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Government/Politics - 196. page

People’s Daily: Xi Jinping Discusses Negative Trends in the Culture Industry

People’s Daily published an article in which it discussed an important speech that Xi Jinping delivered during an arts and cultural forum held in Beijing on October 15. The article said that Xi not only laid out the Party’s expectations about cultural work in the current age; it also criticized certain phenomenon in the culture industry. It listed five major negative trends in the culture industry. According to Xi, the problem with art and cultural works include the following. They have become a slave to the market and only seek economic benefits. Those who work in the field only seek fame and success but are not willing to work earnestly on creativity. They are copycats of each other, focusing only on quantity but not quality. They are distant from reality, are filled with off-color humor and have vulgar contents. Finally, those who work in the field lack professional ethics and have a poor public image.

Source: People’s Daily, October 20, 2014
http://culture.people.com.cn/n/2014/1020/c87423-25865500.html

Medical Facilities to Conduct Self-Examinations of Readiness for Ebola

On October 16, 2014, China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission issued a directive requiring that, by October 31, hospitals, clinics, and emergency centers are to complete a self examination of their readiness for handling Ebola. 

The self examination should include whether a collaborative mechanism has been established to issue alerts, share data, and identify responsibilities across provinces and departments. The following should also be examined: whether hospitals that have been designated to provide treatment for Ebola patients have adequate facilities and equipment including protective supplies; whether they have isolation centers where they can observe those who have contact with Ebola patients; whether all medial staff that will be involved in providing treatment, care, inspection, cleaning, and disinfection have adequate experience to protect themselves; and whether a process has been established to pre-examine and segregate fever patients while protecting medial staff involved in the pre-examination. 
Source: Xinhua, October 16, 2014 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2014-10/16/c_1112858243.htm

China’s State Media Touts Three “Highlights” of Li Keqiang’s Russian Visit

China’s state media, People’s Daily published a commentary on Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Russia to attend the 19th regular meeting between the prime ministers of China and Russia. The article touted the strategic cooperation between China and Russia. It listed three highlights of the visit’s accomplishments. The first highlight was that "the potential for Sino-Russian relations is far from exhausted. Take the economic and trade exchanges [as an example]. Russia expects that, next year, trade with China will reach US$100 billion; it will reach US$200 billion by 2020. Mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation is just one of the highlights of Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Russia." 

"The ‘one channel and one [rail]way’ initiative to connect China and Russia for the Russian Far East mega development marked the second highlight of the visit. Li Keqiang’s visit to Russia is expected to accelerate the inland cooperation between China and Russia."  
“Highlight three was that China and Russia will give strong political support to each other. They agreed to prepare together for next year’s celebration of the 70th anniversary of the victory in World War II and to support each other on issues involving each other’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, security, and other core interests. China and Russia are both permanent members of the United Nations. Bilateral cooperation in the United Nations will help to strengthen the authority of the United Nations and defend the post-war international order.” 

Source: People’s Daily, October 15, 2014 
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2014/1015/c1001-25840042.html

China Defines “Occupy Central” as a Serious Social and Political Event

Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong said, on October 14, that "Occupy Central" is a serious social and political event in that it violates the "one country" principle, challenges the central authority, ignores the Basic Law, and is an illegal activity in flagrant violation of the existing laws of Hong Kong. 

Zhang also said that the "Occupy Central" movement attempts to follow the "color revolution" approach … to pressure the Central Government and the HKSAR Government, and to require the NPC Standing Committee to rescind the decision that has been in force and the Chief Executive and SAR government officials to step down. All these [actions] have determined the nature of the ""Occupy Central" " movement. 

Source: Xinhua, October 15, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/gangao/2014-10/15/c_1112824893.htm

China Suspended Applications for the Issuance of Corporate Bonds

The China National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has suspended the acceptance of corporate applications for the issuance of new bonds. The official reason for the suspension is that the authorities are developing new rules but there is no set date to resume accepting applications. 

The suspension is closely related to the anti-corruption campaign in the bond market which started early last year. Analysts believe that the NDRC approval system for the issuance of corporate bonds has been a major cause of corruption in the bond market. It is expected that the NDRC will make comprehensive changes in the rules. 

