Government/Politics - 155. page

Critics of China’s anti-corruption campaign have offered numerous arguments in favor of stopping the campaign. On May 15, 2015, Qiushi published a commentary rebutting critics’ remarks opposing the campaign. 

Xinhua carried an article on the recent Democracy Spring in Washington D.C. While over one thousand people were arrested, the lack of media coverage of the incident was notable. The article attacked the defects in the U.S. system of democracy. It said these defects were the cause of some recent events including, “Occupy Wall Street,” “Black Life Matters,” and the “Democracy Spring.” The article then mentioned that the press freedom in the U.S. often misleads the people. It mentioned that the heated debates seen on television have overshadowed two underlining facts: the media must follow the requirements of their financial supporters and they also must do their best to attract an audience. Lastly the article claimed that the U.S. always attacks other countries for violating media guidelines but it has often ignored its own issues; the U.S. media often use a double standard then they attack other countries for violating human rights issues when the media in the U.S. does not even speak up for its own people. It concluded by quoting an article from the New York Times titled, “The End of American Idealism” and raised the question that, when the U.S. faces so many issues, how long can American Idealism really last?

Source: Xinhua, May 23, 2016
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2016-05/23/c_129006242_3.htm

Hong Kong’s "Trends" magazine reported in its May issue that the mainland’s anti-corruption leader, Wang Qishan, started another round of anti-corruption activity. Family members and relatives of the top-level officials are restricted from going abroad to inspect their properties. On top of the list is former Communist head Jiang Zemin. A number of Chinese news websites have republished this report. 

On May 17, 2016, Huanqiu (Global Times) published a commentary stating that the 1981 Party document “The Resolution on a Number of Historical Issues Since the Founding of the Party” made an authoritative determination totally rejecting the "Cultural Revolution."  Since then, generations of Chinese leaders have all consistently supported the conclusion of the resolution; no dissenters have ever been reported in the Party’s documents. The commentary stated that completely rejecting the "Cultural Revolution" is not only an understanding throughout the Communist Party, but also a solid consensus of the entire Chinese society.

Right before Taiwan’s newly elected President Tsai Ing-wen’s was sworn in on May 20, Global Times (also known as Huanqiu) published a survey on its website. The results showed that 85 percent of the Chinese people supported China in uniting with Taiwan by force. Many media around the world picked it up.

According to a notice that the State Internet Information Office (SIIO) circulated, the SIIO talked to the management of the Global Times newspaper and website on May 9. It criticized the Global Times’ website for publishing this article at such a critical time, causing strong antipathy from the people in Taiwan and widespread attention from the media around the world. "Global Times has repeatedly ‘stirred up issues involving sensitive events,’ ‘disturbed the Internet order,’ and severely violated reporting discipline. It is likely to create adverse effects and cause adverse political consequences."

SIIO ordered Global Times to spend a month to fix itself by improving its "political awareness and its overall awareness."

Global Times has long been known for publishing hawkish and anti-America messages, which are out of sync with Xi Jinping’s agenda.

Source: Radio Free Asia, May 12, 2016
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/7-05122016162353.html

On May 17, 2016, the People’s Daily published a commentary stating that the "Cultural Revolution" was a mistake that should not be repeated. 

Guangming Daily carried an article stating that China’s cultural products in the international market lack brand awareness, are weak in content, and, in the long run, will not benefit the spread of Chinese culture in the international market. The article said that China ranked number one in the export of cultural products in the world for the past four consecutive years. Even though it has benefited from a high volume and low cost, the products lack original creativity and maturity, and are unable to spread Chinese culture in the international market. The article used video games and soap operas as an example. It indicated that the video games that China exports are mainly hardware parts because China does not own the contents and intellectual property. The prices of the soap operas produced in China are so low in the international market that they cannot be compared to the soap operas produced in Korea. The article suggested that an opportunity for improvement could be found in utilizing the growth of the Internet, improving creativity, and building a solid foundation in the domestic market while expanding in Asia and African countries before tapping into the European and U.S. markets.

Source: Guangming Daily, May 16, 2016
http://culture.gmw.cn/2016-05/16/content_20117394.htm

On May 8, 2016, China.com, the website of the State Council Information Office, published a collection of Xi Jinping’s speeches in which he gave advice to officials on taking care of their family members. Some quotes from his speeches follow:

From the speech given at the Meeting of the Sixth Plenary Session of the 18th CCDI, on January 12, 2016:

"Looking at the recent corruption cases, family member’s corruption is a key reason that has led officials to violate the law and discipline. Many officials not only trade power for money themselves, but they also encourage their family members to collect money covertly. Their children leverage their parent’s name to run a business to make money [using unfair competition]. Some officials use their ‘connections’ and ‘favors’ that they have accumulated throughout their government service to let their children make money."

"I am here, with a kind intention, to tell you all: You need to pay attention to this. Things might have happened at your home while you were not paying attention. You should prevent these wrong things from happening at a low level. Don’t protect your children [if they are doing something wrong]."

"The children of officials need to guide their own behavior by following the law and discipline. They should not think that because they are the children of officials that no one will bother them. If they have violated the Party’s regulations or the state law, they will be punished, and they must be severely punished, to show it to the public."

From the speech given at the 10th Meeting of the Deepening Reform Leading Group, on February 27, 2015:

"As far as officials’ spouses, children, or their children’s spouses running companies, there are clear regulations from the state law and the Party regulations. The important thing is to implement them so that they will really be effective."

Source: China.com, May 8, 2016
http://news.china.com.cn/2016-05/08/content_38405673.htm