Government/Politics - 227. page

Xinhua published a commentary suggesting that Internet users should comply with certain standards. On August 10, People’s Daily had reported that a group of well-known Internet bloggers proposed that, when they blog online, they should adhere to seven essential guidelines. 

On August 7, 2013, People’s Daily Overseas Edition published an article titled, “Using So-called Constitutionalism in China Is Like Climbing Trees to Catch Fish.” The article asserted, “Constitutionalism, which is currently very popular in China, is essentially an informational and psychological weapon, similar to the ‘democratic Socialist’ theory that collapsed the Soviet Union." According to the article, the “socialist constitutionalism” theory is even more perplexing than liberal constitutionalism because it’s most crucial and core contents are the “provisions to guarantee citizens’ fundamental rights.” Further, “socialist constitutionalism” advocates elimination of the class struggle theory and gives no space for the provision of the “people’s democratic dictatorship.”  

According to the article, to implement China’s Socialist Constitution well, it is very critical to build the Chinese Communist Party well.  “As long as the Chinese Communist Party is built into a party that truly serves the people, the Socialist Constitution and the laws that guarantee the people’s fundamental interests can be thoroughly implemented and realized. Using so-called constitutionalism is like climbing trees to catch fish.”

Source: People’s Daily Overseas Edition, August 7, 2013
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2013-08/07/content_1279445.htm

On August 4, BBC Chinese reported that the website for the Chinese language edition of the Wall Street Journal was down and might be blocked in China. Chinese Internet users posted complaints stating that they could visit the English website but not the Chinese one. BBC Chinese said that it was not clear whether the website was down due to technical issues or the actions of the Chinese authorities.

The website of the Wall Street Journal’s Chinese website was launched in 2002. On a number of occasions in the past, the Chinese authorities blocked some of its contents. In 2010 and 2012, there were reports that the entire website had been blocked. In 2012, the English and Chinese websites for Bloomberg and the New York Times were blocked because they published information that the family members of Xi Jinping and Wen Jiabao were involved in money laundering.

Source: BBC Chinese, August 4, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2013/08/130804_wsj_china.shtml

Following the publication of information that, on August 1, a video about four Shanghai high court judges being involved in a prostitution scandal had been posted on Internet, the Shanghai Municipal Committee announced the disciplinary actions of removing them from their posts and giving them 10 days of administrative detention to start the following day.

On August 8, Cui Yadong, party secretary of Shanghai High Court held a video conference to announce the directions that Han Zhen, the Party chief of Shanghai, gave on having “zero tolerance and cracking down on any unlawful activities.” Han also stated that “the incident has caused huge damage to the Party’s image and to the legal system. It also gave both domestic and international hostile forces an opportunity to attack the Party, the government, our socialist legal system, and Party and government cadres.” Han called for an effort to “learn from the lesson and to rectify and improve future actions.”

A report stated that 6,000 staff members participated in the conference.

Source: Xinhua, August 9, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2013-08/09/c_125144873.htm

On August 2, 2013, Huanqiu, the Chinese edition of Global Times, published an editorial affirming China’s determination to develop as a maritime power. It stated that the only way for China to develop further is for it to become a maritime power. Recently, at a study session with members of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, China’s top leader Xi Jinping championed the effort to develop China into a maritime power.

“What has happened in the past two years tells us that, no matter how much we exercise restraint, some troubles will still find us.” The article listed territories that are involved in a dispute, such as with the Philippines (Huangyan Island, also called Scarborough Shoal) and with Japan (the Diaoyu Islands, also called the Senkaku Islands) as examples of the troubles. The article concluded, “To become a sea power, an indispensable specified procedure, is essential to China’s rise.”

Source: Huanqiu, August 2, 2013
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2013-08/4199965.html
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-07/31/c_132591246.htm

On July 24, 2013, Qiushi, a journal of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, published an article on how to establish a complete “guidance mechanism” to further “guide” the production of literary and art works. According to the article, “It is very common for different countries, different classes, and different political parties to use literary and art works to disseminate their values and to state their point of view and intent.” The Chinese Communist Party’s guiding ideology is Chinese style Marxism and socialist culture with Chinese characteristics.

The article proposed to adhere to value-oriented control mechanisms to guide literary and artistic productions, telling the public directly what the Party advocates and using legal regulations and government policies to control all literary and art production fields.

Source: Qiushi, July 24, 2013
http://www.qstheory.cn/hqwg/2013/201314/201307/t20130724_252620.htm  

At the end of July, the General Office of the State Council issued a notice prohibiting all levels of government from constructing new office buildings, regardless of any justifications or reasons they might have. It requested that the projects that have been approved but have not started construction should stop. The notice also required that the Party cadres evacuate and return the office space that is over the standard. The notice is the 11th one the central administration has issued since 1988 on restricting the construction of excess office space and the third notice since March 2013 under the new administration. However none of them have been strictly enforced.

According to the auditing results that Zhejiang Province disclosed, in the first half of 2009, out of ten provincial government units audited, six had failed the audit. The highest average space per person was 220.2 square meters (2,370 square feet). On April 20, 2012, the National Audit Office’s audit results disclosed that, of the new government offices built in 2011 in Shan Tai County of Sichuan Province, 10 offices on the seventh floor had private bathrooms. The largest space was 66 square meters (710 square feet), exceeding the standard set for county level officials by 6.3 times.

Source: Xinhua, August 4, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-08/04/c_116800252.htm