Source: Caixin.com, October 14, 2014 
http://finance.caixin.com/2014-10-14/100738442.html

The Paper: The True Ranking of the Communist Party Leaders

Recently The Paper, a Shanghai based news portal, reported that there are stringent protocols about the sequential order in which Communist leaders are mentioned in news reports, and that such protocols are not officially acknowledged. 

 The commonly used term, “Party and State leaders,” in news reports is based on the Civil Servant Law of the People’s Republic of China, Article 16, which divides the posts of civil servants into the category of leading posts and non-leading posts. The top levels of leading posts are chiefs at the state level and deputies at the state level. “Party and State leaders” refers to the chiefs and deputies at the state level. 
“Party and State leaders” include the following Communist Party officials: Central Committee General Secretary, Politburo Standing Committee members, Politburo members, Secretariat of the Central Committee, Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission. 
“Party and State leaders” include the following state leaders: President and Vice President of China, Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, Premier, Vice Premiers, State Council members, Chairman and Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China.  
Also included in the term “Party and State leaders” are President of the Supreme People’s Court and the Procurators-General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate. 
It is common that one person holds multiple positions, so the actual number of “Party and State leaders” is lower than the total number of positions. Currently, the total number of Party and State leaders is about 70. 
There are stringent protocols about the sequential order in which Communist leaders are mentioned in news reports. No official documents are available for the public on this matter. Thus, people must figure it out from the news reports. 
Source: The Paper reprinted by sina.com, October 9, 2014 
http://yd.sina.cn/article/detail-iazpqypm6462325.d.html?vt=4&mid=cfkptvx2565783

Chinese Leaders’ Recent Remarks Regarding the Situation in Hong Kong

On September 22, while meeting with a delegation of Hong Kong business leaders, Xi Jinping emphasized that "one country, two systems" is the basic national policy. To run Hong Kong’s operation smoothly, the key is to understand and implement, fully and accurately, the "one country two systems" policy and to safeguard the authority of the Basic Law. The central government’s basic policies towards Hong Kong have not changed and will not change. [1] 

On September 19, Zhang Dejiang, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, met with all members of the Hong Kong New Democracy Party. Zhang said that Hong Kong must follow the Basic Law and the NPC Standing Committee’s decision to develop democracy step by step. [2] 

On September 28, Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying stated that the Hong Kong SAR Government resolutely opposes the "Occupy Central" campaign which occupies public places illegally. The "Occupy Central" [campaign] is attempting to paralyze the operation of Hong Kong’s core region so as to use blackmail against the Central and HKSAR Government. It has already gone beyond the general public’s expression of civilian views. [3] 
On October 6, Leung Chun-ying stated that [the government] will use every effort to restore people’s lives back to normal. In a televised speech, Leung said that the government and the police have a duty to restore social order and to protect the safety of lives and property. [4] 

Sources: Xinhua, September 19-Octerber 6, 2014 
[1] http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2014-09/22/c_1112581414.htm 
[2] http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2014-09/19/c_1112552832.htm 
[3] http://news.xinhuanet.com/gangao/2014-09/29/c_127049244.htm 
[4] http://news.xinhuanet.com/gangao/2014-10/06/c_1112721512.htm

People’s Daily Will Be Investigated for Corruption

On October 5, 2014, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party (CCDI) announced that it will conduct a special inspection of six units of People’s Daily.  

Pu Zengfan, the CCDI chief at People’s Daily, made the announcement at a recent meeting at the newspaper. At the meeting Pu delivered remarks from CCDI Secretary Wang Qishan and laid out the implementation plan for the special inspection of three local branches and three affiliated newspapers and businesses. Two teams, each comprised of high-ranking officials from CCDI, audit administration, and the personnel department, will carry out the inspection. 
The inspection will focus on five areas. The first is the implementation of the Party’s policies, compliance with the Party’s discipline procedures, and news reporting; second is anti-corruption mechanisms; third is instances of bribery and blackmail in news reporting; fourth is internal management; and fifth is nepotism and the disclosure of high-ranking leader’s personal affairs.

Pu stated that the effectiveness of the inspection depends on whether the inspection is taken seriously. “[One] must carry out this inspection as a political task and be clear as to the scope of the task.” Pu stated that the inspection must prioritize and concentrate on problem areas. 
Source: The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, October 5, 2014 http://www.ccdi.gov.cn/xwyw/201409/t20140926_27998.html