Social Stability - 95. page

Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that, as part of China’s increased security measures, Chinese authorities have installed facial recognition video cameras on street corners or in stores to monitor public activities. Manufactured in Shanghai and Hangzhou, the cameras are equipped with a resolution capability of tens to millions of pixels and can isolate individual faces and automatically enable their surveillance capabilities. The cameras were installed in major cities in China prior to the 19th National Congress. In Chongqing city alone, during the trial period of less than one month after the cameras were installed, over 40 suspects were arrested. The article also reported that, based on an internal document that RFA  obtained, the Chinese authorities have been collecting people’s online comments, income, and the frequency of their vacations in order to analyze their professional and financial situation so they could determine whether the individual belongs to a “target interest group.” A petitioner told RFA that, in order to ensure there would be no disruptions during the 19th National Congress, Beijing has tightened up security measures including more frequent inspections of people’s personal identification cards. The eating establishments for the businesses along Chang An street were ordered to shut down starting October 10.

Source: Radio Free Asia, October 13, 2017
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/meiti/ql2-10132017101022.html

Radio France Internationale (RFI) recently reported that serious air pollution continues to be a major challenge for the Chinese government. The central government asked 28 cities in Northern China to lower the air pollution particles by 15 percent between November and next March. However, the Chinese Minister of Environment Protection, Li Ganjie, admitted during his visit to a few northern provinces, that it will be “very challenging” to deliver on the pollution control goal within that time frame. Li reported that air pollution improvements have been slowing down since the beginning of the year. In some places, the process has even reversed. He emphasized that his ministry will be focusing on mounting serious pressure on local governments to enforce environmental protection laws and regulations. Based on recent monitoring data, 13 cities around Beijing saw worse air quality than at the same time last year. The official numbers that the Ministry of Environment Protection provided also showed that, in the first half of the year, 328 large cities across China suffered worse air quality compared to last year.

Source: RFI, October 5, 2017
http://bit.ly/2fYRfIB

The BBC reported that social media Sina posted a notice that they are hiring 1000 Weibo supervisors who are responsible for reporting any pornographic, illegal, or harmful contents. According to the announcement, it is part of the effort to “increase the supervision of Internet users and to clean up Weibo’s online environment.” These supervisors will be rewarded with a 200 yuan allowance and Weibo membership. Each month, the top 10 performers will receive a prize such as an Apple cell phone, a domestic brand cell phone or a laptop computer. One professor from Hong Kong University told the BBC that the hiring of Internet supervisors suggests that relying on the existing internal Internet supervision or voluntary reporting mechanisms can no longer cover the increased heavy Internet traffic. The article quoted one Internet user who noted that the Weibo Supervisor is just like an online “Chaoyang Resident.” This refers to the active residents in Beijing who report “tips” to the police. Based on the numbers that the Legal Evening Newspaper reported in September, there are 130,000 registered “Chaoyang residents” in Beijing. Some of the active members can receive several hundred yuan in their monthly allowance. Other than Sina, another Internet search giant Baidu recently implemented an “online rumor detector” on its search engine, news, and post bar. If any contents are deemed to be a “rumor,” the user will receive an alert and the article will be reported.

Source: BBC, September 28, 2017
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-41425969

China News recently reported that Cai Jianchun, Director and Deputy Communist Party Secretary of Zhongshan Hospital at Xiamen University, Executive Deputy Dean of the Xiamen University School of Medicine, and winner of multiple national and provincial awards, was accused of directly copying his graduate students’ thesis for his own doctoral thesis. More than half of Cai’s doctoral thesis (in Polymer Chemistry and Physics) was a word-for-word copy of his students’ graduation thesis. Xiamen University said the university is currently conducting its own internal investigation. Cai also works at Fujian Medical University and some parts of his thesis were copied from students’ work of that University. Fujian Medical University refused to comment on this matter. Reporters have been trying to contact Cai using a number of channels of communication, but they could not reach him. Cai Jianchun is a very well-known oncologist in China.

Source: China News, August 10, 2017
http://www.chinanews.com/sh/2017/08-10/8300839.shtml

According to Duowei, a number of Internet security measures have been launched recently to ensure Internet stability prior to the 19th National Congress. On August 11, the Cyberspace Administration launched an investigation against Ten Cent Weixin, Sina Weibo, and Baidu Post Bar for alleged cases in which its users spread violent content, rumors, and sexually explicit material. Such acts violated the Internet Security Law that was introduced on June 1. Several Internet service providers including VeryCloud and EnHT Technology companies conducted a “one-key shutdown” drill in early August. The drill tested their ability to shut down Internet service immediately when they received an official notice. In addition to tightened control over VPNs, the central administration also issued a notice to its party members to exercise restraint over Internet activities to make sure no one spread information that damaged the party’s image or published commentary articles that contained politically sensitive topics.

Source: Duowei, August 11, 2017
http://news.dwnews.com/china/news/2017-08-11/60006388.html