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Briefings - 1079. page

Former Deputy Editor of Party Paper: Top Leaders Must Cut Ties with Special Interest Groups

Though the communist party has strong control over the ideology ground and media, occasionally there are still voices from the mid- or lower-level party officials against the party’s corruption and authoritarianism. Zhou Jinrui, former deputy editor of People’s Daily recently published an article on China Elections and Governance titled “Be Courageous in Solving the Issues Resulting from Growth – on the 60th National Day Celebration.” The article summarized the lessons learned from China’s Reform and Opening up policy. It alerts that the top level party leaders must cut their close ties with those “special interest groups” in order to promote democracy, prevent power loss at the local levels, and maintain long term stability.

Source:
China Elections and Governance, October 12, 2009
http://www.chinaelections.org/newsinfo.asp?Newsid=158450
Zaobao, October 15, 2009
http://www.zaobao.com/special/china/cnpol/pages2/cnpol091015.shtml

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Boxun: The Mystery of Hu Jintao Awarding a Female Professor Who Invented A Secret Weapon

Boxun reported that Hu Jintao recently gave the first merit award to Professor Zhou Bihua of the PLA University of Science and Technology. Professor Zhou’s greatest contribution was her invention of the powerful electromagnetic pulse [Editor’s note: also abbreviated as EMP], a killer in the information age. Millions of watts or even tens of millions of watts of electromagnetic pulses can be launched within one minute, destroying a few kilometers of all military and civilian electronic information, communication network systems and even power grids. It can also make the enemy’s internal chips self-destruct.

It is of course a great threat to the U.S. military, which is heavily dependent on communication networks for commanding a battle remotely. Once mainland China sends troops to take over Taiwan, the U.S. military will have second thoughts before taking any action.

Source: Boxun, October 11, 2009
http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2009/10/200910110959.shtml 

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Xinhua: The Management Methods on the Journalist Licenses Come into Force on October 15

According to Xinhua, Liu Binjie, the director of the Press and Publication Administration recently signed administrative orders, No. 44, No. 45 and No. 46, announcing “The Management Methods on Journalist’ Licenses” (hereafter referred to as "the new ‘Methods’"); “Supplementary Provisions II regarding ‘The Management Methods on Foreign-Invested Distribution Companies of Books, Newspapers, & Magazines’”; and “Supplementary Provisions regarding ‘The Management Methods on the ‘Sino-Foreign Joint Distribution Companies of Audio-Video Products.’” The two supplementary regulations go into effect on October 1, 2009. The new “Methods” will become effective on October 15, 2009.

The new “Methods” have strengthened surveillance and regulation of journalists’ licenses. The Press and Publication Administration can suspend any journalist’s license if the journalist is under investigation by a relevant authority. 

Source: Xinhua, October 12, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newmedia/2009-10/12/content_12214718.htm 

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology

Study Times: The Plight of China’s Present Petition System

For a long time, China’s political system has had the problems of excessive power concentration, power imbalances, and lack of a power constraint according to an article published on the website of Study Times on October 12, 2009. Just as some scholars put it, “In the decades-long period of time after the founding of new China, the actual operation of China’s politics is the administrative system under the leadership of the Party.”

The communications between the Chinese people and their representatives are loose or superficial, resulting in the great amount of political information being forced into the channel of the petition.

At present the petition system is based on the “Petition Regulations,” a law promulgated by the State Council. The petition office has a low legal hierarchy, little power to control, and poor operation capacity, which means that the petition agencies only operate intermittently.

Source: Study Times, October 12, 2009
http://www.studytimes.com.cn/WebPage/ny1.aspx?act=1&id=2981&nid=10812&bid=12&page=1

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Study Times: Three Major Changes in China’s Socialism Practice

The Party went through three transformations in its understanding of socialism, says Study Times. The first change was from building a new democratic state and society to a socialist model following the Soviet Union (1949-1956). The second shift took place in 1957 with the goal of surpassing the Soviet Union (1957-1978). The third occurred in 1979 with socialism with Chinese characteristics (1979-2009). The article states, “during the ten year catastrophe of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, the State and nation suffered from an unprecedented disaster with in its extent and damages far exceeding the purge in the Soviet Union in the 1930s.”

Source: Study Times, October 5, 2009
http://www.studytimes.com.cn/WebPage/ny1.aspx?act=1&id=2955&nid=10775&bid=3&page=1

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Politburo Member Urges Unity under the Party’s Leadership

The Symposium in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Council (CPPCC) concluded in Beijing on October 14, 2009. Wang Gang, Politburo member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Vice-Chairman of the CPPCC spoke at the closing ceremony. Wang stressed the need to effectively bring thinking and action in line with the major plan that the CPC set for the CPPCC. He called for closely following the agenda and the interests of the CPC and State under the themes of unity and democracy.

Source: Xinhua, October 14, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-10/14/content_12231999.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Lessons Learned from Past Military Tasks

China should establish a new national security concept in light of development and changes in the national security situation, says a Study Times article discussing lessons learned from military operations in the past 60 years. Specifically, the new concept should reflect the security concern of being a major power in the world, and to effectively defend the national interest beyond the traditional military scope, including non-military operations, crisis defusion and response, containment of war, and playing an active role in the world.

Source: Study Times, October 12, 2009
http://www.studytimes.com.cn/WebPage/ny1.aspx?act=0&id=2976&bid=7

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

China’s Large Government Workforce Paid through Fiscal Appropriations

The Qiushi Journal, publication of the Communist Party of the China Central Committee organs, reported that China has a large government workforce that is paid through fiscal appropriations. It is estimated that over 40 million people are either direct government staff or members of party organizations. The aforementioned number increases by 20% annually.

Let’s take a look at Xupu County, Hunan Province. In 2007, its local tax and income was 170 million Yuan, while salary-related spending was 280 million Yuan.

Source: Qiushi Journal, September 24, 2009
http://www.qsjournal.com.cn/wz/200909/t20090924_12215.htm

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources