happened in Spring of 2023.

Source: NTDTV, August 31, 2023
http://cn.ntdtv.com/gb/2023/08/31/a103776688.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability