At 2.19am on December 26th, a magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck the borders of Yiliang, Chengong and Guangdu counties in Yunnan province. Two hours later, two more separate quakes measuring 4.9 and 4.0 struck the city of Ruili in the Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture. At 8.00pm on the same night a magnitude 4 earthquake struck Luodian County to the south of Guizhou province

According to figures from the Yunnan Provincial Civil Affairs Department, as of 6pm local time on December 26th, 23,868 families have been affected with 94,074 disaster victims. Four people have been seriously injured while 15 suffered minor injuries. 9675 people have been moved to emergency locations.

The initial survey of damage shows that residential property, schools, departments and businesses are severely damaged.

In Ruili city, 30 buildings collapsed, and 2769 were seriously damaged. While 4506 suffered mild damages and 2440 had moderate damage.

32 primary and middle schools suffered damage of varying degrees, and public infrastructure including water, transport, power, communication and sewage systems have also been affected. Local schools have been suspended.

At 9.45am local time on December 28th, a magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck around 350km east of Rouqiang County. The quake area has very few residents, and the extent of the damage is yet to be uncovered due to a lack of adequate transport and telecommunication facilities.

Ruoqiang County is situated on the eastern region of the Tarim Basin, along the southern Taklamakan Desert. It is the largest county in China by land area.

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Mainland Chinese media have reported that in the third season of this year, housing sales of Guangdong province were 30% lower than the year before, used homes sales were 37% lower.

Real estate agent Mr. Zhang from Guangzhou said this year, many agencies filed bankruptcy. Recent trade in second-hand housing was relatively active as many people were getting married and would need homes. Still, there are forecasts that housing prices would continue dropping after the New Year. Agents now face huge pressure and are threatened with dismissal if they can’t find buyers.

Mr. Zhang went on record saying real estate agents would start from nine in the morning and until ten in the evening. Their salaries are quite low, with basic pay at 1200 Yuan; with commission it adds up to 3000 Yuan. Not enough to sustain living expenses in Guangzhou.

Next year, Mr Zhang says, will definitely be worse and the lows will remain for one or two years. Unemployment is high in Guangzhou. Because of the credit crunch, companies don’t need new people and want to save. If you’re unable to make profits, then you are considered redundant.

Real estate agent Mr. Ma from Shenzhen said the housing prices of Shenzhen have fallen and he hasn’t been able to trade for months now. New government policies including tax exemptions and lowering mortgage interests haven’t helped stimulate the economy.

Mr. Ma said a large number of buyers are waiting. Many customers are waiting for prices to keep dropping until next June. According to Mr Ma, his company does not pay a basic rate and their salaries come from commission. The sales tax of housing is very high, about five percent or 70 to 80 thousand Yuan, for an ordinary house. New houses aren’t being developed because of this.

Shenzhen agent Ms. Zhang says housing prices are now half the highest prices of last year. Many buyers have changed their minds and scrapped contracts; if the price keeps dropping they worry their businesses might be affected.

Ms. Zhang says that due to the credit crunch, no one can afford homes and this is bad for their business. Many people have scrapped their contracts, especially in last January. Some buyers who just bought a house found that prices continued to drop during the processing of the sale, and subsequently didn’t want the house any more.

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On Saturday night the developer mobilized a large excavator as well as dozens of thugs, in the absence of any notice, dismantling Yanjia Bridge connecting the North and the South that was financed and constructed by the publicly raised funds.

At that time, a resident, Mr. Zhang at the scene told reporters: “In the absence of any procedure or any formalities, the excavator was deployed to dismantle the bridge while being aided with fifty to sixty hired thugs who said that they had bribed by the government for anyone who turned up to impede to be bashed to death. The number of on-lookers gathered on the scene had reached a thousand.

When a reporter called Heduoqiao District Police Station to inquire on Monday, a police named Zhang claimed the developer had obtained the consent by the government.

