At 10:25 am on January 7 Chinese Central TV's "CCTV International Network" program carried a story entitled "Survey shows that corruption is the principal factor affecting social stability." It did not appear to be anything out of the ordinary. On second thought however, it is a quite severe contrast to Jiang Zemin's recent assertions.
In his relentless suppression of Falun Gong, Jiang Zemin has not only declared Falun Gong a "[slanderous phrase]" but also insisted that Falun Gong has disrupted social stability. He repeatedly told the entire party that "The fight against Falun Gong is directly tied to the survival of the party and the nation." Thus he has used the resources of the entire country to discredit and persecute Falun Gong.
Today, 18 months into the persecution, CCTV's news report stated that: The Chinese Communist Party Committee on Discipline in Zhejiang Province, conducted a province wide public opinion poll on the improvement of Party conduct, and the "rebuilding of an honest and upright government". The survey indicated that 'Corruption' was listed as the predominant factor affecting social stability. Other factors destabilizing social order were listed in descending order of importance: 'Massive Layoffs,' 'Public Safety,' 'Inequitable Distribution of Income,' 'Prostitution, Gambling, Drug addiction,' 'Feudal Superstitions,' and finally, 'Cult Activities.'
"Cult Activities," which was considered by Jiang Zemin as the most damaging factor to social stability, was now listed after "Feudal Superstitions," as the least important on the list. This is practically slapping Jiang Zemin in the face. Jiang Zemin has never been concerned about issues that bothered the populace. In fact he has never treated social stability as a real issue.
Jiang Zemin has stated on record that: "Falun Gong emphasizes 'Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance,' that would work to our advantage when arresting them." Facts proved that notwithstanding the hideous brutality, with more than 100 practitioners beaten to death and tens of thousands send to labor re-education camps; there was no uprising, no disruption of social order, and not even a single incidence of retaliation or retort from Falun Gong practitioners. There were only tens of thousands of practitioners risking their lives peacefully appealing on a daily basis. Jiang Zemin's allegation that 'Falun Gong disrupts social order' was but a transparent excuse. The real reason was his deep-seated fear of 'Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance."
Corruption, on the other hand, is quite a different matter. In the " Investigation of Yuan Hua" (a well-known case involving many high ranking officials), it was obvious to everybody that the one who dreaded anti-corruption most was Jiang Zemin himself. Even so, that did not prevent him from declaring vociferously: "Investigations must be thorough and sweeping." But when the heat of investigation got closer to nailing him, he blatantly covered himself by ordering that "Investigations must not involve officials at the departmental level or above."
There was an adage: "Anti-corruption will lead to the demise of the party, ignoring corruption will lead to the demise of the nation." It would appear that Jiang Zemin was following this principle [perversely]. He paid lip service to anti-corruption sentiments to appear as if he was not ignoring it. But he would not allow it to be implemented in any meaningful fashion lest it should lead to the demise of the party, with inevitable loss of his power. Even his life could have been in jeopardy. Hence, Jiang Zemin would never seriously implement anti-corruption measures.
Attachment:
A transcript from a Chinese news broadcast from Jan. 7th, 10:25 AM.
Survey indicating 'Corruption' as the Predominant Factor affecting Social Stability
The Chinese Communist Party Committee on Discipline in Zhejiang Province, conducted a province wide poll on improvement of Party conduct and rebuilding an honest and upright government. The survey indicated that corruption was listed as the predominant factor affecting social stability.
Other factors destabilizing social order were listed in descending order of influence: 'Massive Layoffs,' 'Public Safety,' 'Inequitable Distribution of Income,' 'Prostitution, Gambling, Drug addiction,' 'Feudal Superstitions,' and finally, 'Cult Activities.'
The survey indicated that 74.16% of the people polled believed that "corruption" within a certain level had been held in check to some extent. It was 7.80% better than last year's result. However, in people's mind corruption was still quite serious. 10.28% believed it was 'very serious', 22.48% believed it was 'serious', and 41.92% believed it was 'fairly serious'. These 3 sections alone made up a sizeable 74.68% among those polled.
On the "improvement of party conduct and the rebuilding of an honest and upright government", the percentage of people feeling 'satisfied' and 'fairly satisfied' went up 10.93% from last year. Ratios indicating 'no difference', 'not very satisfied' and 'not satisfied' declined. The sum of the last two items was lowered by 8.94% from last year suggesting that people's satisfaction with anti-corruption activities had increased. It reflected their approval of investigative effort on corruption cases. In the survey, the percentage of people indicating 'very serious effort' and 'fairly serious effort' at various investigations on local officials in their respective areas was a combined 44.68%, an increase of 7.36% from last year, and 9.76% from the year before, a steady improvement over the years.
This survey involved 11 cities and 25 counties (including towns and districts). A total of 2500 survey packets were sent out and 100% of them were filled in and returned. The survey targeted a broad range of people of different backgrounds established by statistical sampling; included were members of Communist Party, members of Communist Youth League, members of other democratic parties, farmers, government white collar workers, intellectuals, students, businessmen, job seekers, retirees, as well as other categories.
Source: CCTV International Network
January 10, 2001
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Category: Perspectives
