Government/Politics - 169. page

People’s Daily published an article about some Party officials’ superstitious practices and concluded that a lack of communist ideals and beliefs is the fundamental cause for their behavior. The article said that Party members should be antitheists, but some of the party members believe in rituals and superstitions such as visiting temples and they also believe in Feng Shui. The article said that this has seriously damaged the Party’s image. It cited several reasons that have caused their behavior. It named weakened Communist ideals and beliefs among the Party officials as the fundamental cause. It also mentioned other reasons for the Party officials to perform superstitious rituals. These include an increased personal desire to seek material gain and corrupt officials seeking to have a spiritual belief.

Source: People’s Daily, September 30, 2015
http://fanfu.people.com.cn/n/2015/0930/c64371-27652352.html

On October 1, 2015, a speech that Zhou Xiaochuan, the Governor of the Bank of China, made back in April at an internal government seminar was released to the public. In his speech, Zhou said that China’s banking-system reform needed to go through a “remedial” class. Without strong reform measures, China’s banking system might not survive. 

China Review News published an article based on a book titled, Power Think Tanks (Daguozhiku), which was written by Wang Huiyao and Miao Lu. 

On September 29, 2015, the Chinese Communist Party Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) published an article titled “Four-Types of Strategy Does Not Mean Slowing Down the Anti-corruption Movement.” The article began with a well-known ancient poem in which it says, “To capture the thieves, capture the king of the thieves first.” After the quoted poem, the article continued, “When two fighting armies confront each other, choosing the correct strategy and tactics is important to defeat the enemy.”

According to the article, there are four types of strategy in terms of the anti-corruption campaign. “1) Every Party official participates frequently in regular criticism and self-criticism meetings within the Party; 2) A majority of the corrupt Party officials will be punished lightly within the Party; 3) A minority of corrupt Party officials who have seriously violated the Party’s discipline and state laws will be punished severely and their positions will be lowered, changed, or removed; 4) Very few Party officials will be charged for their crimes in terms of serious violations of the law and the Party’s discipline.”

The article said that the four-types of strategies serve as guidance for targeting the right group of Party officials using the appropriate discipline methods.

Source: Sohu, September 29, 2015
http://news.sohu.com/20150929/n422337295.shtml

On Tuesday, Hong Kong property tycoon Li Ka-shing responded publicly to those who expressed the viewpoint that he is moving his money out of China. Li said that there was no truth to these reports. He affirmed his confidence that the central government is committed to deepening reform and openness and that the mindset during the Cultural Revolution years will not revive. 

On Sept. 12, the Liaowang Institute, which is linked to the official news agency Xinhua, published an editorial, "Don’t Let Li Ka-shing Make an Exit," which expressed great displeasure over Li’s moving his money out of China. The article reminded Li that his huge wealth, as head of the Hutchison Whampoa conglomerate, had come from his connections to powerful Chinese officials, not from a level playing field in a market economy. It went on to lecture Li that "as someone who had reaped profits, [you are] not in a position to simply walk away." 

A statement that Li’s Cheung Kong Property Holdings Limited and CK Hutchison Holdings Limited released said, "Li understands that broader freedom of expression gives a voice to everyone, regrettably, even [to those who make] false accusations." The statement continued, "We did not respond earlier as the flurry of reports came at a time when President Xi Jinping was heading to the United States for a state visit. We did not want to take the spotlight off of that." 

In response to the "withdrawal" reports, the statement said, "In the past 10 years, over 70 percent of the companies listed in Hong Kong, including Chinese mainland state-owned enterprises, have chosen to register using BVI vehicles. The reason for companies to choose this method is for greater flexibility." 

The statement denied that there was any change in Li’s relationship with China’s leadership and added, "We are confident that the central government is committed to improving governance and to continuing on a path of economic reform. We do not think the mindset during the years of the Cultural Revolution will revive. Individual viewpoints in the Chinese media are not in line with China’s overall direction. Mr. Li greatly admires President Xi’s steady leadership."

Source: Caixin, September 29, 2015
http://companies.caixin.com/2015-09-29/100859580.html

Voice of America (VOA) carried an article reporting on Xi Jinping’s joint hosting of a meeting at the United Nations on the subject of women’s rights. The article stated that, even though China continues to detain and harass women rights activists, Xi Jinping still went ahead and jointly hosted the meeting. Some human rights groups told VOA, "Allowing Xi Jinping to speak at the conference brings shame to the world." The article said that in Xi’s speech, he acknowledged that woman’s rights are human rights but he placed women’s rights after the rights for economic development. At the same time, the U.S. government launched a movement to call for the release of 20 women political activists. Three Chinese women’s rights activists were included in that number. According to the article, Samantha Power, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, stated that the pictures of those women were placed at the entrance of the summit so that the delegates attending the summit could see them.

Source: VOA, September 27, 2015
http://www.voachinese.com/content/un-women-summit-20150927/2981423.html

Recently, a rare and heated public debate on the topic of “Communism” has been going on between the Chinese Communist Party’s official media and Chinese netizens (Internet users).

On September 21, 2015, the Chinese Communist Youth League Central Committee published an article titled “Confidently Hold High the Banner of Communism,” on its microblog and in its newspaper (China Youth Daily). The Youth League Central Committee (YLCC) also launched a microblog discussion on the topic, “We are the successors of communism.” Ren Zhiqiang, a well-known real estate developer in China, commented, “This slogan has deceived me for over ten years!” Many “50 Cents” began attacking Ren Zhiqiang verbally on the Internet ("50 Cents" are government hired Internet users who are paid to post pro-communist comments or pro-government comments; they are paid 50 Chinese cents for each post that is pro-communism).

On September 22, Ren Zhiqiang wrote a lengthy article elaborating on how ridiculous the concept of “a communist successor” is. 

On September 23, the Chinese Communist Youth League Central Committee propaganda minister published another article on its official microblog, openly criticizing Mr. Ren for being against communist ideals. On the same day, Hu Xijin, the editor of Huanqiu (the Chinese edition of Global Times), posted a self-produced video program, “Communism Has Not Disappointed Our Nation.” On the night of September 23, Ren Zhiqiang once again published another lengthy microblog, “Do not let the Chinese Communist Youth League Central Committee use ignorance to deceive the younger generation. Do not let (China’s) reform and opening policy return to the pre-reform period. I do not care if other people criticize me, but the Youth League Central Committee must not use ignorance to deceive society.”

More people started to post comments supporting Mr. Ren and ridiculing the YLCC propaganda minister and Huanqiu editor Hu Xijin. A heated debate on communism developed online between the Chinese authorities and ordinary Chinese, which is very rare in the history of the People’s Republic of China.

Sources: China Digital Times, September 23, 2015; China Youth Daily, September 21, 2015; Sina, September 24, 2015’ and Guancha.cn, September 23, 2015
https://chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/2015/09/%E3%80%90%E7%AB%8B%E6%AD%A4%E5%AD%98%E7%

Guangming Daily published an article on how to approach the release of information to the public in times of emergencies, including major social unrest or disasters, in order to increase the government‘s credibility and enhance its image.