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Another Human Rights Lawyer Illegally Sentenced to Prison

According to a December 28, 2009, NTDTV news report, On October 27, 2009, the Shahekou District Court, Dalian City sentenced a human rights lawyer, Wang Yonghang, to seven years in prison, because of allegations that he published articles on foreign websites. His lawyers have not been allowed to meet with him.

In 2008, Wang published an open letter to the Chinese Communist Party President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on an overseas website, saying that it is illegal to persecute Falun Gong. In July 2009, officers from the Dalian Domestic Security Division kidnapped and tortured him, leaving him with a fractured ankle. Authorities have also harassed his wife, Yu Xiaoyan, and the two lawyers who are trying to represent him.

Source: NTDTV, November 28, 2009
http://www.ntdtv.com/xtr/gb/2009/11/28/a380498.html 

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Xinhua: USCC Interferes in China’s Internal Affairs

Qin Gang, Foreign Ministry spokesman of P.R. China, said on November 23, 2009, that China would like to advise the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) not to interfere in China’s internal affairs and damage Sino-US relations again. Qin made the speech when answering a reporter’s question on the Commission’s 2009 annual report, [1] according to Xinhua on November 23, 2009.

Qin Gang said, “This report ignores the facts, contains a lot of prejudice, and displays ulterior motives. We advise this so-called Commission not always to view China with tinted glasses, and not to interfere in China’s internal affairs and undermine China-US relations.”

Source: Xinhua, November 23, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2009-11/23/content_12525881.htm

[1] The 2009 Annual Report to Congress of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission http://www.uscc.gov/annual_report/2009/09_annual_report.php

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Xinhua: Naked Officials” Forbidden to Hold Chief Positions within the Party and Government

In order to monitor “top leaders,” on November 25, 2009, the Shenzhen City CCP Committee and Municipal Government promulgated “The Provisional Regulations on Supervision of the CCP and Government Chiefs,” which forbids “Naked Officials,” those whose spouses and children have moved out of China, from holding chief positions within the Party and the government or acting as members of important departments’ leadership teams.

[Ed: The problem of “naked officials” is known to have existed in China for many years. “Naked officials” abuse their power to get money illegally and then transfer it to their family members overseas. If they are investigated, they can easily manage to escape from China, since they are just by themselves.]

Source: Xinhua, November 25, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-11/25/content_12539184.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Xinhua: Guangdong Will Employ Journalists as Information Collectors for Any Unexpected Crises

Xinhua reported on November 25, 2009, that Guangdong Province submitted the “Guangdong Province Implementation Plan (Draft) on ‘The P.R. China’s Strategies in Response to Unexpected Crises’” on November 24, 2009, proposing that any governments at the county level or above should employ news journalists as grass-roots information collectors for unexpected crises. The Draft also proposes that all the cities in the Pearl River Delta area must report any unexpected crises to their relevant municipal governments within one hour.

Source: Xinhua, November 25, 2009
http://forum.home.news.cn/detailsearch.jsp?id=71931521&ui=l88x66

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

Li Changchun: Vigorously Propagandize Our Success in Coping with the International Financial Crisis

According to Xinhua on November 22, 2009, Li Changchun, who is a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee Political Bureau, made a speech during his visit to Guangzhou, Dong-wan, Shenzhen, etc. where he was accompanied by Wang Yang, the Party secretary of Guangdong Province from November 18 – 22, 2009.

Li Changchun stressed that the propaganda and ideological battlefront staff must conscientiously implement the Party Central Committee’s decisions, and propagandize our country’s successful practices in coping with the International financial crisis and in maintaining stable & rapid economic development, so as to mobilize and inspire a majority of the cadres and the masses to make an effort to achieve this year’s economic and social development goal.

Source: Xinhua, November 22, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-11/22/content_12521126.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Xinhua: China and Iran Increasing Investment and Trade Cooperation

On November 20, 2009, Xinhua reported that China is Iran’s largest trading partner.  In 2008, the direct bilateral trade amounted to 27.6 billion U.S. dollars. The trade volume from January to September this year has already reached 15.4 billion U.S. dollars including 5.5 billion U.S. dollars in exports and 10.0 billion U.S. dollars in imports. 

In November 2008, China and Iran signed an “Understanding Memorandum on Sino-Iranian Investment.” From January to September this year, Iran has invested $67.0 million in China; China has invested $159 million in Iran. Iran is China’s third largest crude oil importer. In 2008, china imported 21.3 million tons of crude oil from Iran, accounting for 12% of China’s imported crude oil.

Source: Xinhua, November 20, 2009.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2009-11/20/content_12512183.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

China Youth Daily: Employment Termination Announced at a Professor’s Sick Bedside

China Youth Daily published a news report on November 18, 2009, on Zhang Zaiyuan, a former Wuhan University professor and an internationally renowned architect. Prof. Zhang has been suffering from a rare motor neuron disease since October 2007. On April 30, 2009, Wuhan University sent four people to his bedside to read a "Termination Certificate of the Employment Contract." He lost his position as the Dean and as professor of the Urban Design College at Wuhan University as well as his medical insurance and assigned apartment. His wife, a housewife, recently found that Wuhan University had withdrawn all the salary that he had saved from his account, a total of over 500,000 yuan. She was told that the university used it to pay his medical expenses.

Source: China Youth Daily, November 18, 2009
http://law.cyol.com/content/2009-11/18/content_2942016.htm

Briefings | | |   Grapevine

Intensive Training of Police Station Chiefs in Heilongjiang Province

According to China News Service, 340 police station chiefs from 13 cities and districts in Heilongjiang Province gathered on November 10, 2009, at the Heilongjiang Province Public Security Police Vocational College to attend a police station chief training class. The training content included the development of public security information technology, the implementation of standardized law enforcement, and the building of a harmonious relationship between the police and the people, as well as improvement of police quality and ability.

The Heilongjiang Provincial Public Security Department will train more than 1600 police station chiefs across the province by holding four closed-door trainings, each of which will take about 10 days. It will also rotationally train county-level public security bureau heads. The number receiving training will exceed 2400 people, accounting for 4% of the police force in the province.

Source: China News Service, November 11, 2009　
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/news/2009/11-11/1958575.shtml

Briefings | | |   Social Stability