BBC: Sea Of People Flooded Tourist Sites during China’s Golden Week
China’s Golden Week started on National Day on October 1, commemorating the anniversary of the founding of the PRC on October 1, 1949. Tourists overwhelmingly flooded most of the tourist sites in China. The convergence of visitors at many popular sites resulted in large numbers of tourists being trapped on the road without any access to hotels, food, or rest rooms.
The BBC Chinese website carried a list of comments from the Sina microblog site, which described the scenes involving the explosion of tourists at many tourist sites: A sea of people, slow traffic on highways, piles of trash left behind, and long lines waiting at entrance sites, bathrooms, and restaurants. People who took the trip complained that they felt tired, irritated, and regretful.
Source: BBC, October 4, 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/chinese_news/2012/10/121004_china_weibo_crowded_holiday.shtml
Blue Book Suggests the New Media Are the New Driving Force in China’s Social Development
The recently published Blue Book on China’s New Media suggested that, since 2011, the new media have been transforming in terms of their digital and online forms. They have also become the new driving force that impacts China’s social development in the following four areas: 1) Social capability. The number of instant messaging users has grown 17.7 percent since 2010, reaching 415 million, thus surpassing the number of users for search engines, online music, and Internet news. 2) Expression and Participation. The growth in microblog users suggested that more and more people use the new media to explore, express, and participate in social and political discussions. The data showed that the number of microblog users grew from 63 million at the end of 2010 to 274 million in June of 2012, which means that over 50 percent of the Internet users use microblogs. 3) Rapid growth in commercial applications. The rapid growth in using online stores, banking, and shopping suggested that the new media have matured in the development of social applications. 4) Solid growth in cultural and social capabilities. The new media have become the cultural and entertainment platform for users to have access to online news, video, music, and games.
Source: Xinhua, October 4, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2012-10/04/c_113276781.htm
People’s Daily: Overseas Chinese Media Need to Report More about China
On September 15, 2012, Wang Chen, Deputy Director of the Propaganda Department, met with the overseas media partners of People’s Daily overseas edition. Wang urged the oversea’s China media partners to carry more news reports about China so that they could help promote understanding between China and the countries where the media are located. Wang commended the Chinese media, especially the overseas edition of People’s Daily, for gaining an increased power of discourse on the world stage through establishing working relationships with the overseas Chinese media in different countries. According to Wang, People’s Daily has reached complete coverage around the world and formed a unique advantage in broadcasting China’s voice overseas.
Source: People’s Daily, September 16, 2012
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2012/0916/c1026-19018967.html
Does Beijing’s Hard-Line Stance over the Diaoyu Islands Dispute Target the United States?
Abortions in China Reach 13 Million a Year
China’s National Population and Family Planning Commission recently released statistics showing that there are over 13 million abortions in China every year, the highest in the world. Over 50 percent of the abortions are performed on women under 25 years old. College students are now considered a high risk group. The statistics also showed that only about 12 percent of China’s young people believe that they have adequate information about contraception. The State’s China National Radio commented that such behavior mirrors both society and the parents and may very well be the result of seeds that adults have sown.
Source: China National Radio, October 4, 2012
http://china.cnr.cn/xwwgf/201210/t20121004_511053320.shtml
China to Carry-Out Anti-Cult Propaganda and Education in the Sixth Five-year Law Publicity Plan
In August and September 2012, a number of local government departments and institutions posted a notice on their websites regarding the implementation of the plan to carry out anti-cult propaganda and education during the “sixth five-year” (2011-2015) law publicity work. China’s anti-cult propaganda and education work under the communist government is a pretext for discussing the struggle against “Falun Gong.”
Party Officials Undergo Training to Improve Governance Skills
The China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong (CELAP) is a Shanghai-based national institution funded by the central government. Since its establishment in 2005, CELAP has conducted trainings in over 1,400 workshops and classes for close to 70,000 Party officials. At simulated press conferences or TV interviews, Party officials are asked direct questions such as “What do you think about the organ transplant situation in China?” “What are the pros and cons of planned parenthood?” or “Have Muslims in Ningxia ever been forced to eat during Ramadan?” The simulations are recorded so that teachers and students can play back the videos and critique the simulations.
Source: Xinhua, October 4, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-10/04/c_113278213.htm