Thread: Dissent and Democratic Reform in China

Ethnic minority officials active in China's politics: expert




BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Officials from ethnic minority groups are offered equal opportunities and play an active role in China's political affairs, said an expert from Liaoning Academy of Social Science (LASS).

The country had about 2.8 million officials from ethnic minorities, said LASS president Bao Zhendong, himself a Mongolian, in an interview with Monday's Guangming Daily.

Officials from different ethnic groups enjoyed equal opportunities in training and promotion, he said.

Since 1978, the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) had run annual training programs for local officials from ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, Tibet, Yunnan, Qinghai and Mongolia.

Since 1990, ethnic officials in less developed provinces were offered posts in central government departments and more developed coastal provinces for about six months. This year, 131 officials took part in this program.

Bao said Xinjiang had about 3,000 officials from ethnic minority groups in 1950. The number soared to 46,000 in 1955 when the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was established, and was now estimated at 348,000, accounting for 52 percent of the region's total officials.

In Xinjiang, about 86 percent of officials at municipal and county levels and 55.36 percent of officials at regional level were ethnic minorities, he said.

While succeeding in their political careers, officials from ethnic minorities bore the responsibility to maintain ethnic harmony, Bao said.

"They should set good examples as they have their reputation and influence among their own people," he said. "I noticed that many Uygur officials worked hard with their Han colleagues to protect common people and maintain social stability during and after the riot in Urumqi on July 5. They are admirable."

They grasped the true nature of the riot, he said. "It is not an ethnic issue nor a religious one, but about the country's unity and people's safety."

then they'll complain that china is destroying their culture by giving them representative by their own blood...

Chinese steelworkers discontent with the status quo...

Thousands of steel workers clash with police in China
Monday, Jul 27, 2009, Some 30,000 disgruntled Chinese steel workers clashed with riot police in protest over a takeover deal, resulting in the death of an executive from another steel company, a human rights group said.

News that Beijing-based Jianlong Steel Holding Company would buy a majority stake in state-owned Tonghua Iron and Steel Group triggered Friday’s protest, which also led to 100 people being injured, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said on its Web site. Discontent over inequality and unemployment amid the economic downturn has triggered social frustration in China, with many cases of riots by angry citizens. Friday’s clash happened in Jilin Province.

Chen Guojun, the general manager of Jianlong, was beaten to death by workers who were angry that Chen was paid about 3 million yuan (US$440,000) last year, while Tonghua’s retired workers received as little as 200 yuan a month, the center said. A police officer from the Tonghua municipal public security bureau confirmed the riot and the death of Chen, who was in his 40s, the South China Morning Post said yesterday. “Yes, it did take place,” the newspaper quoted the officer as saying. “Workers from Tonghua would not allow ambulance and medical practitioners to enter the building to rescue Mr Chen and he died.”

Tonghua’s workers blocked highways and smashed three police vehicles in Tonghua city on Friday afternoon, the center said, adding that they dispersed late at night after Chen’s death. Jianlong, which temporarily controlled Tonghua last year, is attempting to buy Tonghua for the second time, the center said. China, the world’s top producer and consumer of steel, has been forcing its mammoth steel sector to slim down and consolidate, but its plans have generally met with resistance, with many local governments anxious to preserve their own sources of revenue. Local TV said on Friday the deal would be shelved permanently, the South China Morning Post said.

Source

See also:

Factory manager killed as labour unrest hits China
27 July 2009, About 30,000 Chinese steel workers clashed with police over plans to merge their mill with another company, and beat a manager to death, a Hong Kong-based human rights group has said.

About 100 people were injured in the incident on Friday in the northeastern city of Tonghua, the Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said in a statement. A police officer at the Tonghua Public Security Bureau’s control centre on Sunday confirmed that a clash took place, but refused to provide any details or comment on the reported death. Company and local government officials were not immediately available for comment.

Tonghua Iron and Steel Group employees opposed plans for Beijing-based Jianlong Steel to take a 65% stake in the mill, the centre said, adding they accused Jianlong of mismanagement during temporary stewardship last year.

The Tonghua employees attacked Jianlong general manager Chen Guojun when he ordered them to return to work. Beijing is trying to consolidate its steel industry, which comprises hundreds of small producers, through mergers aimed at creating big players that have the potential to be globally competitive.

Source

Surprisingly, one one died from it I believe.

The natives are restless...

Social unrest 'rising in China'
Monday, 21 December 2009 - Despite economic growth, social unrest and crime is on the rise in China, according to an analysis by a Chinese think-tank.

The country is grappling with more acute social problems than ever before, according to a report from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Crime is also up, despite a nationwide campaign to shore up social stability. Although continued economic growth has provided a greater number of jobs, China has seen more social conflict in 2009 than before. The report on China's social trends sounds a stark warning to policy makers.

The authors believe deep resentment has been accumulating over the past few decades against unfairness and power abuses by government officials at various levels. They quote six large-scale popular protests - from taxi strikes to unrest in central China in June - involving tens of thousands of people. This does not include the rioting in the north-western region of Xinjiang, where nearly 200 people were killed in early July.

Urban-rural gap

There has been more crime too - official figures for January to October 2009 show more than four million recorded criminal cases, an increase of about 15% above last year. The report admits some of China's policies have prevented more people from sharing the benefits of the economic development. The urban-rural income gap, for example, has become even bigger and the country's phenomenal GDP growth has been achieved at the expense of the rural population, the environment and overall social cohesion.

