Government/Politics - 142. page

China News recently reported that Xi Xiaoming, the former Vice President and Justice of the Supreme People’s Court of China, was sentenced to life in prison, deprived of his political rights for life, and had all of his personal property confiscated. Xi was accused of corruption and of accepting bribes worth over RMB 115 million (around US$ 16.7 million). Because Xi’s relatives accepted and consumed most of the money, the court ruled that his punishment would be lighter. Xi pled guilty and accepted the rulings in court. He has decided not to appeal. Between 1996 and 2015, Xi Xiaoming served in the Supreme People’s Court as the Vice President, judge of the Court for Economic Trial, judge of the Second Court for Civil Trial, and a Member of the Judicial Committee.

Source: China News, February 16, 2017
http://www.chinanews.com/m/gn/2017/02-16/8151696.shtml

Seven police officers who physically assaulted participants in the Hong Kong Occupy Central movement were charged with physical assault and sentenced to two years in prison.  When China’s official media expressed sympathy for the jailed officers, Internet comments responded directly, “Don’t people know that Hong Kong is still a democratic and free society that is not under communist rule? You are using a brain that has been brainwashed. How can you understand (what the truth is)?” Continue reading →

According to Duowei News, on February 17, CCTV aired five minutes of news coverage of the National Security Committee forum that Xi Jinping hosted. According to Xinhua, Xi gave directives on the requirements of national security and its work in areas such as politics, the economy, homeland security, social issues, and the Internet.

According to Duowei, CCTV’s news coverage showed the the Committee’s first TV appearance since it was formed in 2013. The last news report on the committee was on April 15, 2014, three months after it was formed. CCTV’s coverage of the first meeting was only limited to text script with no video image.

Duowei quoted a comment from WeChat which stated that, due to the sensitive nature of the National Security Committee, it rarely publish any information but the related work has been carried out efficiently behind the scenes while the news coverage of the forum showed the importance of national security work in its related areas.

According to Duowei, the members of the National Security Committee consist of 12 members from the Central Politburo as well as eight senior members of the Central Military Commission.

Source: Duowei News, February 17, 2017
http://china.dwnews.com/news/2017-02-17/59800567.html

Given the background of the U.S. and Korea working on the deployment of THAAD, relations between China and North Korea seem to be warming up.

During the 2017 <Chinese> New Year, on the 7th of <February>, the North Korea Foreign Ministry held a reception party for the Chinese Embassy officers in North Korea. Chinese Ambassador Li Jinjun and Embassy officials were invited to the reception.

At the party, representatives from both countries gave speeches. They stressed the friendship between China and North Korea that the leaders of past generations from both countries had cultivated and expressed the inclination to make concerted and continuous efforts to strengthen and develop friendly relations in the current complicated international situation.

On January 24, 2017, at the Chinese Embassy in North Korea, Chinese Ambassador Li Jinjun also held a reception party for the Chinese New Year. The North Korea Supreme People’s Assembly Standing Committee Vice Chairman Kim Yong-dae and more than 70 Korean leaders from different government departments of the Party, the administration, and the military attended the party. In their speeches, the two sides emphasized the value of China-North Korea friendship and the importance of strengthening cooperation.

At the event, the two sides stressed the importance and normalization of Sino-North Korea relations. Li Jinjun said that Sino-North Korea relations in 2017 still face challenges, but will usher in opportunities. Kim Yong-dae lauded the long history of the blood-born alliance and friendship between both countries.

Source: Duowei News, February 8, 2017
http://global.dwnews.com/news/2017-02-09/59798729.html

A watch dog group at Australia is concerned with China’s exporting its Communist culture overseas.
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Radio France International (RFI) recently published a report, sourced from the Hong Kong monthly news company Super Media, that Chinese leader Xi Jinping asked the members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo to declare their personal and family assets as well as their marital situation. If true, this would be the first time in the CCP’s history that asset declaration in the top tier of the Party’s leadership was required. The requirements were very detailed and included real estate, bonds, stocks, and even cash. The exercise also included the members’ spouses. The declaration occurred in a full member meeting and Xi commented on each declaration as soon as the member finished the report. Xi also required the Politburo members to replicate the same exercise to the population that reports to them. However, the results of this round of asset declaration were not released to the public. In China, there has been extremely strong resistance on the issue of declaration of assets from those within the political system. China developed the plan to establish the Bill of Asset Declaration 20 years ago; yet today it is still pending The People’s Congress discussion.

Source: Radio France International, January 25, 2017
http://rfi.my/2kFjb0X