September 16:
In early September China launched a nationwide crackdown on organized crime and the government and party officials that collaborate with them – the so-called “marriage of black and red.” The Global Times cites a statement on the Ministry of Public Security’s website delcaring the goal of the crackdown is to root out criminals’ financial resources and encourage the public to offer clues to police. Police have nabbed nearly 2200 gang members, destroyed 18 large gangs and 270 smaller ones from 11 provinces include Hebei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hunan and Guangdong since the operation began. Police, said Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu, must eliminate the political forces that protect criminals and target gangs involved in racketeering, protecting rackets, and loan sharking, as well as those that interfere with rural grass-roots elections through bullying or payoffs. Zhou Yongkang, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Political Bureau, called for efforts to “prevent criminal organizations from penetrating political affairs.”
[Editor’s Note: Since China began to focus on fighting organized crime in February 2006, police have uncovered a total of 2,131 criminal organizations, seized illegal asset worth of 10 billion yuan ($1.54 billion) and punished 518 key gang members, China Radio International reports.]
September 18:
At the Davos World Economic Forum Conference in Dalian, Liaoning, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao identified a five-point program for political reform in China summarized in the South China Morning Post. First, he called for the party to operate within the framework of the constitution and law, thereby separating the party from governance and preventing the “overconcentration of absolute power.” Second, Wen called for “social justice” so the fruits of economic development can be shared more widely. Third, the premier argued for an independent justice system. Fourth, he called on the Chinese government to protect people’s democratic rights, from local elections to political oversight of higher levels of government. Fifth, Wen identified the need to fight corruption by stopping official interference in business, making officials reveal their personal assets and putting limits on government spending of taxpayer money.
September 19:
For many in China sex remains a taboo subject. There are no sex education courses taught in Chinese public schools and universities and China currently lacks the teachers, textbooks, and materials to teach sex education. However, to cope with a rise in teenage pregnancies and because “sex education videos from Western countries are not suitable to be shown in China,” the Ministry of Education is developing a sex education curriculum for students aged 6 to 18, the official China Daily reports. Ten primary schools and 20 middle schools participated in the program’s first stage beginning in 2009 and 48 primary and middle schools joined the program in 2011. Teachers participating in the training program come from a variety of disciplines including biology, psychology and mathematics. The Ministry has also ordered all higher educational institutions to make “sex and love” courses compulsory at the college level.
[Editor’s Note: A 2010 survey of 164 million unmarried Chinese aged 15 to 24 by Peking University’s Population Research Institute showed that 22.4 percent of respondents had sexual intercourse, but half of them did not use contraception. Of sexually active girls, more than 20 percent had experienced unwanted pregnancies, 91 percent of which ended in abortions. Only 4.4 percent of those surveyed were found to be knowledgeable about sexual health, while 14.4 percent knew how to prevent the transmission of AIDS/HIV.]
September 20:
In an effort to counter widespread infidelity and rising divorce rates that have nearly doubled over the last seven years to 21,013, Beijing’s post office has created a new delayed love letter service. The Beijing Post is selling special envelopes and designed a postmark that will be held for seven years before being delivering. The idea is to remind the recipients of “the promises made and vows taken in the first flush of love and marital joy. Eyes tend to wander after seven years of relationship in some cases. That is the time when the love letters can save marriages from breaking,” a post office official said in comments carried by The Times of India.