Government/Politics - 208. page

According to the South China Morning Post, on June 10, 2014, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China issued an unprecedented white paper on the “one country, two systems” issue in Hong Kong. "The white paper on Hong Kong shows Beijing’s determination to maintain control amid the debate over political reform.” “By issuing the paper, Beijing has sought to establish its unquestioned authority over Hong Kong as residents debate the meaning and the flexibility of the ‘one country, two systems’ concept.” It stated, "The high degree of autonomy that Hong Kong has enjoyed is subject to the central government’s authorization. There is no such thing called ‘residual power’ for the special administrative region." It also "warned against ‘outside forces’ using the city to interfere in China’s domestic affairs.”

The paper came 10 days before the “Occupy Central” activities, the activists of which are calling for greater democracy, i.e., calling for an unofficial referendum for the 2017 election of the chief executive.

Sources: South China Morning Post, June 10, 2014
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1529300/beijing-reasserts-its-total-control-over-hong-kong-white-paper
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1529528/beijing-issues-white-paper-prove-its-control-amid-reform-debate-hong

On June 3, 2014, Qiushi published a commentary by Wang Jiarui, director of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The commentary explained Xi Jinping’s strategy of diplomacy for the Party. 

China Review News reported that the level of debt that China’s local governments have reached is unsustainably high. According to the China’s National Audit Office, by June 2013, local governments had 10.88 trillion yuan (US$1.78 trillion) in debt obligations, 2.66 trillion yuan (US$429 billion) in debt for which they have provided guarantees, and 4.34 trillion yuan (US$711 billion) in debt for which they bear certain bailout responsibilities. The total is close to 18 trillion yuan (US$3 trillion).

The peak period of the debt payback, which is from 2014 to 2017, is close at hand. However, so far, local governments have put up a total of 320 billion yuan (US$52 billion) as the reserve to pay off the debt.

Facing the mounting pressure of a local debt crisis, in an attempt to resolve this problem, the State Council approved ten local governments to issue local bonds. The ten governments include Shanghai, Zhejiang Province, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and Qingdao City in Shandong Province.

Source: China Review News, May 26, 2014
http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1032/0/4/8/103204872.html?coluid=53&kindid=0&docid=103204872&mdate=0526070321

Study Times published an article summarizing recent trends in the Chinese government’s efforts to manage public opinion and magnify the voice of the authorities, especially in the implementation of regularly issued official news releases. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party demanded this "move forward in the institutionalization of news releases."

First, the institution of issuing official news releases, which started in 2003 at the level of central and provincial governments, is expanding to lower level and grass roots governments.

Second, the media and the public do not fully grasp the official news releases. The article suggested that the official news should be connected to social issues that garner public attention.

Third, the official news releases now take multiple formats and adapt to different situations. In addition to regular press conferences, there are also web releases, exclusive interviews, news briefings, news conferences at the event location, and increases in the Q&A portion.

Finally, according to Xi Jinping’s speech given to provincial level officials in the Central Party School in 2009, leading officials at different levels are now required to interact with the media and leading cadres should "improve their ability to deal with the media."
      
Source: Study Times, June 2, 2014
http://www.studytimes.cn/shtml/xxsb/20140602/5140.shtml

According to a People’s Daily report, by the end of April, 57,688 or 9.6 percent of village level Chinese Communist Party organizations and 5,222 or 5.6 percent of community level CCP organizations in urban areas were identified as weak and loosely managed. As of May 31, most of the above lowest level CCP branches had gone through a restructuring process.

The report indicated that 5,679 out of the 7,195 rural villages and 321 out of 556 urban communities where the Party secretary or the local CCP official’s office was vacant had these positions filled with candidates who were defined as having "a strong Party spirit, being capable, and having a strong sense of reform and service." So far, 521,000 Party secretaries in villages and communities nationwide have gone through training sessions.

Another effort was an increase in funding for Party operations. For example, in inner Mongolia, each community has been allocated 100,000 yuan (US$16,000). Hubei Province has a plan to invest 300 million yuan (US$48 million) to build 442 new community Party service centers and expand 556 existing Party service centers. Hunan Province allocated 68 million yuan (US$10.88 million) out of the province’s budget as a bonus for the village level organizations.

Source: People’s Daily, May 31, 2014
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2014/0531/c1001-25088508.html

On May 20, 2014, China Review News published an article further explains “the Overall National Security View“ proposed by the Chinese Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping at the first meeting of the National Security Commission on Tuesday, April 15, 2014. According to Xi’s speech, China must “implement and put into practice an overall national security view, paying attention to external as well as internal security.” While internal security aims at stable development, external security aims at win-win cooperation. China Review News article points out that

1. Xi has corrected the one-sidedness of China’s security policies in the past, which only emphasized on external security;
2. Xi implies that internal security in China is more crucial than external security as he put the aims of “internal security” before “external security”.

Source: China Review News, May 20, 2014
http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1031/9/3/4/103193475.html?coluid=151&kindid=11513&docid=103193475&mdate=0520001410

In a recent article, Guangming Daily featured the China (Shenzhen) International Culture Industries Fair (ICIF) for its role in "stimulating the development of China’s culture industry and promoting Chinese culture in the world."

According to its website, the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China; the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China; the State Administration of the Press, Publications, Radio, Film and Television; the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade; the Guangdong Provincial People’s Government; and the Shenzhen Municipal Government hosted the ICIF. The ICIF serves as a platform for Beijing to promote its own culture products to the world.

The 10th ICIF, taking place between May 15 and 19, 2014, has over 2,000 exhibitors with 17,000 overseas buyers in attendance. It is said to be the largest such fair to be presented in the last 10 years. The total trade value of the previous nine fairs amounted to US$85 billion.

Wang Jingsheng, the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda chief in Shenzhen, said, "Chinese Culture’s ‘going global’ is the symbol of our national rejuvenation."

Ye Jianqiang, CEO of the Fair, expressed the belief that "the key is to have the products which carry the cultural ideology and values that meet the demand of the international market."

According to the article, the Shenzhen culture industry has become an important import and export base. The annual volume of culture products exported is 20 percent of the national total and the import volume is 18 percent. The products include original animated movies and 3-D movies that have penetrated the market in 40 countries, including the U.S. and Canada.

Source: Guangming Daily, May 18, 2014
http://news.gmw.cn/2014-05/18/content_11346311_2.htm

Qiushi Theory published an article on the strategy for China to grow into an Internet superpower. The article also listed three challenges that China faces. The first is that, even though China is the largest manufacturer of mobile devices in the world, accounting for 70 percent of the world’s production, it is lagging behind because it does not own the core technology rights as compared to developed countries. The second challenge is how to maintain Internet security. The article stated that the Internet is a double edged sword. While the Internet is a platform to spread mainstream ideology, “those criminals or those who have the ulterior motive of spreading rumors can use it to stir up affairs or conduct illegal activities.” The third challenge is how government can maximize its role in the allocation of resources in the market, such as by creating a market for domestic made products. The article used the example of how the EU set up GSM (the Global System for Mobile Communications) and WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) as the European communication standard before certain products were even developed.

Source: Qiushi Theory, May 13, 2014
http://www.qstheory.cn/zxdk/2014/201410/201405/t20140513_348197.htm