Photos of Zhou Jiugong smoking famous-brand cigarettes and wearing a luxury watch during a meeting were posted online, and netizens used them to investigate his consumer goods and income.
On the morning of November 26, 2008, Yang Jia was executed by lethal injection in Shanghai at the age of 28. This was only five days after the Supreme People's Court issued its approval ruling, and less than a day after his mother received the ruling.
Three days before Yang Jia was executed, Wang Jingmei, who had been held for four months, was brought by police from a psychiatric hospital in Beijing to a detention center in Shanghai to visit her son. It was the first time mother and son had met since the incident, and also the last.
On November 21, 2008, the Supreme People's Court issued a criminal ruling approving the death sentence of Yang Jia. It was only after 7 p.m. on November 25 that Wang Jingmei received this ruling, with only one night left before the execution.
On November 9, 2008, Yang Jia's aunt, Wang Jingrong, went to a psychiatric hospital under the arrangement of Beijing police to see her younger sister Wang Jingmei, who was being held there. This was the first time the family had seen Wang Jingmei since she disappeared four months earlier. She had been confined at the Compulsory Treatment Management Division of the Beijing Public Security Bureau, known externally as Ankang Hospital.
On November 5, 2008, the State Council executive meeting decided to launch an investment plan of about 4 trillion yuan to cope with the international economic crisis, which was announced publicly on November 9; most of the funds were invested in infrastructure.
On October 20, 2008, the Shanghai High People's Court issued Criminal Ruling (2008) Hu Gao Xing Zhong Zi No. 131, rejecting Yang Jia's appeal, upholding the first-instance death sentence, and reporting it to the Supreme People's Court for review and approval. When the ruling was issued, Yang Jia's mother, Wang Jingmei, was still confined in a psychiatric hospital.
On the day of Yang Jia's second-instance trial, a large crowd gathered outside the Shanghai High People's Court, with some shouting "Long live Yang Jia." About a dozen protesters wearing T-shirts printed with Yang Jia's portrait and the words "If you don't give me an explanation, I'll give you one" were taken away on the spot in front of the police. This was a rare street action in China in support of a defendant.
At 9:30 a.m. on October 13, 2008, the Shanghai High People's Court opened the second-instance trial of the Yang Jia case in a closed hearing. The defense lawyer requested a new psychiatric evaluation, but the court rejected it on the spot, ruling that the grounds were insufficient. During the hearing, the prosecution and the defense debated the appearance of witnesses, the qualifications of the appraisal institution, and whether Yang Jia had been beaten at the police station.
On the day of the second trial, a man who had come to observe the proceedings was dragged, beaten and taken away by a group of police officers on the road in front of the Shanghai High People's Court, and has been missing ever since. His pregnant wife publicly asked Hu Jintao to return her husband. Petitioners estimate that between 9 a.m. and noon that day, five vans full of people were taken away, more than 100 in total.
Fu Daxin, a 69-year-old five-guarantee household recipient in Qidong County, Hunan Province, whose monthly pension was only 50 yuan, was sentenced to two years in prison for attempted robbery after wielding a fruit knife at Beijing Railway Station in order to be cared for in prison.
In the face of the global financial tsunami, in September 2008 Wen Jiabao led the State Council in announcing a large-scale 4 trillion yuan bailout plan for infrastructure investment.
On the morning of September 1, 2008, the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court announced its verdict, sentencing Yang Jie to death for intentional homicide and deprivation of political rights for life. Yang Jie and his defense lawyer did not speak throughout the announcement, nor did they indicate whether they would appeal. Online questions about the closed trial, the qualifications of the appraiser, and the identity of the defense lawyer immediately spread.
On the afternoon of August 26, 2008, the Yang Jia case was heard in first instance at the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court; the hearing was postponed to this day because of the Beijing Olympics. The court gave all the gallery seats to the Shanghai Public Security Bureau, more than 20 domestic and foreign media outlets and citizens who came to observe were turned away, and the hearing notice was only displayed on the electronic screen in front of the court. No verdict was announced that day.
