A senior official with the Ministry of Public Security on Friday
urged citizens to be more vigilant in protecting themselves against
criminals in the weeks leading to the Spring Festival.
"Experience shows there are increases in robberies during the
period. People, especially migrant workers rushing home for the
festival with yearly earnings in pocket, should really watch out,"
said Meng Hongwei, assistant to the minister of public
security.
"The ministry is warning all criminals, or those contemplating a
crime, that what awaits them is severe punishment."
Statistics from the ministry indicate public security
authorities from across the country investigated 320,000 theft
cases last November. That's an increase of 9.9 per cent over the
same month in 2002.
According to Meng, the ministry has already stepped up its
efforts to investigate and crack down on crimes to improve public
security.
For example, Chinese public security authorities solved as many
as 209,000 theft cases in November, an increase of 41.8 per cent
more over October figures.
Local public security officials have also cracked down on
serious crimes at a "satisfactory" speed, said Meng. One such case
was the robbery of an American Chinese at a hotel in Suzhou, in
East China's Jiangsu Province, on December 3. It took local police
a little more than one hour to catch the three suspects.
Meng believes the situation of public security has "fairly"
improved across the country due to a "more capable" police
force.
The number of more serious crimes filed by public security
authorities, such as arson, rape, homicide and robbery, has
declined. For instance, rape cases were down 9.8 per cent and
homicides declined by 7.7 per cent, according to Meng.
Meanwhile, he said, 617,000 road accidents occurred killing
95,000 people from January to November last year and caused a
direct economic loss of 3.1 billion yuan (US$374.4 million). These
figures are also lower than they were in 2002.
Road accidents were down 13.9 per cent.
The ministry's efforts to improve public security will carry on,
said Meng. He also said crime figures would be made more
transparent.
"From this year on, the ministry and provincial public security
authorities will inform the public on major crime cases at least
once a month," he said.
"As for public security authorities in municipalities directly
under the central government, provincial capitals and other Chinese
regions at a comparable level, they should do it at least twice a
month."
Meng believes the new mechanism will push local police
authorities to strive for greater efficiency.
(China Daily January 3, 2004)