According to Hong Kong Oriental Online (http://hk.on.cc/cn/) on August 7 and 8, 2016, thousands of local residents in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, took to the streets for two consecutive days in protest of a nuclear waste treatment plant that was intended to be built there. The Public Security Bureau in Lianyungang said on its official blog that assembling without the permission of the local government is illegal. The bureau also pointed out that the project is an established national project and that it had provincial and municipal government approval. It asked the general public to “believe the government and the (Chinese Communist) Party.”
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State Council Issues Urbanization Policy to Assist Peasant Workers Relocating to the City
Xinhua reported that the State Council recently issued a notice about its urbanization policy to assist peasant workers who are relocating to the city. The policy covers areas including, but not limited to, education assistance for children of peasant workers, medical benefits to receive medical care away from home, unemployment assistance, public assistance, and social security benefit policies. The notice stressed how important it is for the local municipal government to implement this policy. It also assures that the Ministry of Finance will issue certain awards to the local region to encourage the progress of urbanization.
Source: Xinhua, August 5, 2016
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2016-08/05/c_1119345004.htm
Xinhua: Chinese Middle School Students Get Less Than Seven Hours Sleep Each Night
Xinhua published an article which China Youth Daily had originally carried. The article reported that a micro blog published on China Youth Daily described how middle school students catch up on their sleep after the school bell rings at the end of each class. The post received close to 4,000 comments, with many of them echoing the original post. The article stated that Chinese middle school students get less than seven hours of sleep each night due to the heavy school workload. Students were said to catch up on their sleep during class breaks or even to fall asleep during class. Some students reported that to sleep eight hours at night is a luxury for them. One school teacher wrote a comment questioning why educational reform doesn’t ease the pressure. Students face a great deal of stress and so do the teachers.
Source: Xinhua, August 8, 2016
http://education.news.cn/2016-08/08/c_129211761.htm
Training Classes for Fake North Korean Defectors Are Given in Beijing
Training classes to package ordinary Chinese people as “fake North Korean defectors” are popping up in China. European countries recognize the defectors as refugees and give them residency and subsidies. Some Chinese have targeted the policy as a “business” opportunity.
RFA: Sichuan Cancer Village Protests Environmental Pollution from Landfill Waste Management Site
Radio Free Asia carried an article which reported that over one hundred villagers from the village of Jin Guiba in Sichuan Province went to the nearby municipal office in Langzhong City to demand that the city solve the water and environmental problems that a landfill waste management site located close to the village had caused. The pictures and the video taken at the scene showed that villagers held banners during the protest. The police used batons to beat the protesters. Some of the protesters claimed that the police used pepper spray and a number of villagers were injured.
RFA: Hebei Officials Blamed for Giving out Flood Relief Heroes Awards
Radio Free Asia published an article which reported that the municipal government of Hebei Province recently issued awards to the “2016 Most Beautiful Hebei People during Flood Relief.” Eleven people received an award for their "brave actions." According to the article, a number of village Party officials were included. After the news was published, the authorities from Hebei Province were strongly condemned for issuing the award while neglecting the real cause of the flood and those who died in the flood. The article quoted comments from one rights activist who said that the government officials are cold blooded. They discharged the flood waters at 1 a.m. in the morning without notifying the people and that is what resulted in so many deaths. Some people wrote that they should reflect on what happened and properly settle with those who suffered losses before issuing any awards. One villager told RFA that she still has not found her relative who disappeared during the flood. She said people have been trying to find their relatives themselves without any help from the village officials.
Source: Radio Free Asia, July 29, 2016
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/huanjing/yf1-07292016101453.html
RFA: Without Warning, 18 Reservoirs Released Flood Water after Midnight; Many Died in Their Sleep
According to Radio Free Asia, on July 22, 2016, Hebei Province officials in Shijiazhuang, Handan, Xingtai, Baoding opened the gates of 18 reservoirs to release flood water without any warning. Netizens said on the Internet: Flooding in Xingtai is a man-made disaster. The Xingtai government opened the reservoir gates to release water at 2:00 am without any warning. Many villagers, at least over 50 people at that time, drowned in their sleep. Many children drowned. The Xingtai government did not provide any aid, and no electricity was available. The government has also censored flood related information.
People’s Daily: Attacking Problem of Fake Environmental Protection Data
People’s Daily recently reported that the Ministry of Environmental Protection issued a news release to the media on pollution-source companies taking a number of different approaches in order to fake the monitoring of data. The Ministry expressed its determination to attack these illegal mechanisms to influence the automated monitoring systems. China has over 14,000 companies on the priority list of pollution monitoring. Due to the lack of resources, a large amount of the work has been done with automated monitoring equipment. Over the years, many companies that are under surveillance have developed a number of ways to “fool” the monitoring devices. Examples include diluting samples, faking parameters on the controlling computers, and even working with device manufacturers to fake data. Another issue with pollution monitoring is that the “cost” of violating the law is very minimal – if caught, the punishment is very light compared to the “benefits” brought about by avoiding environmental protection investments. At the same time, many local governments have been letting these companies slide in order to protect the local tax revenue stream.
Source: People’s Daily, July 23, 2016
http://opinion.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0723/c1003-28578795.html