During the Beijing Olympics, the authorities set up a demonstration zone. On August 18, the Beijing Public Security Bureau said it had received 77 applications involving 149 person-times in total, and not a single one was approved.
On August 17, 2008, two elderly people, Wu Dianyuan and Wang Xiuying, who had applied to petition in the Beijing Olympics protest zone because their homes were forcibly demolished, were decided to be subjected to one year of re-education through labor on the grounds of disturbing public order; on August 29, that decision was rescinded under pressure from international public opinion.
Zhang Yimou served as chief director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 29th Beijing Olympic Games, presenting the country's image and a visual spectacle to the world through massive human formations and militaristically precise choreography.
On July 19, 2008, the Shanghai Bar Association publicly stated that Yang Jia had officially hired Xie Youming and Xie Jin as his defense attorneys for the first instance trial. Xie Youming is also a legal advisor to the Zhabei District government, and the crime scene was the Zhabei District Public Security Bureau. The legal community and netizens questioned whether this violated legal regulations and constituted a conflict of interest.
On the afternoon of July 5, 2008, the Shanghai Justice Bureau received a commission from the police, and experts from the Institute of Forensic Science of the Ministry of Justice arrived at the detention center that same day to complete the psychiatric evaluation of Yang Jia, concluding that he had no mental illness and possessed full criminal responsibility. An evaluation that normally takes 30 days was completed in a single day. Lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan pointed out that the evaluation procedure was seriously unlawful, and the body that conducted the evaluation was also accused of lacking forensic evaluation qualifications. During the second trial, the lawyer again applied for a re-evaluation, which was rejected by the court.
After the Yang Jia case occurred, artist Ai Weiwei published a series of posts on his blog, pressing questions about the details of Yang Jia's case, the circumstances of his mother being committed to a psychiatric hospital, and the violations of procedure during the trial; his blog at one point became a gathering point for online public opinion. After that, he spoke out for Yang Jia multiple times.
The night after the Yang Jia case occurred, his mother Wang Jingmei was first taken to the Datun Police Station in Chaoyang District, and was then sent by Shanghai and Beijing police to the Ankang Psychiatric Hospital of the Beijing Public Security Bureau in Shunyi District and forcibly detained. Her family only learned of her whereabouts four months later, and legal professionals pointed out that there was no regulatory basis whatsoever for sending her to a psychiatric hospital.
On July 1, 2008, Yang Jia, a young man from Beijing, walked alone into the Zhabei Public Security Bureau in Shanghai, stabbing six police officers to death and wounding four officers and one security guard, and was arrested on the spot. In October of the previous year, while riding a rented bicycle in Shanghai, he was stopped and questioned by Zhabei police, taken into the police station and beaten. For the following nine months he filed complaints everywhere but could not get any redress. On November 26 of the same year, Yang Jia was executed by the Chinese Communist Party's tyrannical regime.
The video claims that in June 2008 Hu Jintao presided over a Politburo meeting to deploy Olympic security, with Beijing mobilizing 50,000 police officers and more than 1 million militia patrol members and volunteers; no public reports of this meeting or these figures can be found.
Liu Shaokun, a teacher in Deyang, Sichuan, photographed school buildings that collapsed during the earthquake and questioned the construction quality. He was taken away by police on June 25, 2008, and was later sentenced to one year of re-education through labor.
On June 18, 2008, in an episode of Kangsi Coming, female entertainer Xiang Ying showed a T-shirt printed with the Tibet independence flag, and hosts Kevin Tsai and Little S did not interrupt or correct her at any point. After the episode aired, mainland netizens condemned the show and demanded that it be banned; Kangsi Coming issued a statement saying it would reflect on the matter.
In June 2008, Wang Yi, Vice President of the China Development Bank, who had been in a relationship with Liu Fangfei and paid off her mortgage, was taken away by a special investigation team of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for 'shuanggui' (a form of detention for party members). He was later sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in 2010.
