Social Stability - 5. page

Primary Taiwanese news agency Central News Agency (CNA) recently reported that the latest public poll conducted by the Institute of Asia Pacific, Chinese University of Hong Kong, shows a sharp rise in dissatisfaction of Hong Kong residents with the SAR government. Dissatisfaction rates reportedly rose by 16 percent in February, and the ratings of city executive officers and senior officials also fell sharply.

Regarding the performance of the SAR government, only 13.5 percent of the residents surveyed expressed satisfaction, down 10.5 percent from the previous survey (conducted in October 2024); 43.7 percent expressed dissatisfaction, up 16 percentage points; and 41 percent responded “so-so,” down 5.4 percentage points. For the overall performance rating of Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, the respondents gave 44.2 points (max 100 points, 50 points considered qualified), down 6.5 points from 50.7 points in October last year.

Additionally, the trust in Beijing’s central government was 34.2 percent; 27.4 percent expressed distrust; and 34.9 percent said “so-so”. This same poll has been carried out since the handover of Hong Kong by the British government.

Source: CNA, March 21, 2025
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202503210071.aspx

China is facing an outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza, which has become severe since late January. The virus has spread across multiple provinces, including Shandong, Henan, Hebei, Shanxi, and Shanghai, causing severe losses for poultry farmers. Reports indicate a high number of H5N1 cases in poultry, with some number of cases observed in humans.

Shanghai announced a ban on live poultry trading, active through the end of 2027. On February 11, an employee from China’s Center for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed that human cases of avian flu had been detected in Shanxi Province. Thai media quoted a staff member from the Shanxi CDC saying that 2,000 people in the province had been infected with H5N1 avian influenza, resulting in 300 deaths. While Chinese state media have remained silent, CDC employees across Shanxi have begun conducting surveillance for “human avian influenza” as early as mid-January.

An exclusive report by The Epoch Times cited an insider working in China’s epidemic prevention sector who said he had personally encountered over a hundred cases of H5N1 in humans, with a 68% fatality rate among those cases – significantly higher than that of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was reported that China has been quietly building its infamous modular hospitals that it used to quarantine patients during COVID, in multiple provinces.

As of this writing, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. CDC have not reported any known cases of human-to-human H5N1 transmission — all known cases in humans have been a result of animal-to-human transmission.

Source: Epoch Times, February 15, 2025
https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2025/02/15/a103959017.html

Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported on Chinese marriage registration data released by the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs. In 2024 there were 6.1 million marriage registrations nationwide in China, down 20.5 percent from the previous year. This is the largest decline since the Chinese government first began tracking marriage statistics in 1978. Marriages are down by more than 50% since the peak rate in 2013.

Chinese marriage registrations have declined each year since 2013, with the exception of 2023 when China lifted the Zero-Covid lockdown policy and there was a moderate rebound in registrations. Chinese scholars studying population issues indicated that the primary factor causing the decline in Chinese marriages is “a reduction in the number of young people who are suitable for marriage.” This trend is a long-term consequence of the CCP’s one-child policy. A secondary factor causing the decline in marriages is “reduced willingness of marriageable people to get married,” with the age of first marriage also being delayed. In many big cities, the average first marriage age is now close to 30 years old. Chinese scholars have suggested that the government “explore ways to reduce the social and cultural burden of marriage as well as the cost of marriage.”

While the number of new marriages fell in China, the number of divorce registrations increased to 2.62 million last year, a slight increase of 1.1 percent.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, February 10, 2025
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/news/china/story20250210-5858203

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 361 journalists are imprisoned across the globe as of December 2024, with the largest number detained in China. The top three countries on CPJ’s list are China, Israel and Myanmar, currently having 50, 43, and 35 reporters detained, respectively. China has held the top spot since 2022.

The CPJ report noted that China’s “pervasive censorship” has made it difficult to determine the exact number of imprisoned journalists, and highlighted the increasing number of cases in Hong Kong, especially the continued imprisonment of media tycoon Jimmy Lai since December 2020. The committee also said that Israel is a country with a multi-party democracy. Before the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023, it rarely appeared on the annual list. All reporters detained in Israel are Palestinians.

Asia remains the region with the largest number of imprisoned journalists. In addition to China and Myanmar, which have the highest numbers of imprisoned journalists, Vietnam has 16, Afghanistan has 2, Bangladesh has 4, India has 3, and the Philippines has 1.

Source: CNA, January 17, 2025
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aopl/202501170125.aspx