Government/Politics - 194. page

According to VOA, on Sunday, November 9, a member of Scholarism, a Hong Kong student association, was denied entry into Shen Zhen, a border city next to Hong Kong. Since the member carried winter clothes and a yellow umbrella in his luggage, he was accused of conspiracy to go to Beijing for the umbrella movement. Just a couple of days earlier, on November 7, another low key Scholarism member, who used to travel between the mainland and Hong Kong, was denied entry when he tried to meet a friend in Shen Zhen. The article expressed the belief that the tightened security was related to the upcoming week long APEC meeting to be held in Beijing starting on Monday. The article also expressed concern that the mainland has put forth much effort to collect information on those who were involved in the occupy central movement and has since compiled an extensive blacklist.

Source: VOA, November 9, 2014
http://www.voachinese.com/content/hk-activist-china-20141109/2513569.html

Xinhua reported that the State Council Information Office announced on November 2 that it will soon introduce the most comprehensive and up to date laws to regulate activities related to Internet security. According to the statistics that the Information Office released, by the end of June 2014, there were 632 million netizens in China. Of those, 527 million were mobile phone netizens. The Deputy Director of the Information Office said, “It has made China the largest mobile Internet market in the world and has also made the Internet the largest media platform in China.” The office listed the top eight illegal activities on the Internet. These include: publishing news releases using fictitious public institutions or media; transmitting pornographic information; creating announcements of  terrorist attacks; producing fake advertising; spreading rumors; making remarks that damage national unity; slandering others; and violating the privacy of others.

Source: Xinhua, Nov 3, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/info/2014-11/03/c_133761619.htm

People’s Daily published an article written by Wang Qishan, Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The article reiterated the key points from the “Decision Concerning the Rule of Law” recently passed during the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. Wang further emphasized the importance of adhering to the absolute leadership of the Party, strengthening the rules within the Party, managing the country with law and virtue, and persisting in the anti-corruption battles. Wang listed four major tests and dangers that the party currently faces and said that the Party’s foundation is threatened because of them. In the article, Wang stated that the Party still faces challenges in the battle against corruption and the fight to ensure clean government. He said that it is a battle that "the Party cannot afford to lose."

Source: People’s Daily, November 3, 2014
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2014/1103/c1024-25959682.html

People’s Daily quoted a report from Hong Kong’s Wen Wei Po about the illegal "Occupy Central [movement]." It said that that material supplies are endless and that some analysts have pointed out that the opposition, solely by itself, certainly cannot sustain such an undertaking. The Hong Kong Environmental Protection Association’s environmental monitoring report on "Occupy Central" noted that, by a conservative estimate, the consumption of goods in the "occupied territories" within just one month comes to more than HK $250 million. Taking out the 20 percent of the materials that the public donated, a total of HK$200 million in goods came from unknown sources. The media article quoted "Legal scholars" who have questioned whether external forces provided these materials of unknown origin to support the "Occupy Central" activity. They urged the police and the Legislative Council to investigate. "If ‘Occupy Central’ is a crime, then anyone who provides material supplies is an accomplice."

Source:  People’s Daily, October 31, 2014
http://hm.people.com.cn/n/2014/1031/c42272-25944361.html

The Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) passed the "CCP Central Committee Decision Concerning Some Major Issues on Comprehensively Advancing the Rule of Law (中共中央关于全面推进依法治国若干重大问题的决定)." Xinhua published an article listing 25 items to highlight the major points in the "Decision." A few points worth noting are:

12. Establish a mechanism to hold the decision maker accountable throughout his whole life [Editor’s Note: Implying even after retirement] for the major decisions he has made. Hold the administrative executive, other responsible leaders, and the related people who are legally responsible strictly accountable for decisions which involved a major mistake or which should have been adjusted promptly but were not and thus caused major damage or had a negative impact.

24. [China should] adhere to [the leadership of] the CCP’s Political and Legal Affairs Committee over the long-term. [Editor’s Note: It was Xi Jinping who took down Zhou Yongkang, the previous head of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee.]

25. The Party’s regulations and the Party’s discipline should be stricter than the country’s law. Party organizations and members at all levels should not only obey the law of the nation, but also follow the Party’s regulations and the Party’s discipline.

Source: Xinhua, October 28, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/video/2014-10/28/c_127151833.htm

The United Nations criticized the Chinese government and Chinese billionaires for not giving enough financial support to control the spread of Ebola. China is a major investor in Africa. So far, China has only donated US$8.3 million while the UK has donated US$18.8 million and the U.S. government has donated US$200 million.

Source: BBC Chinese, October 22, 2014

http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/press_review/2014/10/141022_press_un_china

On October 28, 2014, Xinhua published a short news release titled, “Xu Caihou’s Case of Alleged Bribery Transferred for Prosecution.” According to Xinhua, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Military Procuratorate has officially completed its investigation into Xu’s bribery case and will transfer his case over to process for regular prosecution (lawsuit). Xu confessed that he had taken “particularly huge bribes,” directly or through family members in exchange fot helping others gain job promotions and other personal interests. Xu Caihou is a former member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and General of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. His military position was just below the former top CCP chairman, Jiang Zemin, who was the CMC chairman.

Source: Xinhua, October 28, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2014-10/28/c_1113015334.htm