The report is a (*)(*)(*)(*)ing indictment on the authorities' slogan of building a harmonious society. But there is one ray of hope in the report - while the Chinese authorities are taking tighter control over the media, people are turning more and more to the internet to expose official failings and abuses. In the past 12 months, nearly a third of the top stories originated from the internet, pushing the boundaries of press freedom.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/asia-pacific/8425119.stm

Originally Posted by Xilaisalt

then they'll complain that china is destroying their culture by giving them representative by their own blood...

it is doubtless chinese majority is erasing chinese minorities' cultures,especially languages.I'm Goetian chinese, the only acceptable language in government documents, schools,colleges and other institutions is Standardized chinese Mandarin (a variation of Pekingese ).

yep of course no death execution comes to me if i insist to speak my mother language--Goetian. but those national laws and standards mean: no language is allowed but Mandarin.

I have to take exams in Mandarin,i have to speak Mandarin in public.

why should I? because the government tells people that any other language is low.

i'm no fan of Muslims.

Eh, it's mostly private things; nothing the government need worry about. The ethnic tensions will die down quickly.

Opening up society to stem unrest...

Can Wen Jiabao reform the Communist Party of China?
October 15, 2010 : A two-day plenum of the Communist Party opened amid calls for relaxing China's repressive one-party rule. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has called for political change in recent months.

A new surge of demands for liberal political reform added an unexpected twist to deliberations at today's annual policy making meeting for leaders from the ruling Communist Party of China. Leading the charge has been Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, who has repeatedly, if cautiously, argued the need for political change in recent months.

And though he has often seemed a voice crying in the wilderness, two open letters released on the eve of the three-day Central Committee plenum that began Friday have given weight to liberal efforts to relax China’s repressive one-party rule. One letter, a remarkable plea by 23 former senior officials, including a former secretary to Mao Zedong, urged an end to press censorship. Another, signed by a wide range of liberal intellectuals, called for the release of imprisoned dissident Liu Xiaobo, who last week won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Neither demand is likely to be met. Nor are there any signs of an impending change in China’s political system. But the public letters on the Internet and Mr. Wen’s advocacy of reform “are part of a package to put political affairs at the forefront of party discussion” after more than 20 years of focus on the economy, says political analyst Russell Leigh Moses.

Stimulus plan benefited state companies

See also:

Wen inspiring debate with calls for reform
Sat, Oct 16, 2010 - LIBERAL LEGACY:The Chinese premier was associated with two of China’s most prominent liberal reformers in the early 1980s — Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang

Calls for reform of China’s political system have come repeatedly in the past few months from an unexpected source — the country’s premier — and his surprising remarks are stirring consternation and debate in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as it prepares for a new generation of leaders. For a leadership that has tried to present a unified front as it manages a fast-changing society, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s comments on the need for rule of law and political reforms to undergird economic success seem out of step.

“Without political reform, China may lose what it has already achieved through economic restructuring,” Wen was quoted as saying in August. Wen’s remarks form the backdrop as the 200-plus leading members of the party gathered yesterday for a four-day annual policy meeting, although they are not expected to be formally discussed.

“Wen’s calls are clearly making some people nervous,” said Ding Xueliang, a China expert at Hong Kong’s University of Science and Technology. While Central Committee meetings are closed-door affairs, this year’s gathering is expected to approve an economic blueprint for next year to 2015 that will promote policies to close the growing gap between rich and poor and -encourage consumer spending.

“The period would be critical for building a moderately prosperous society,” the Xinhua news agency said in its report on the start of the meeting. Yet the party is also beginning the delicate process of preparing for the succession of a new generation of leaders in 2012, when Wen and many others on the nine--member Politburo Standing Committee, the inner sanctum of power, are expected to step down in keeping with past precedent.

More http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worl.../16/2003485508

Originally Posted by Cicada

it is doubtless chinese majority is erasing chinese minorities' cultures,especially languages.I'm Goetian chinese, the only acceptable language in government documents, schools,colleges and other institutions is Standardized chinese Mandarin (a variation of Pekingese ).

yep of course no death execution comes to me if i insist to speak my mother language--Goetian. but those national laws and standards mean: no language is allowed but Mandarin.

I have to take exams in Mandarin,i have to speak Mandarin in public.

why should I? because the government tells people that any other language is low.

i'm no fan of Muslims.

If Mao Zedong thought like you, he would have made his Hunanese dialect the official national language of China.

If Sun Yat-sen and Deng Xiaoping thought like you, they would have made their Hakka dialect (or Hakka language if you like to call it) the official national language of China.

However, all the three great men looked beyond petty regional matters and focused on the good of the country in their decision on national affairs.

Although Mandarin is the lingua franca of China, there are many other languages spoken in China, by minorities. It has been estimated to have more than 2400 different dialects in China.

If all those dialects or languages are used together by the Chinese government, the Chinese parliament would become a modern Tower of Babel and nothing could be done to run the country effectively.

If you are staying in your village all your whole life, you can do without speaking a world of Mandarin. This is the same if you live in any Chinatown in the USA. Nobody will force you to learn a word of English if you are contented with washing dishes or clothes for your whole life in Chinatown. Of course you would never become an official of the US administration, but you can still survive within the confine of Chinatown.

Finally regarding your joke on “Goetlands” and “Goetian”, please refer to the link http://www.chinahistoryforum.com/ind...ese-languages/

Un-freakin-believable. An apologist for the murderous, destructive policies of mao...


...un-freakin-believable...