Well, I know I just said I was on vacation, but there’s always time for one more post.

It seems China is making great strides in reducing the number of anti-government demonstrations, now down to a mere trickle at 39,000 in the first half of 2006.

The Chinese government, which has battled a surge of social unrest in recent years, reported Wednesday that there were 39,000 cases of “public order disruptions” in the first half of the year.

The Ministry of Public Security said that represented a 2.5% decrease in the number of protests from the same period in 2005, though it offered no explanation of how it had come up with the figures.

China is in the midst of dramatic social and economic transformations that have created a two-tier society separated by a widening gap in incomes. Social discontent has been on the rise in recent years, fueled by income disparities, land disputes, pollution problems and an inadequate legal system that is widely seen as failing to address people’s needs.

Beijing is normally reluctant to disclose negative information, especially about public disturbances that could tarnish China’s international reputation and undermine one-party control. But in recent years, the central government has grown increasingly concerned about the effect of unrest on economic development and social stability.

President Hu Jintao has made the promotion of a “harmonious society” the cornerstone of his administration, hoping to strike a tone of balance in a country grappling with lopsided growth and a rising sense of inequality.

I love the smell of propagandaprogress in the morning. Harmony is on the march, and protests against the magnanimous CCP are in their last throes.

Via CDT.