Government/Politics - 201. page

On August 13, 2014, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party, in an unprecedented move, published a total of 10 announcements at its website, each about a high-ranking corrupt official that was disciplined. The first two announcements were posted at 09:44 am Beijing Time on August 13 on its official website. They stated that two Hubei Province officials were removed from their posts due to “serious disciplinary violations” and were being handled according to the law. One minute later at 09:45, a similar announcement was posted on the website for another Hubei official, followed by the fourth announcement posted at 11:00 (Guizhou Province). Additional announcements were posted at 16:30 (Anhui Province), 16:43 (Shanxi Province), 16:45 (Guizhou Province), 16:46 (Shanxi Province), and 16:48 (Shaanxi Province), with the last announcement posted at 17:49 (Hebei Province). The previous record was made on August 11 when an announcement was made about a total of nine corrupt officials. It was observed that one announcement about a official being disciplined may not be a big deal, but ten in one day shows that the situation is very serious. 

Huanqiu Shibao, or Global Times, a state newspaper under People’s Daily, published a commentary that denounced Gao Zhisheng as a pawn that the West uses in its political battle with China.

The commentary labeled Gao as the "Western touted ‘rights attorney’" and said that he had written three open letters to the top leaders of China, asking that China stop the "persecution" of Falun Gong.

It stated, "Gao’s wife and two children live in the U.S. The Western media has provided a large amount of support for him. [All these] make his interest in Chinese society different from the majority of attorneys."

"The West concentrates the focus of China’s human rights on a few political dissidents and heaps cynicism on China’s large-scale improvement of its citizen’s rights. Gao Zhisheng and others, in fact, have become a lever that the West uses in its political combat with China. They all know this well and have thus collaborated with [the West.]"

The article further warned Gao to stay away from politics; otherwise he will be a "target of sanctions under the law." "In any society, politics and law are very close to each other. If a person combines his individual actions together with actions that challenge national security and the fundamental political system, he is very likely, sooner or later, to cross the legal red line."

Source: Huanqiu Online, August 5, 2014
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/shanrenping/2014-08/5099388.html

Qiushi Theory published an article in which it commented on the current policy regarding spokespersons. The policy was developed in 1983. The article said that guidelines are needed that will provide a better definition of what information the spokespersons can share and the process they should follow. It pointed out that the abilities and qualifications of the spokespersons are also important. In addition to solid professional capabilities, they should hold a firm political stance and recognize political trends with political sensitivity. The article also suggested that the spokespersons should form a team to provide assistance. That team should: collect, study, and analyze different social information; be capable of making friends with the media; build a channel that will disseminate the information while collecting feedback from the public; build a network of teams that will act as messengers and who will circulate policies within their network; and collect information and voice opinions when needed.

Source: Qiushi Theory, August 8, 2014
http://www.qstheory.cn/zhuanqu/zywz/2014-08/08/c_1111986175.htm

Qiushi Theory published a research paper on think tank development in China. The Counsellor’s office of the state council put together a research team following the recent directions that Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang gave on think tank development. The paper stated that think tanks are a part of a country’s soft power. The role that Chinese think tanks are capable of playing, however, does not match the country’s growing economic status in the world. The project team studied the development of think tanks in China, how they compare with the renowned think tanks in the world, and the problems they face. The team provided recommendations for the future outlook of the think tanks’ development, how they can “increase their involvement in the development of public policy, as well their role in making the government policy process more scientific and democratic.”

As to the challenges that the paper highlighted, in 2012, there were 429 think tanks in China compared to 6,600 in the world. Of the top 50 think tanks in the world, only 3 of them were in China. While close to 90 percent of the think tanks in China are government sponsored, the rest of the think tanks, which are private, have barely any influence. Meanwhile the quality of the research of the think tanks in China is generally poor. They lack mechanisms for evaluation and recognition. In addition they lack a fair, competitive, and tolerant environment in which to work.

Source: Qiushi Theory, August 8, 2014
http://www.qstheory.cn/zhuanqu/zywz/2014-08/08/c_1111986086.htm

People’s Daily published an article about the recent anti-monopoly measures imposed on foreign companies doing businesses in China, including Microsoft, Qualcomm, Benz, and BMW. The article said that these companies were given favorable treatment during the initial period of China’s economic open door policy and gained an advantage in their respective markets but now they are using that advantage to exercise anti-competition practices. The article quoted the spokesperson from the Ministry of Commerce, who stated that the anti-monopoly measures were to promote fair competition and all companies, whether they are domestic or foreign, should be subject to punishment under this policy.

Source: People’s Daily, August 11, 2014
http://finance.people.com.cn/n/2014/0811/c1004-25440476.html

People’s Daily published a news report on its website regarding which provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions have expressed support for the central government’s decision to investigate [former politburo member] Zhou Yongkang [for his violations of "Party discipline"]. 

After Zhou Yongkang, the former standing member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee and Secretary of the Politics and Law Committee was taken down, People’s Forum magazine, which is under one of the top Chinese government official media People’s Daily, published a series of 13 anti-corruption articles one after the other, saying that anti-corruption in China is now “transitioning from surface-oriented to root-oriented.” One of the articles pointed out that corrupt officials would not sit still and wait to be killed. “To protect their own interests, they must put up a last-ditch resistance effort and even unite together to fight back jointly.” This article was reprinted widely in China and a more striking title was used for the reprinted article, “The CCP’s Anti-Corruption – Be Alert for the Big Tigers’ Joint Counterattack.”

Source: BBC Chinese, August 5, 2014
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2014/08/140805_corruption_tiger_fight_back.shtml