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Briefings - 1097. page

Party Directives to Suppress Petitions at Local Levels

The Central Political and Legal Committee issued directives requesting that local officials handle petitions on law and litigation-related issues locally without elevating them to Beijing.

Zhou Bensun, secretary of the Central Political and Legal Committee, recently spoke at the "National Conference and Training for Petitions about Law and Litigation-related Issues." He stressed the need to build a strong and reliable foundation locally so that cases can be solved without going to Beijing and "create a harmonious and stable social environment to welcome the upcoming 60 year anniversary celebration." Zhou asked all political and legal agencies to seriously study and understand the directives issued by the central administration. Exercise and carry out the “opinions of the Central Political and Legal Committee and further improve handling of petitions about law and litigation-related issues.”

Source: Xinhua, August 7, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2009-08/07/content_11840345.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Xinhua: India’s Bellicose Rhetoric”

Xinhua reported that some Indian hawks believe that exaggerating “China threat theory” promotes India’s military expansion to be “prepared (for the clash with China).” Xinhua further commented “However, it is completely India’s choice if it wants to put more resources into building ‘cannons’ instead of manufacturing ‘butter.’ … If India still thinks that it needs to create something to justify its decision, it shows that India still lacks the confidence that a strong country should have.”

Source: Xinhua, Aug 3, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2009-08/03/content_11816190.htm

Briefings | | |   Geo-Strategic Trend

South China Sea Neighbors and U.S. Collaborate to Provoke China

People’s Daily Online reported that recently Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippine and other countries deliberately provoked a sovereignty dispute with China, triggering tension in the South China Sea. “This year, Vietnam has constantly claimed the sovereignty of Paracel Islands and Spratly Islands.” “On July 2nd, Kuala Lumpur Security Review, one of the Malaysian media, published an article stating that the ‘Spratly Interest Group’ has been formed by the Southeast Asia countries to be against China.” People’s Daily also criticized the United States and Australia for intending to join the group and form a ‘CARAT Group.’” (CARAT, Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training, is a series of bilateral exercises held annually by the United States and six Southeast Asian countries: the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei — Ed.).

Source: People’s Daily Online, Aug 4, 2009
http://military.people.com.cn/GB/1077/52987/9782167.html

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

“Just Stress Party Nature but Human Nature”

On July 14, Zhou Jianguo, the town chief of Dianmen in Hengshan County of Hunan Province, ordered a force-demolition of more than 50 residential households in the Guihua village. He was reported stating “We just stress Party nature but human nature. Demolish!” The forced-demolition left hundreds of villagers to live and sleep in the open fields. Villagers said, “We suffer more than the victims of the Wenchun (Sichuan Province) earthquake. What they suffered was natural disaster…  But what we experienced was a man-made disaster. No one will pay attention to us.” One deputy town chief also said proudly, “Who can fight to beat the Communist Party?”

Source: Boxun News, Aug 4, 2009
http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2009/08/200908040935.shtml

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

PLA Daily: Resolutely Oppose Military Nationalization

Compared to “nonpartisan armed forces” and “nonpolitical armed forces,” military nationalization is the most demagogic, according to an article from People’s Liberation Army Daily. “Hostile forces use it to confuse the relationship between the Party and country/armed forces and to put the military’s concerns in conflict with the country’s concerns so that the country’s concerns related to the military trump the political concerns of the military, thus negating the absolute leadership of the Party over the military. It is not only politically harmful, but also lacks theoretical support and will not work in practice – it is a false paradox.”

The PLA article asserts that military nationalization is in conflict with Marxist nationalization, harmful to the concerns of our armed forces, out of touch with the practical requirements of our political party, and contrary to the fundamental interests of the country.

Source: China News Service, May 7, 2009
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/news/2009/05-07/1681239.shtml

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Netizens Challenge the Credibility of Official Statistics

The International Herald Leader reported discontent from the public as its members challenged the credibility of official statistics. According to the July 28 report of the National Bureau of Statistics, urban disposable per capita income actually grew 11.2% for the first 6 months of 2009, while the same income for rural residents increased 8.1%. Income for both urban and rural residents exceeded the 7.1% GDP growth. However, netizens cast their doubts by claiming that their income was “being generated” (by the official statistics). A Party School director also questioned the accuracy of the numbers. “The rapid growth of per capita income of urban residents contradicts the drastic decrease of the personal income tax amount.” According to a poll, urban residents perceived the fluxuation in their income for the second quarter of 2009 to be -8.6%, the lowest income since 1999.

Source: Xinhua, August 3, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2009-08/03/content_11815511.htm

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics

Ministry of Public Security to Train Local Captains

On July 27, 2009, the Ministry of Public Security announced a plan to train its local captains at the grass roots level. The trainees include heads of police stations, detention centers, crime investigation squads, traffic administrators, and public security administrators. The priority is to train heads of police stations. Each training session is 10 days. Training will start in the second half of this year and end in June 2010. The training will focus on the build-up of information technology, law enforcement standardization and the relationship between the public and the police.

Source: Ministry of Public Security, August 3, 2009
http://www.mps.gov.cn/n16/n1237/n1342/n803715/2000939.html

Briefings | | |   Social Stability

China News Agency: The U.S. Lowered Itself to China for Its National Interest

China News Agency quoted an article from the Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao commenting on the U.S.’ behavior at the First Round of Sino-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington, DC on July 27 and 28. Ming Pao said that Obama lowered himself to China, demonstrating the U.S.’ flexibility of being soft in exchange for its national interest.

However, how well the Sino-U.S. relationship goes depends on the following three main issues: 1. How much additional speaking power will the U.S. allow China to have in international organizations such as the IMF? 2. Will the U.S. stop the ban on selling advanced technologies to China? 3. When the U.S. economy stabilizes, will it reduce its spending or devalue the dollar to solve its financial problems but cause huge losses to China who owns a large amount of Treasury bonds?

Source: China News Agency, July 29, 2009
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/hb/news/2009/07-29/1794786.shtml

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations