Government/Politics - 231. page

Study Times published a commentary that criticized the princelings (the offspring of former high-ranking Party officials) who succeeded their parents when they took over key government and Party positions. The article considered this to be a major form of corruption.The Chinese people have given it the most criticism because it serves to “severely destroy the legitimacy of our Party’s rule."

“Legitimacy stems from a set of widely accepted principles, which could be democracy or non-democracy, but at least it must mean what it stands for. If you emphasize that people are the masters of the power, you must truly let the people feel they can choose who is in power, makes decisions, and expresses their opinion on major issues.”
 
“We used guns to taker power. This is the origin of the legitimacy of our ruling power. While the people in China may think it makes sense for whoever used guns to take power to rule the country, we must not forget that … we obtained legitimacy by upholding the banner of democracy."

Source: Study Times, June 10, 2013
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2013/06/10/03/03_34.htm

Qiushi Theory recently published a commentary intended to counter the opinions that “China’s one party rule is the root cause of the corruption problem” and that “Only a multi-party system can make clean governance a possibility.” The commentary stated that these opinions lack the support of historical evidence and theory. It listed a number of arguments and examples to support this claim. One was that the role of the party system represents the interests of various political groups and the system itself does not contain the ability to curb corruption. A multi-party system will not prevent corruption and the corruption in that system could be worse at times. Corruption exists in countries that have a multi-party system, while, at the same time, a country with one party rule can also bring clean governance. the commentary held that China’s system of one party rule offers the best advantage to solve the corruption issues.

Source: Qiushi Theory, June 8, 2013
http://www.qstheory.cn/dj/ffcl/201306/t20130608_238501.htm

On June 8, Liu Yunshan, first Secretary of the Central Secretariat of the Party, visited several cultural renovation bases in Beijing, including the Design Resource Cooperative, which hosts over 30 cultural entities, Zhongguancun Science Park, and the Beijing Gehua CATV Network Company. Liu praised the cultural renovation work that the the municipality of Beijing had accomplished and stressed that a new mission and requirements have been laid out for cultural entities. He also stated that the reform of the cultural system is urgently needed in order to accomplish the goal of the “China Dream” ideology that Xi Jinping raised.

Source: People’s Daily, June 9, 2013
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2013/0609/c1024-21796196.html

Qiushi published an article written by Li Junru, the former Vice President of the Party School of The Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The article dealt with the relationship between Xi Jinping’s China Dream and the open door reform. “Considering the great cause of China’s open door reform, turning the ‘China Dream’ into a reality is the great objective of deepening that open door reform; the deepening of the open door reform is the powerful driving force to achieve the ‘China Dream.’”

“If we look at the period from the Opium War in 1840 to the year 2050, as we basically achieve modernization, the road to realizing China’s dream is a period of over 200 years.” The first one-hundred year period, according to the article, was to realize the dream of “national independence and the liberation of the people” through the Party leading a people’s revolution. The second one-hundred year period is to realize the dream of “national prosperity, and all people getting rich.” This part depends on the the Party’s leadership of the open door reform.

Source: Qiushi, May 27, 2013
http://www.qstheory.cn/wh/whzl/201305/t20130527_234129.htm

People’s Daily (overseas edition) published an article commenting on China’s new look in its diplomatic stance on foreign affairs. The article said, “China has always been low-key and subtle, but observers have found that China’s voice on foreign affair is becoming increasingly clear and strong. Especially in the matter of its core interests, China’s diplomatic stance is strong and bold.” 

On May 28, People’s Daily published the full text of a new “Opinion.” The Organization Department, the Propaganda Department of the Communist Party Central Committee, and the Communist Party leadership of the Ministry of Education issued the Opinion jointly.

The Opinion contains 16 requirements that focus on the enhancement of the “ideological and political” training of the nation’s younger educators. It mandates that Party organizations at all levels must “strengthen the development of young university teachers so that they will improve their ideological and political qualities in order to better implement the spirit of the Party’s 18th National Congress.”