Another anonymous resident who eye-witnessed the incident expressed that in the Saturday night conflict, many people had been wounded. The violence has led to widespread discontent with the local population: the impact is very bad.

Miss Din, another resident, said: “Our side of the bridge was demolished during the night, which  has made many nearby residents lives inconvenient. Some local people went to appeal to the government.” Residents at Xuefu East Road reported the incident to the government, the Letters and Complaints Office and the Mayor in joint petition, but in vain.

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The decree states that for any justified disobedient action in self-defense, China Transitional Government must pardon your innocence, and will offer you a double honor in fame and material when the Transitional Government take office in Mainland China; if you can follow the suit of uprising to raise the anti-communist flag, the honor would be issued in accordance to the contents of  the 2nd 2008 presidential decree.

Conversely, if you aid the vile Communist Party to open fire at ordinary people in protest in repeated fashion like that of Tiananmen Massacre, China Transitional Government or the interim government will hold them responsible for serious punishment when the Chinese Communist Party disintegrates.

The above news is brought to you by Yu Liang and hosted by Chris Thomas for Inside China Today on SOH Radio Network.

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Rights organisation China Aid reports that Pastor Zhang was arrested by national security officers while he was at the Wulanhaote city of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to conduct a sermon. Pastor Zhang’s current whereabouts is still unknown.

Reporters tried contacting Zhang’s wife, she said her husband has been out of contact since Sunday morning, and suspects he was taken from his car by officials.

On November 28, Pastor Zhang was abducted and taken to the Nanyang Trade Union building. He says over 20 officials claiming to be from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Henan Department of Civil Affairs, the Bureau of Public Security and the Ministry of Religious Affairs made a decision to ban China’s House Churches Federation.

Pastor Wang Dao says his church has already filed a statement of claims to the local People’s Court, and if they follow normal procedures, the court should give a reply before Thursday. He says that if the court rejects the matter, they will appeal, and if all else fails, they will make recommendations to the National People’s Congress to change the constitution.

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Yang’s mother was contacted by the neighbourhood committee and the police station two weeks ago about Yang’s ashes and was told to wait a few days. She says officials from the Beijing Politburo contacted Shanghai officials to secure the ashes.

Yang’s father says that since her return on November 24th, their home has been under 24 hour surveillance by guards on rotating shifts and she is followed when she goes out, even if it’s just to for grocery shopping.

Yang’s father says his mother was affected by the incident involving her son and was then forcibly sent to a psychiatric ward for four months. She still needs time to recover from her ordeal. He passed on a message from Yang’s mother thanking all those who’ve thought of her and wished her well.

Yang Jia, originally from Beijing was accused by Shanghai Public Security officers of stealing a bicycle while holidaying in the city. He was brutally beaten by police while in custody, even having his genitals injured in the process. After futile attempts at petitioning to officials, on July 1st this year, he broke into the Zhabei branch of the Shanghai Bureau of Public Security armed with a small knife, and killed six policemen.

After his arrest, his plight drew widespread sympathy from bloggers around China, and he was hailed a modern day hero. On November 26th, he was secretly executed by Shanghai Public Security and Shanghai Court officials who went against normal legal protocols. Afraid of a public backlash, the Communist officials did not return Yang’s ashes to his mother until now.

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Nanjing Morning News reports that Pukou district officials have applied for the district to receive an ‘overall well-off’ standard, a standard which shows the districts residents are economically ‘well-off. To verify this, Jiangsu Bureau of Statistics carried out a phone survey to Pukou residents, and in Shiqiao County, over 96% of residents surveyed gave satisfactory responses.

Villager Hu Zhangjun from Shiqiao County says village officials handed out ‘model answers’ about 20 days ago, which had 16 questions and corresponding responses. He says officials promised that if they answer the survey accordingly, they would receive 2000 Yuan encouragement bonuses.

