Shifts in the Party

The Chinese Communist Party (CPC) Central Committee has replaced Meng Jianzhu with Su Rong as secretary of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the CPC. Wang Jinshan has been appointed secretary of the Provincial Committee of the CPC of Anhui Province. Bo Xilai has been appointed secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the CPC. Liu Qibao has been appointed as Party secretary of southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

Volunteers’ Interests Guaranteed

Beijing issued its first regulation on voluntary service and volunteers’ rights on December 5.

The regulation, approved by the 12th Beijing Municipal People’s Congress Standing Committee, specifies the rights as well as obligations of volunteers, including access to education and training.

It states that if either a volunteer or the organization they are volunteering for requests an agreement, it should take the form of a written contract. A formal contract is required if volunteers are involved in more than three-month full-time service or in work with a high level of risk.

In addition, the regulation creates for the first time a cost-sharing mechanism, stating that a foundation for voluntary service will be established to subsidize volunteers and provide incentives for outstanding voluntary work.

Public Opinion Solicited

The Government of Xiamen began inviting citizens to submit their opinions on the future of a controversial chemical plant project that was suspended earlier this year following persistent public protests over the threat of pollution.

Members of the public have been told they can register their suggestions over the next 10 days via email, post or telephone with the municipal government or the Beijing-based Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences that is in charge of an assessment of the environmental impacts of the project.

The Xiamen authorities put construction of the potentially dangerous chemical project, known as the PX (paraxylene) plant, in the city’s Haicang District, 16 km from the city center, on hold on May 30, after coming under immense pressure from citizens virulently opposed to the project.

On June 7, the Xiamen Municipal Government announced that construction of the chemical project would rest on an environmental assessment.

Controversial Taxi Cameras

Lovers should beware in Chongqing Municipality as an increasing number of taxis across the region are installing cameras.

The southwestern municipality, which experimented with the first camera in a taxi in January this year, has more than 700 taxis with a new global positioning system device that can take pictures and monitor speech.

The system will help taxi companies to check whether drivers are rude, or overcharge as well as help police bust criminal cases, as many criminals take taxis to flee the scene, according to local public security authorities.

Despite some taxi customers’ concerns about violation of privacy, the municipality plans to expand the installation of cameras to over 1,000 taxis by the end of this year. Taxi companies in Chengdu of Sichuan Province, and Zhongshan in southern Guangdong Province also plan to install cameras in taxis.

More Wildlife Crimes

China recorded 10,818 criminal cases involving wildlife in the first 10 months in 2007, up 11.5 percent year on year, according to China’s forestry watchdog.

Statistics from the State Forestry Administration and China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA) also show that a total of 172,471 wildlife cases, in which about 1.5 million wild animals were confiscated, were recorded in the first 10 months of 2007, up 2.7 percent compared with the same period last year.

A survey released by CWCA in 2006 shows that the number of grocery stores selling wildlife products and wholesale markets selling wildlife rose by about 20 percent compared with that in 1999.

China’s criminal law stipulates that it is an offense to cause injury to rare species of animals and punishable with a jail term of one to 10 years and a fine.