“A few young teachers are lost in their political beliefs. They have fuzzy ideals and beliefs, their occupational and professional ethics are fading. … They cannot serve as role models for others." In addition to strengthening the Party’s leadership and control at all levels, the Opinion requires that all must “strengthen their study of political theory, deepen their education in the theoretical systems of Marxism, Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, and socialism with Chinese characteristics, and engage in in-depth study and practice of the concept of scientific development.

[Editor’s note: Analysts observed that the Opinion is one more example of the Xi government’s recent proactive efforts to exert tighter control over ideology. This Opinion came on the heels of the list of the seven taboo topics that the General Office of the Party’s Central Committee established. The list was reportedly distributed to universities across China. The seven topics that teachers cannot mention in class are: universal values, press freedom, civil society, citizens’ rights, the historical mistakes of the Party, the financial and political elite, and judicial independence.]

Source: People’s Daily, May 28, 2013
http://edu.people.com.cn/n/2013/0528/c1053-21643996.html

Red Flag Manuscript, the bi-weekly publication of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee’s Qiushi Journal, published an article that criticized Constitutional Governance, saying its ideals and key institutional elements “only belong to capitalism and the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie."

Yang Xiaoqing, a law professor at Renmin University of China, authored the article. He compared Constitutional Governance to the Chinese regime’s "Socialistic People’s Democracy." For example, the former is based upon private ownership and a market economy, while the latter is based on an economy of public ownership; the armed forces under Constitutional Governance are neutral and belong to the government, while the military in the "Socialistic People’s Democracy" is under the absolute leadership of the Communist Party. The author believes that "Constitutional Governance, as a comprehensive governance system, is not universally applicable" and that "its key institutional elements and ideals do not fit the socialist countries." The article also disapproved of Constitutional Governance as being deceptive. "The freedom and democracy on the surface cover up its essence, which is the freedom and democracy of the bourgeoisie and the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie." "Constitutional Governance boasts of a separation of powers with checks and balances, but, in reality, it is not a true separation of powers."

The article concluded that China’s "People’s Democracy" must not be called "socialist constitutional governance" because the people’s democracy and constitutional governance are two fundamentally different political systems. In the end, constitutional governance does not fit China’s national conditions.

Many Chinese Internet users criticized the article. One user responded, "It seems the people at high levels have never thought about really implementing the rule of law, democracy, constitutional governance, and human rights." Another said, "The root of China’s problems is the absence of constitutional government. Now someone blatantly claims, on one side, that a constitutional government does not fit China, but, on the other, it cannot really solve the increasingly serious social crisis. Either go for constitutional government, or go for the guillotine." Another one said, "The core of constitutional governance is democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. It is in favor of limiting the government to protect the rights of citizens. If one actually puts a capitalistic label onto democracy and human rights, that amounts to covering up the reality with its own ideology."

Source: BBC Chinese, May 21, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2013/05/130521_china_capitalism.shtml

According to Mainland media reports, the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee recently issued a circular called “About the Current Ideological Situation.” The circular pointed out seven areas in which problems exist in the field of ideology. It requested that local governments have meetings about applying the contents of the circular in practice. Reports seem to confirm the truth of existing “rumors” that “Talk about Seven Topics Is Forbidden” in universities and colleges. Teachers cannot discuss the following seven topics with students: universal values, freedom of the press, civil society, citizen’s rights, the Chinese Communist Party’s historical errors, the Bourgeois elite, and judicial independence.

Source: Mingpao, May 14, 2013
http://premium.mingpao.com/cfm/mem_Login1.cfm?SuccessUrl=%2Fcfm%2FContent_News.cfm%3FChannel%3Dca%26Path%3D100853875143%2Fcab1.cfm
http://news.sina.com.hk/news/20130514/-9-2968267/1.html