On May 12, 2008, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck Wenchuan. Statistics as of September 25 of that year showed about 69,000 people killed and 18,000 missing, with large numbers of students buried under collapsed school buildings.
On May 12, 2008, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck Wenchuan, Sichuan. Official statistics as of September 25 recorded 69,227 dead and 17,923 missing, with a large number of houses collapsed; the video links the casualties to building quality.
After the Wenchuan earthquake in May 2008, large numbers of civilian volunteers and professional rescue teams from various regions joined the disaster relief effort, which is often regarded as a symbol of the rise of civil society in China.
On March 15, 2008, the inspection squad of the Zhabei Branch went to Beijing again to speak with Yang Jia. By then, five months had passed since Yang Jia's first complaint, and the Shanghai police still maintained that there had been no problem with the officers' law-enforcement actions — no apology and no compensation.
From July 2007 to March 2008, Huawei employees died by suicide one after another: on July 18, 2007, Shenzhen employee Zhang Rui hanged himself; on August 11, an employee at the Changchun office fell from a building; on February 26, 2008, Chengdu office employee Li Dongbing jumped from a building; and on March 6, an employee at the Shenzhen headquarters jumped from a building. These deaths were linked to intense work pressure.
On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, 35 Errenzhuan actors knelt in batches at the Benshan Media base to pay respects to Zhao Benshan and his wife Ma Lijuan, performing the apprenticeship ceremony and serving tea, which sparked outside discussion about the 'enthronement' of the leader of the Benshan sect.
Since mid-2006, U.S. home prices have fallen by more than 20% on average; home equity dropped from about $13 trillion in 2006 to about $8.8 trillion in mid-2008, and the video says household net worth evaporated by about $13 trillion.
In the name of commemorating his late wife, Zhao Xicheng gave assets worth 5 million to 25 million US dollars to Zhao Xiaolan and McConnell, greatly increasing the McConnell couple's wealth.
During Wang Shi's tenure as the second president of Alxa SEE, the association experienced an incident where the secretariat unilaterally added investment funds. Ren Zhiqiang proposed impeachment, and Wang Shi publicly acknowledged his mistakes, demonstrating the association's rules' constraint on power.
After the Wenchuan earthquake, Wang Shi's suggestion that employees donate with a limit of 10 yuan sparked public criticism, Vanke's stock fell, Wang Shi was forced to apologize and make an additional donation, showing the societal pressure of supervision on public figures.
CICC held its quarterly board meeting at the Sukhothai Hotel in Bangkok, with Morgan Stanley eager to sell its stake, while the Chinese management team led by Zhu Yunlai demonstrated tough bargaining power.
Xi Yuanping married military singer Zhang Lanlan, who came from the military art troupe system. This indicates that Xi Yuanping had already been deeply involved in the network of relationships in the arts establishment and entertainment circles before 2008.
According to reports at the time, the Chinese American Association of Greater New York (and other groups) organized 150 organizations, prepared 10,000 small flags and 10,000 T-shirts, and arranged more than 90 buses to participate in the San Francisco Olympic torch relay.
In 2008, the Cristina government of Argentina nationalized private pensions, with nearly $30 billion flowing into government coffers.
North Korea opened mobile phone services in 2008, and has since gradually developed its own mobile phone user base and domestic mobile phone brands.
Citing data, the program claimed that China's cumulative infrastructure investment from 2008 to 2024 was about 120 trillion yuan, averaging roughly 9.7% of GDP per year; no public source could be found for this figure.
At the end of 2008, the national team adjusted its management measures, and players such as Li Na, Zheng Jie, Peng Shuai and Yan Zi began to arrange their own training and professional competitions, putting the "flying solo" system into practice.
Zhang Yiming joined the Chinese microblogging service Fanfou, where he was responsible for technical work including search, message distribution, trending-word mining, anti-cheating, and user ranking.