China Reform Monitor: No. 1208

January 28:

At an executive meeting of the State Council presided over by Premier Li Keqiang China announced plans to improve care for the roughly 60 million children left-behind in rural areas by migrant worker parents, reports the China Daily. "To keep them from falling prey to criminal activity" a system will be set up to report on children, offering assistance and intervention when necessary. The meeting also discussed measures to encourage migrant workers to permanently move to cities or work near their rural homes. A statement issued after the meeting said that "caring for and protecting millions of children left behind in rural areas, and allowing them to grow safely and in good health is the mutual responsibility of families, government and the society as a whole."

[Editor’s Note: Several tragedies have called attention to the plight of left-behind children. Last year in Bijie, Guizhou, four children 5 to 13 of absent migrant workers committed suicide at home. Also in Bijie, a 15-year-old girl and her 13-year-old brother were killed at home, after the girl had been sexually assaulted. Their parents were migrant workers away from home. In 2014 in Guangxi, 10 villagers were imprisoned for repeatedly raping a left-behind 13-year-old girl.]

February 2:

In December, China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection found "severely excessive pollution emissions" during inspections of 648 companies in 59 cities, and vowed tougher enforcement under a newly-enacted air pollution control law that took effect on Jan. 1, reports the China Daily. Among the 648 inspected companies, the ministry found 31 polluters that directly discharged pollutants into the air or did not use required facilities to reduce pollution. The inspections covered provinces including Shanxi, Sichuan, Guangdong and Shaanxi. One thermal power plant in Zhongshan, Guangdong, continued to pollute, despite being ordered 11 times since June 29 to stop. "We will highlight the responsibilities of local governments in protecting air quality during the law's implementation. The punishment of polluters will also get tougher," said Wang Jian, deputy head of the ministry's Pollution Control Bureau.

February 4:

In recent months several Chinese dissidents have disappeared from Thailand and Hong Kong and reappeared in police custody in China. Gui Minhai, a Hong Kong publisher of dissident books who holds a Swedish passport, disappeared from Thailand on October 17. Gui made a contrite appearance on Chinese state television on January 17 and said he returned to China voluntarily. Three of Gui’s colleagues went missing while visiting China in October. Another, Lee Bo, was last seen at his Hong Kong warehouse on December 30. Lee called his wife from Shenzhen saying he is assisting in a police investigation, and has written two letters saying he does not want assistance. Lee is British, but neither he nor Gui have been allowed to meet with consular officials. "We urge China to clarify the current status of all five individuals and the circumstances surrounding their disappearances and to allow them to return home," said a U.S. State Department spokesperson. A Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman responded that other countries have no right to comment because Hong Kong is part of China. In November Thailand repatriated two Chinese asylum seekers, Dong Guangping and Jiang Yefei, though the UN had agreed to resettle them in a third country. In July, Bangkok forcibly returned 109 Uighur refugees to China, the Wall Street Journal reports.


February 5:

The CPC has issued new guidelines banning members from following any religion, even after they retire, the official Radio Free Asia reports. "We have seen a number of new issues and problems emerging to do with the outlook, actions and the management of services linked to retired officials. We need to respond to and manage those problems," the official People's Daily said. President Xi Jinping has launched an ideological campaign targeting any activity seen as "importing" values and cultural practices from overseas. Xi has cited religion in particular as a means by which "hostile foreign forces" seek to exert a subversive influence in China.

February 9:

Over 90 people were injured and 61 arrested following clashes in Hong Kong's Mong Kok district, BBC reports. Violence erupted as police cleared illegal food stalls set up on a busy junction for Lunar New Year celebrations. Angry protesters threw bricks and bottles at police, who responded with batons and pepper spray and fired warning shots. Police said dozens of officers and four journalists were among those hurt. Nine women and 52 men have been arrested, all aged between 15 and 70 for offences including unlawful assembly, assaulting police and possession of offensive weapons. Pictures from the scene showed protesters setting fire to bins and throwing bottles and rubbish at police.