Social discontent increases protests and claims for the human rights
Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) More than 3 million people participated in protest demonstrations and claim of the actual right during 2003.
This was reported by the state agency, Xinhua's, magazine "Outlook", which cites statistics from the Ministry of Public Security for 2002: around 58 million "mass incidents" took place- a 14.4 percent increase over the previous year's 6.6 percent annual increase.
"Mass incidents instigated by dissatisfaction among the public over government policies have increased significantly. This is seriously affecting social stability," states the magazine.
"The accidents of mass caused from the disappointment of the population for the politics of the government are increased in significant manner. This is having serious repercussion on the social stability". Officials interviews confirmed that the conflicts between the government and the population have spread all over the country.
Xi Jinping, Secretary of the Communist Party in the Zhejiang province, has informed the central leadership that the social unrest has became a "conspicuous problem". Outlook also pointed out that some of the " internal contradictions " had turned violent, and became "criminal cases": "A lot of these conflicts among people have resulted in murders. In some area, as many as 70 per cent of the murders originated from disputes between individuals".
The report admits that "corruption in the bureaucracy" is one of the reasons that managing difficult cases consistently have been hindered.
But an editorial commentary published together with the article warned that "overseas foreign forces are trying by every possible means to make use of internal conflicts in order to carry out anti-government activities."
The sporadic and unequal economic growth in the last decade has created overall discontent which is spreading among farmers, migrant workers and small land owners.
Fearing an explosion of social conflict, the National People's Congress (NPC) approved constitutional changes to protect private property and human rights.
At the end of May, the government started a year campaign to investigate abuses and crimes of corrupt officials, and concluded another campaign against the illegal use of the land for the building developments. Despite these measures, episodes of abuses and rebellions among the population are coming into the spotlight.
At the end of May, Xi'an (Shaanxi) verified clashes between the authorities and about 200 residents who protested the demolition of their homes in the Anrenfang district, which has about 20,000 residents, in order to begin a new building project. In Shenzhen (Guangdong), at least 400 peasants took the town's deputy-mayor hostage in protest against the plan to demolish their homes in the Baoan district, demanding a 100 million yuan (9.980.000 euro) compensation. (MR)
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13/09/2016 11:43
