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Epoch Times: Epoch Times and NTDTV Jointly Interviewed Shanghai Official

Epoch Times recently reported that Epoch Times and New Tang Dynasty TV (NTDTV) in the United States jointly interviewed Dr. Sheng Jianhong, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Local Historical Records Office. Dr. Sheng visited the States to participate in cultural exchange events. She is a well-known scholar and is the author of the book Golden Spike that describes the history of Chinese workers’ participation in constructing the U.S. Central Pacific Railroad 150 years ago. It is unusual for a sitting Chinese government official to accept a formal interview by Epoch Times and NTDTV – both have a Falun Gong background. Dr. Sheng mentioned in the interview that Chinese President Xi Jinping has “admiration” for traditional Chinese culture. She referred to the Chinese President as “Mr. Xi Jinping” instead of his official title. She also said that Xi mentioned the Central Pacific Railroad construction twice in his speeches last year during his visit to Seattle.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a Chinese spiritual practice centered on the tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. In 1999, the Communist leadership under Jiang Zemin started a brutal crackdown on Falun Gong due to its membership size, independence from the state, and spiritual teachings. The movement has been persecuted in China ever since.

Source: Epoch Times, November 17, 2016
http://bit.ly/2fxL1Kb

China Prohibits Live Broadcasting of U.S. Presidential Election

China Digital Times reported that China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) issued telephone instructions regarding the reports on the U.S. presidential election. The instruction included the following:

1. The Beijing and Guangdong Internet Information Offices have stopped Tencent, Sohu, and NetEase from any live broadcasting of [the U.S. presidential election]. [SARFT] seriously criticized their live broadcasting and announced that it would issue punishment as appropriate.

2. They must follow the instructions to disable live streaming or information synchronization.

3. If someone finds any other site broadcasting [the election live], he should report it to SARFT immediately. SARFT will resolutely crack down.

Source: China Digital Times, November 9, 2016
https:// chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/2016/11/【真理部】关于美国大选报道/

Wei Jianing: China’s Economic Statistics Have Significant Holes

Wei Jianing, the well-known economist and the Macroeconomic Inspector for the State Council Development Research Center, recently delivered an important speech at the Chinese Finance 40 Forum. Wei mentioned two key challenges that he observed when analyzing the economy. The first was the difficulty in obtaining accurate and correct information. A large number of local statistics have resulted from “discussions” among local Party and government leaders and the local Bureau of Statistics. Their reports to the central government then “matched” the discussed numbers thereby looking official. Wei called for reform to establish an independent system of statistics. The second challenge mentioned in the speech was the transparency of decision making – at least for the currency policies. Currently it is very difficult to find out who is making policy decisions. Wei called for an independent central bank, at least for documenting the decisions and the names of the decision makers. He recommended that the official records be released to the public periodically. The United States Federal Reserve releases these records every five years.

Source: Sohu, November 1, 2016
http://business.sohu.com/20161101/n472057932.shtml

VOA: Official Indicated That Wang Qishan May Serve another Term

Voice of America (VOA) reported that, on October 31, 2016, Deng Maosheng, the Deputy Director of the Research Office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee, held a press conference to explain the CCP’s 6th Plenum of its 18th Congress. The issue that attracted the attention of Hong Kong reporters the most was his statement about the age rule regarding who can serve as a Politburo Standing Committee member.

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DWNews: CY Leung Cancelled Beijing Trip to Avoid Embarrassment

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying (CY Leung) had planned a trip to attend the opening ceremony of the “20th Beijing Hong Kong Economic Cooperation Symposium” to be held on November 3 and 4. However, Leung cancelled his trip.

DWNews published an article stating that Leung did it to avoid embarrassment since the top Beijing officials have not yet made any positive gestures that would support his re-election bid.

Xi Jinping was unhappy with the CCP officials in charge of Hong Kong and Macao affairs. Officials who used to support Leung did not express their support this time either. Therefore, it seems that Leung’s re-election bid has only a remote chance of success.

Source: DWNews, November 1, 2016
http://blog.dwnews.com/post-920385.html

China Quietly Held the Central Hong Kong and Macao Working Conference

One of Hong Kong’s major pro-Beijing newspapers, Ming Pao, recently reported that it seems the central government secretly held the Hong Kong and Macao Working Conference from July 11 to July 12. There was no official report on this typically important conference before or after the event. The information was unintentionally leaked via the websites of the Bureau of Security Monitoring and the Bureau of Quality Supervision and Administration of Beijing’s Haidian District. These two bureaus were involved in the logistics of the Conference and reported some details in their running status news on their websites. There was no official report on any activity of President Xi Jinping for July 11. The Central Hong Kong and Macao Coordination Team leader Zhang Dejiang and his deputies – Li Yuanchao and Yang Jiechi, Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Office – Wang Guangya, as well as Zhang Xiaoming (Director of the Liaison Office of the Central Government in Hong Kong) and Hu Chunhua (Guangdong Provincial Party Secretary) all made no mention in public media of any activities during those two days in July. China has central government level working conferences for Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang – to discuss major policies and strategies in these regions. This was the first time to have one for Hong Kong and Macao.

Source: Ming Pao, October 26, 2016
http://news.mingpao.com/pns/dailynews/web_tc/article/20161027/s00012/1477504758888

Duowei News: Party’s Central Administration Says Members Should Restore Their Faith in Party Ideology

Duowei News published an article on the 6th Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee, which recently concluded. It stated that the main topic during the session was the strict discipline of Party members, meaning that the Party is determined to control the special rights of Party officials and their extravagant life styles. It also reported an underlying message that, as part of the strict discipline, Party members, especially those at the level of the Political Bureau, should restore their faith in Party ideology as well as show absolute loyalty and allegiance to the Party. The article also indicated that the following could be included: that Party members shouldn’t question the central administration’s policy, copy the constitutionalism of the West, or form individual factions.

Source: Duowei News, October 29, 2016
http://china.dwnews.com/news/2016-10-29/59778364.html