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CCP Said to Consult Other Parties on Top Leadership Candidates

On December 10, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee published "The Opinion on Implementing Political Consultation with Other Parties."

The Opinion stated, "The main subjects on which the CCP Central Committee will conduct political consultations with other parties will include: Key documents for the CCP National Congress and the CCP Central Committee, recommendations on amending the Constitution and other important laws, candidates for national leadership, and mid- and long term plans for the economy and social development …"

Regarding the candidates for key leadership positions, the CCP Central Committee will organize the political consultation meeting during the nomination phase.

Source: Xinhua, December 10, 2015
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2015-12/10/c_1117423452.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Former Party Secretary of Ministry of Culture Voiced His Reflections on the Cultural Revolution

Starting on December 9, Yu Youjun, a former government official who is now a professor at Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, gave a series of lectures in which he reflected on the Cultural Revolution. He started on December 9 and planned to finish the 8-session lecture by December 25. However, he shortened it to 7 sessions, which he completed by December 16, because he needed to go to Beijing once he finished.

This lecture is a rare public discussion on the Cultural Revolution in China. In the past, this has been a taboo topic and no one has dared to voice any criticism.

The Paper, a media with close ties to Wang Qishan, Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) published a lengthy report on Yu’s lecture, but it was later removed. The following is based on Phoenix Online’s republication of the article.

What made this lecture a high-profile event is Yu Youjun’s background. He was a minister-level official, holding top positions in Guangdong, Hunan Province, and Shanxi Province. He served as the Party Secretary and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Culture from 2007 to 2008. In Yu’s words, "I want to (make this) low-profile but I can’t."

Though the lecture was limited to students and professors in the university, a lot of people came and Yu had to move from a classroom to the auditorium to accommodate the audience.

Yu stated, "The evil spirit of the ‘Cultural Revolution’ is still looming, eroding the body of the people and the Party …"

Yu gave a set of statistical numbers to show the damage that the Cultural Revolution had done:

– According to incomplete statistics, 17.2 percent, or 2.3 million, of the 12 million total officials in China had been investigated.

– 16.7 percent, or 30,000, officials of the central state organs and ministries had been investigated. 75 percent of officials with the rank of deputy minister or higher or deputy provincial governor level were investigated or taken down. 80,000 people in the military were persecuted.

– The economic loss was 500 billion yuan (U.S. $79 billion), which is equal to 80 percent of the sum of China’s total infrastructure investment from 1949 to 1976. That sum exceeds the amount of the total fixed national assets for the same nearly 30 years.

– There was little or no increase in people’s living standard during the ten years of the Cultural Revolution. In 1966, each person could receive 189.5 kg of rice or wheat, 1.7 kg of oil, and 7 kg of pork for consumption. In 1976, the corresponding numbers were 190.5 kg, 1.6 kg, and 7.2 kg.

In Yu’s view, "to assess Cultural Revolution from the perspective of the results it brought to China, there is only one sentence – (We) must negate it generally and fundamentally."

Source: Phoenix Online, December 20, 2015
http://news.ifeng.com/a/20151220/46757474_0.shtml

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

People’s Forum: How to Understand “Improper Comments on Party Central’ Decisions”

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) published new Party Disciplinary Regulations on October 21, 2015. They included a new violation item: "妄议中央." This term refers to officials who make improper comments to, or criticize, Party Central’ decisions.

People’s Forum, a subsidiary under People’s Daily, published an article to explain this regulation. The article claimed that Party members are still allowed to have individual opinions which can be different from the Party’s position and they can express them through proper channels. This disciplinary item aims to prevent officials from making improper comments or criticizing the Party Central’s key decisions in a public format, such as on the Internet, radio, television, newspapers, publications, speeches, forums, or conferences.

The article then gave five examples of fallen officials who committed this violation:

1. Zhou Benshun, the former Party Secretary of Hebei Province, made statements opposing the Party Central’s position on major issues.

2. Yu Yuanhui, the former Party Secretary of Nanning City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said in a lecture to Nanning Party members, "Some Party cadres, when being investigated for disciplinary violations, confessed within a couple of days. They lack the backbone and willpower [to oppose the investigation]."

3. Zhao Shaolin, the former Chief of Staff of Jiangsu Party Committee discussed the function of the Agriculture Bureau with another official. Zhao claimed that the bureau should be eliminated because it does not offer officials real power or profits (gain from corruption).

4. Shen Peiping, the former Deputy Governor of Yunnan Province, told people who reported to him that the state’s assets had been stolen, "Even if you get the state’s assets back, you have to hand them over to the government. Why should you care?" He also instructed the officials in the legal system, "For those people reporting this case, (you) must find a way to sentence them with a crime, regardless of whether they are guilty."

5. Guo Zhenggang, a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Major General and son of Guo Boxiong (the former Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission who was taken down earlier this year), made comments about the Party Central’s anti-corruption campaign, "The Anti-corruption (campaign) is just a formality. Making a show at the surface is good enough."

Source: People’s Forum, December 14, 2015
http://politics.rmlt.com.cn/2015/1214/411506.shtml

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Wenhua China

By Weiguang Zhong

Download PDF

There used to be a “Wenhua China” (文化中國). Western scholars such as John King Fairbank have observed and described it. I would like to re-raise the issue and take a look at how China evolved from that to a modern state, a politics-centric state, and later a Party-centric state.

I hope this article can offer people a new angle to re-look at China and re-think its future.

Continue reading →

Analyses | | |   Opinion

RFA: A Thousand Workers Renounce Their Membership in the CCP

According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), the Human Right Defender’ website quoted a report about the Dyeing and Weaving Factory in Xiangtan City, Hunan Province, which is an old state-owned enterprise in Central China. Just a few days before the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was to celebrates its 94th anniversary on July 1, all of the members of the Communist Party at the factory renounced their membership in the CCP. Some of them had been Party members for decades.