Another village official admits the County government asked each village official to ‘vouch’ for 30 villagers, and to pay a ‘guarantee fee’ which would only be returned if their villagers ‘passed’ the survey. If they didn’t pass, the money might not be returned, and the village officials might even lose their posts.

The local school also had a day off on the 20th, with students being told by teachers to wait at home in the morning for the survey phone calls and answer them in accordance with the model answers.

The Assistant General Secretary of Shiqiao County, surnamed Zhu, says the satisfaction rate of residents surveyed is 96% and this result is acceptable. He admits that village officials have paid ‘guarantee fees’ and the ‘well-off survey’ is a major event for the district and there cannot be any mishaps.

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Ms Wang says the low level governments of the Chinese Communist Party have two separate citizenship registers. The real one is apparently hidden from the superiors. The purpose of this is twofold: it shows senior officials favourable statistics, and it allows local officials to easily control what fines are imposed. Ms Wang says no one knows China’s actual population figures.

She says fines imposed by these officials are not only paid in lump sums, they can be paid in instalments, and can include ‘gifts’ given to birth control officials. She says as time went by, officials increased the fines imposed for those breaching the birth control regulations.

Ms Wang says the fines in Hebei are on an increasing scale, $10,000 Yuan for a second child, $20,000 for the third child and so on. Usually fines are more often imposed in wealthier areas, and less in poorer regions.

Ms Wang says that forced abortions are imposed on those who cannot afford to pay the fines. Those with forced deliveries are done in hospitals, and if the babies survive, they might be sold by medical staff at the hospital. She says the tubal ligation procedures are done very roughly, and mothers are not only emotionally scarred, they also suffer physically in the long term.

Mr Yen from Sichuan says people’s lives cannot be guaranteed. Especially those dealing with old age, illness or health, or when they reach a stage where they cannot move by themselves. He says those who can afford to pay the fines will pay, but those who do not have the money, will have their homes and other possessions taken. If all else fails, Mr Yen says the authorities will detain people. This is a common practice. He says every person has complaints about the authorities.

Ms Chen from Shandong says her father was a teacher in the village, and after having taught for 18 years, he was forced to resign for exceeding the birth limit. She says a group of others were also forced to retire for the same reason.

It is reported that population control departments around China have a network of information on the population and women able to bear children. One population control official says some of the population control statistics are classified as State secrets.

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Hu says officials disguise the demolition work as urban renewal, when in fact the work is for commercial development. He says the compensation offered to them is at market rates from 2001, and with the rising real estate market in Beijing, they cannot afford a new place with a 2009 market price value.

At the time when foreign journalist arrived at the scene, court officials, city patrols and public security officers in uniform quickly withdraw from the area. Only five trucks and three earthmovers and a few workers remained. Hu Daqiu was interviewed by the Associated Press, prompting the village chief to accept an interview. Hu says the village chief believed it was legal to demolish the house without having signed an agreement with the owners.

Yang Shiyi of Beijing’s ZhenYuan Demolition and Removal Company who was in charge of the demolition of Hu’s residence, told journalists he couldn’t answer any questions about the matter because it wasn’t up to them whether the demolition goes ahead. He says they are just responsible for negotiations, and the actual process is not their concern.

According to sources, Fentai District Government has expanded its industrial development under the facade of ‘revamping the old city’. In Yuge Village over 100 homes are scheduled to be demolished. In order to drive out the residents, water and electricity supplies have been cut and residents accuse local officials of colluding with developers in these acts. Residents are refusing the compensation conditions proposed by developers, valuers and village committees say the compensation is vastly below the market rate of Beijing’s real estate market.

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Subsequently, Ya went to the Human Resources Department on the first floor and stabbed the head of Human Resources, Mr. Guo in the chest and left arm once. Mr Guo is 46 years old. Later, Ya was brought under control by other employees who rushed to the scene upon hearing of the incident. Jin died on the way to the hospital. The attacker Ya injured his hand during the attacks.

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