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Guangming Daily: Stepping up Internet Control

On December 19, 2012, the state media, Guangming Daily, published a commentary titled “Establishing the Bottom Line in Applying the Rule of Law to the Internet World.” The commentary proclaimed that there is an urgent need to regulate activities on the Internet. “People use the Internet as a tool in their livelihood and in production. Activities on the Internet reflect society’s activities. The Internet cannot and should not become an empire where there is freedom but no restraint. … After all, the Internet should  never be above the law. … For China, we must immediately implement the rule of law to re-enforce control over the Internet. … It is urgent that legislation be passed to regulate the Chinese Internet.”

Source: Guangming Daily reprinted by Xinhua, December 20, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newmedia/2012-12/20/c_124121216.htm

People’s Daily Signals Tightening of Internet Blogging

On December 18, 2012, People’s Daily published an article titled “The Internet Is Not above the Law.” The article raised the issue that the Internet has been used for commercial fraud, malicious attacks, and rumor mongering. “[We] must be aware that the Internet is not above the law and that those who express themselves on the Internet may violate the law, knowingly or unknowingly. … An open China needs an Internet world that is civil, law-abiding, and healthy. Whether it is the government monitoring authorities or netizens themselves, we should all value this platform. It is unrealistic to require that every person’s remarks be correct and expressed in a right way; yet it is mandatory that people should be aware of the rule of law and be accountable for their own actions and remarks.”

Source: People’s Daily, December 18, 2012
http://society.people.com.cn/n/2012/1218/c1008-19929548.html

Xinhua: Nanjing Discontinued the Government’s Paid Health Care Benefits

Xinhua recently reported that, starting January 1, 2013, the City of Nanjing will no longer provide Government Paid Health Care Benefits for all people, including government officials and those working in government sponsored organizations. For decades, health care has been one of the primary benefits given to government workers. Nanjing is the capital city of Jiangsu Province, which is one of the wealthiest provinces in China. It is estimated that the move will impact over 200,000 people, who will all have to join publicly available insurance plans. Before this new move was announced, Jiangsu’s other twelve cities that the provincial government directly manages had already implemented the new policy. Many Nanjing residents could not believe that government officials would be losing this privilege. However, the new policy has two “catches” that are raising doubts. One is that government officials whose rank is above “Deputy Bureau Director” are exempt. Second, for a period of “transition” time, the government will cover the increased cost that government officials must pay because they must switch to a regular insurance plan. 
Source: Xinhua, December 15, 2012
http://www.xinhuanet.com/comments/20121215jrht/

Xinhua Commentary: China Has Made Significant Improvements in Human Rights

On December 12, 2012, the Chinese Society for Human Rights Studies and the China Foundation for Human Rights Development co-hosted the fifth Beijing Forum on Human Rights. On December 13, Xinhua published a commentary and stated that the forum “has had a significant impact in urging exchange and collaboration of the international community in promoting human rights; it also demonstrated the progress China has made in this area.”

As to the criticism that China has received from foreign media and from some Chinese people about its human rights record, the commentary stated that some are constructive while more are “one-sided and lack fairness.” The commentary also noted that China’s human rights are not perfect, just like the U.S., the human rights preacher, whose record is often criticized. The commentary further asserted that China should be recognized for the significant improvements it has made on human rights issues.

Source: Xinhua, December 13, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/comments/2012-12/13/c_114017998.htm

Xinhua: The Dalai Lama Orchestrated the Self Immolation Incidents in Sichuan

According to Xinhua, the Public Security Bureau of Sichuan Province arrested two suspects from Ngawa County. One suspect was a monk from Kirti Gompa temple who "admitted" that he received direct orders from the Dalai Lama Group, which persuaded eight civilians to commit self-immolation, resulting in three deaths. The police in Sichuan stated that they will “conduct further investigations and severely punish those criminal actions that incite, instigate, and coerce innocent civilians to conduct self-immolation.”

Source: Xinhua, December 9, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2012-12/09/c_113960646.htm

Xi Jinping Calls for a Powerful Strategic Missile Force

On December 5, 2012, the new Communist Party General Secretary and Central Military Commission Chairman, Xi Jinping, met with representatives of the Second Artillery Force of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). During the meeting, Xi ordered the Chinese military to build a powerful and technological missile force. He told those present, “The Second Artillery Force of the PLA is the core of the strategic deterrence forces, the strategic support of China as a major power, and an important cornerstone for safeguarding China’s national security.” Xi stressed the need to uphold the Communist Party’s absolute control of the military and to ensure the absolute loyalty of the military to the Party.

According to China’s Ministry of Defense, the Second Artillery Force is a strategic force under the direct command and control of the Central Military Commission. It is mainly responsible for deterring other countries from using nuclear weapons against China, and for conducting nuclear counterattacks and precision strikes with conventional missiles.

Sources:
Xinhua, December 5, 2012.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2012-12/05/c_113922221.htm
China’s Ministry of Defense
http://eng.mod.gov.cn/ArmedForces/second.htm

Senior Party Official Investigated for Corruption

On December 6, Xinhua announced that the Communist Party Central Commission for Discipline Inspection confirmed that Li Chuncheng, the Deputy Communist Secretary of Sichuan Province, is being investigated for “suspicion of serious discipline violations." The one sentence announcement did not offer details. Later Xinhua published a follow-up commentary which stated that the anti-corruption campaign is unfolding from the central government to local governments. Huanqiu, which is under People’s Daily also published a commentary. It stated that official media tend to categorize reports on corruption as being “sensitive” and that in every case in which official media delay or maintain a low profile when handling the publication of such reports, it creates the appearance of a cover-up. Li is the first senior party official to be investigated for corruption since the new Party General Secretary, Xi Jinping, took over from Hu Jintao in November.

Sources:
Xinhua, December 6, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-12/06/c_113923447.htm
Xinhua reprinted by Guangming Daily, December 6, 2012
http://legal.gmw.cn/2012-12/06/content_5920335.htm Huanqiu, December 6, 2012
Huanqiu, December 6, 2012
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2012-12/3349303.html

Shortage of Donated Organs Continues in China

Nanfang Daily reported that an organ donation and transplant cooperation project under China’s Ministry of Health recently held its 10th forum in Kunming. According to the report, in 2010, the Ministry of Health established a pilot project for organ donations. In 2011, it expanded to 19 locations. Since then, 480 operations were conducted on the donors, with 1,294 organs donated, thus saving the lives of over 1,200 people. Experts attending the meeting agreed that the shortage of organs for transplant continues to remain a major issue at present.

[Editor’s Note: On December 2, 2012, three American doctors created a petition at whitehouse.gov to petition the Obama Administration to “investigate and publicly condemn organ harvesting" as people in China are "killed on demand to fuel China’s lucrative organ transplant industry." http://wh.gov/5Jmn.]

Sources:
Nanfang Daily, December 4, 2012
http://epaper.nfdaily.cn/html/2012-12/04/content_7148347.htm
http://wh.gov/5Jmn