There has long been a problem since the government stopped providing retirement benefits to the factory’s retirees. Employees of the factory appealed many times and even confronted the government many times. Each time they were suppressed. When the people became completely desperate, all Party members at the factory decided to renounce their membership in the Party.

Sources:
Radio Free Asia, June 29, 2015
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/5-06292015111801.html
Human Rights Defenders, June 29, 2015
http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2015/06/blog-post_375.html

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Phoenix TV Website: China’s Bull Market Is a Long Term Necessity

 Liu Shan, deputy editor-in-chief of China Business Times, reported on an interview of an anonymous "authoritative insider" on the Chinese economy. People’s Daily published the interview on its front page on May 25. Then on May 26, the Hong Kong based Phoenix Television’s website carried an analysis of the interview.

One of the things that People’s Daily indicated in the interview, according to Liu, is that "China’s bull market is a long term necessity."

People’s Daily‘s interview of the "authoritative insider," when commenting on China’s economic downturn, acknowledged the vital effect of investment on economic growth, "At this stage of China’s development, whether savings can be transferred to investment will be the key to stable economic growth. Given the high rate of household savings, the Chinese people are having trouble getting a sustainable return on assets. At the same time, the real economy and key construction projects lack sufficient funding. More financing channels need be explored to tap into the potential of private capital and to transfer more savings into investment."

It is clear from the "authoritative insider" that the public needs sustainable income from savings and the real economy need financing. The most straight-forward approach is to increase direct financing. This can only be done through the capital market; that is, by directing savings into the pre-IPO market, the equity market, and the bond market so as to generate income based on people’s cash assets. As a result, sustaining a healthy bull market should have been a strategic decision of the central government, rather than a short term expediency.

The central government would also like to achieve the dual effect of stabilizing growth while reducing leverage. Again this approach would effectively increase direct financing. Through direct financing, banks’ loan-deposit ratio could be lowered. We consider that reducing leverage on equity financing by the regulatory authorities is not meant to suppress the equity market. Instead, it is meant to prevent the bubble from growing too fast to lead to a sudden burst. If regulatory measures are appropriate, we expect this round of bull market will last at least three years.

Source: Pheonix TV Online, May 26, 2015
http://finance.ifeng.com/news/special/xiaobg74/

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

PLA Major General’s Ten Questions to U.S. Defense Secretary Carter

In response to U.S. Defense Secretary Carter’s demand that China stop building islands in the South China Sea and his announcement that U.S. warships and planes will continue to patrol that area, the Global Times published an article with ten questions that Luo Yuan, a PLA Major General, would ask Carter.

1. Since war is the continuation of politics, has the South China Sea political game come to the point where the U.S. and China must now have a hard clash with each other? Since the U.S. suffers no fundamental damage to its core interests in the South China Sea, why does the U.S. want to sacrifice her own soldiers for another country?

2. If indeed there is a fight, is the U.S. absolutely sure that it will win?

3. Even if the U.S. wins an accidental fight, is it prepared for the escalation and a long-term war, if China does not want to accept the loss?

4. The battle between China and the U.S. will mean the world order needs to be rebalanced. Is the U.S. ready for that?

5. Is it beneficial to the U.S.’ national interest to change the Sino-U.S. relationship from cooperation to confrontation?

6. The economic interests of China and the U.S. have been tightly woven together. To hurt China is to hurt the U.S. Also, China has more economic cards than the U.S.

7. If there is a conflict between China and the U.S., the Chinese people will have a strong anti-U.S. sentiment.

8. Japan expanded its islands in the East Sea and some other countries changed the islands in the South China Sea. Why didn’t the U.S. ask them to stop?

9. The Asia-Pacific region is the world’s economic growth engine. If there is turmoil, is it a good thing for the world and for the U.S.?

10. On the U.S. strategic balance, which one is heavier – China or some small countries that only care about their own interests and fight for nonsense?

"The above [questions] are not threats, but kind reminders. They are the logical consequences of Carter’s hard words. The U.S. is a practical country. We hope it will think twice before taking any action."

Source: Global Times Online, June 1, 2015
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/opinion_world/2015-06/6559888.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Chinese Review News: Are Sino-U.S. Relations In Winter?

China Review News published a commentary that stated, "Recently, conflicts have continually emerged between China and the U.S."

"First, the U.S. and the Philippines held a joint naval exercise near the islands over which both China and the Philippines claim sovereignty. Second, the U.S. has pressured China to stop its island-building in the South China Sea and sent planes and ships to go inside the 12 nautical miles of those islands (which is considered China’s water and air-space). Secretary of State Kerry’s visit to China did not cool things down. He didn’t reach an agreement with China on the island-building issue. His statement on deploying the THAAD missile defense system, when visiting South Korea after his China trip, further hurt China’s nerves."

The U.S. media have also stirred things up. They exaggerated the military threat from China and have re-cooked the Chinese spy cases. They called Li Keqiang’s visit to Latin America confronting the U.S. in its own backyard and said that Xi Jinping’s attending Russia’s Victory Day Parade was China and Russia joining forces to counter the U.S.

"Though China and the U.S. have already established a coordination mechanism at multiple levels, that didn’t help stop the disputes from escalating. The U.S.’ pressing attitude and its dogmatic rhetoric made it lose sincerity when communicating with China. Its media further stirred up issues and added more barriers to resolution, leaving both sides unwilling to take the first step to ease the tension." "This could be a lose-lose battle for both sides."

Source: China Review News, May 24, 2015
http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1037/6/4/0/103764032.html?coluid=136&kindid=4710&docid=103764032&mdate=0524000307

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations