Skip to content

All posts by LKY - 157. page

The Party’s Loyalty Campaign for the Young Generation

The Communist Youth League (CYL) is the youth movement that the Chinese Communist Party runs for young people between the ages of 14 and 28. The ongoing nationwide campaign to glorify the Party’s rule also includes education programs for the younger generation so as to reinforce their allegiance. 

  
The headquarters of CYL recently issued a directive to carry out activities between May 4 and July 1 – forums, conferences, visits, ceremonials, cultural performances – at all levels to “study the Party’s history, understand the Party’s situation, and follow in the Party’s footsteps.” The Party established May 4th as Youth Day as it is the date that the anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement grew out of the 1919 student demonstrations in Beijing. July 1, 2011 marks the 90th anniversary of the CCP.

Source: People’s Daily, May 5, 2011
http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/64093/64387/14553758.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Recruits Communist Party Members from Haigui

"Haigui," or sea turtle, is a Chinese language slang term for Chinese people who have returned to mainland China after having studied abroad for several years. 

Shanghai Jiao Tong University, a top public research facility in Shanghai, has stepped up efforts to recruit haigui. Currently the Ph.D. haigui faculty members account for 12.8 percent of the teaching positions. At the same time, the Chinese Communist Party committee of the university has made recruiting Party members from haigui a “strategic priority.” The committee regularly sends Party members to talk with haigui faculty members so as to “understand their thoughts”; have CCP faculty members “partner with” the haigui so as to exert daily influence; and carry out training session for the haigui to “help them understand the country, the Party, the city, and the university.” In the last two years, 6 haigui professors have joined the Party.

Source: People’s Daily, May 5, 2011
http://dangjian.people.com.cn/GB/14560314.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Red Flag Manuscript: Internet Freedom Has Become Clinton’s New Doctrine for U.S. Foreign Policy

Red Flag Manuscript, a publication of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, published a commentary by Zhou Hong, the director of the European division of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Based on U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s February 15, 2011, speech on Internet Freedom given at George Washington University, Zhou concludes that the U.S. is shifting its foreign affairs strategy by launching “a war without borders in cyberspace.” As a result, China faces new challenges in its foreign affairs. 

The article states “Hillary was using war declaring language when she announced the State Department’s decision. She calls for having the countries that suppress Internet freedom pay economically and face the same threats of political unrest that Egypt and Tunisia faced.” “Hillary openly named China, Cuba, Iran, Burma, Syria, and Vietnam as countries that ‘censor content, do not allow their citizens to access the global Internet, and arrest bloggers who criticize the government.” “Hillary believes this is a major change in U.S. foreign policy. She said this is a critical choice made by the U.S. government in a critical moment.” 
“Hillary’s above statement, along with her Internet freedom speech in 2009, indeed tells of a new U.S. foreign policy strategy: As the status of U.S. hard power is significantly declining, it is increasingly using soft power in a skillful way to serve its foreign affairs.” 
The article points out that China also faces new social challenges in foreign relations as a result of the Internet war the U.S. has launched. “There is no doubt that our foreign affairs will also face a transition from traditional foreign dealings to social foreign affairs, which include a variety of channels, with the Internet as the key component.” “How we can use the Internet and other social channels to tell a convincing ‘Chinese Story’ to our people and to the international community has become a pressing task."

Source: Red Flag Manuscript, April 27, 2011
http://www.qstheory.cn/hqwg/2011/201108/201104/t20110427_78514.htm

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

China, Russia and North Korea Launch a Visa-free Travel Program

A China-Russia-North Korea visa free tourist program was formally put in place on April 26. A pilot tour group of 21 people started a trip from Changchun, the capital of China’s Jilin Province, traveled through Huichun City in Jilin, Russia’s Slavyanka, Vladivostok and Khasan, and North Korea’s Hancha and Nasŏn, and finally returned to Huichun. With the visa application waived, one can tour these three bordering North East Asian countries within four days.

Source: Xinhua, April 26, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2011-04/26/c_121350825.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

Increasing Wages Triggers Heated Debates

Guangzhou based Yangchen Evening News published an article on the recent heated debates about increasing wages. Over the past year, the authorities in the central government have expressed an urgent need to increase the minimum wage. For example, in April 2010, at the executive meeting of the state council, Premier Wen Jiabao named the reform of income distribution and the social security system as the top agenda items. In May 2010, the National Development and Reform Commission released its study on income distribution in several provinces. The State Council circulated NDRC’s “Opinion on Key Tasks to Strengthen Economic Reform in 2011,” and vowed to make reforming income distribution its top priority. 

A study shows that the minimum wage in many countries is between 40-60 percent of the national average income, while the figure is only 17 percent in Beijing and 23 percent in Guangzhou. Over the year, cities or provinces including Shanghai, Shanxi, Chongqing, and Zhejiang have developed plans to increase the minimum wage. Some even proposed to double wages within the next five years. 
However these calls have been met with serious doubts. Some scholars question the government’s capacity to redistribute income to individuals. Some online commentators believe that it’s not difficult to double government employees’ salaries, but that for private enterprises, whose labor costs fluctuate with the market situation, the government directive will not work. Some Chinese netizens have expressed doubts as to whether wage increases will ever catch up with inflation.

Source: Yangchen Evening News reprinted in Chinese Economy online, April 27, 2011 

http://www.ce.cn/xwzx/gnsz/gdxw/201104/27/t20110427_22389034.shtml
Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources

Li Changchun Calls for African-Chinese Media Cooperation

During a visit to Kenya, Li Changchun, the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda chief, gave a speech at Nairobi University encouraging further cooperation between the media in China and Africa. Li proposed to actively implement the “Forum on China–Africa Cooperation–Sharm El Sheikh Action Plan.” He also suggested strengthening direct interactions between Chinese and African media and promoting cooperation in training, technical support, programming, and resource sharing, as well as technology development.

Source: Xinhua, April 22, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2011-04/22/c_121337861.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

County Level Human Resource Social Security Bureau Chiefs to Take Training Courses

A ten-day training has been planned for the county level Human Resources and Social Security Bureau chiefs, the largest of its kind since its inception. The first session started on April 18 in Beijing. Accordingly to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, it is expected to take three years for all 3,000 grassroots bureau chiefs to complete the training course. The purpose of the training is to improve the leadership quality of officials at the local level, as well as enhance their capability to handle social crises and to combat corruption.

Source: Xinhua, April 18, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/society/2011-04/18/c_121318606.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

37 Karaoke Songs Blacklisted Due to Forbidden Contents

Recently, an entertainment karaoke TV venue in Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, banned a list of 37 karaoke songs, mostly from Taiwan and Hong Kong. The ban triggered a widespread outcry from Chinese netizens. 

In response to inquires in the aftermath of the event, the Ministry of Culture issued a notice in support of the ban, citing the “Regulation on the Administration of Entertainment Venues” issued by the State Council. Articles 13 and 18 of the Regulation prohibit “activities in entertainment venues that contain content banned by the Regulations.” “Song lyrics, TV pictures, and electronic games should not contain content banned by article 13 of the Regulation.” “The music selection system used in entertainment venues should not connect to an overseas music database.”

Source: People’s Daily, April 22, 2011
http://culture.people.com.cn/GB/87423/14462009.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability