Address the social conflicts dutifully
China is under the dual pressure of the global financial crisis and changes to its domestic economic environment. Maintaining social stability is a difficult task. If local governments don't handle mass incidents well, it may result in social disharmony. Social conflicts have increased of late, and the rising trend of mass incidents across China reflects that.
Just last Friday, dozens of people were injured and 10 vehicles damaged in a clash between urban management officials and hundreds of residents of Kunming, capital of Yunnan province.
Official figures show the number of mass incidents in 1995 was just more than 10,000. But it increased to more than 60,000 in 2005. The most prominent examples of recent years are the Weng'an and Longnan incidents. In July 2008, the family of a teenaged student in Weng'an county of Guizhou province disputed the official cause of her death. Not satisfied with the local public security bureau's explanations, her family members and thousands of other people went on the rampage and brought Weng'an to a standstill for a couple of days.