Government/Politics - 233. page

Recently, the “China Dream” has become a very hot phrase in China’s media. A Xinhua article goes so far as to say that "the China dream should also be the world dream.” 

On February 25, 2013, Huang Jiefu, China’s Vice Minister of Health, spoke at a conference where he stated that China is the only country that systematically uses organs from executed prisoners.

According to Beijing Youth Daily, Huang stated, “For a long time, China has relied on executed prisoners as a primary source for organ transplants. Although the law provides that prisoners on death row may ‘voluntarily donate organs,’ there are loopholes in the implementation of the law. China is the only country in the world that systematically uses the organs of executed prisoners. This is not commensurate with China’s status as a major political power and a civilized country. Because an organ donation system has not been established at the national level, the organ transplantation industry has had many problems. The international hostile forces exaggerate this matter (the use of organs from executed prisoners), and attack our country’s human rights and civilization. They react negatively to all the reports about organ transplants in China and their principle is not to accept, nor publish, nor cooperate …”

Source: Beijing Youth Daily reprinted by Legal Daily, February 26, 2013                                       http://www.legaldaily.com.cn/index/content/2013-02/26/content_4223855.htm?node=20908

On February 21, 2013, Huanqiu (the Chinese edition of Global Times) published an editorial explaining why China does not have true friends. According to the article, the relationship between countries is based on “the pursuit of common interests.” Once their core interests conflict with each other, the relationship between two countries will become indifferent or they may even be hostile to each other. “Because the United States is the only super power in the world, some countries have chosen to become its allies and hold its ‘thick legs.’” The editorial observed that, as China becomes more and more powerful, those that choose to be hostile to China will gradually lose their future.

Source: Huanqiu, February 21, 2013
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2013-02/3661084.html

The Central Politburo held a meeting on February 23, 2013, in which they discussed the draft restructuring plan of the state council. The participants at the meeting also agreed to have the Second Plenary Session of the Party’s 18th Central committee on February 26 to 28. It was reported that the central committee will provide a list of recommended candidates to be the leaders of government agencies as well as candidates for the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

Source: Xinhua, February 23, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-02/23/c_114777310.htm

Geng Yansheng, spokesman for China’s Ministry of Defense, held a press briefing on February 20, 2013. At the briefing, he dismissed Mandiant’s report about cyber attacks emanating from China as groundless. He stated, “Chinese law prohibits any activities that undermine cyber security, including hacker attacks. The Chinese government always and resolutely cracks down on related criminal activities. The Chinese armed forces have never supported any hacking activities.”

Geng said that Mandiant’s report was groundless for several reasons. First its conclusion that the source of cyber attacks came from China was based solely on its discovery that the attacks were linked to IP addresses based in China. It is common that hacking attacks are carried out by using other people’s IP addresses. Second, the world has not developed any clear and consistent definition of cyber attacks and thus the report is without legal basis. Third, cyber attacks are transnational, anonymous, and deceptive; their sources are rather difficult to identify. Releasing irresponsible information will not help solve problems.

Geng further said that China actually is a major victim of cyber attacks. By tracing the IP addresses (of attacks in China), it was found that many of the attacks came from the United States.

Source: Xinhua, February 20, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-02/20/c_114738517.htm

On February 13, the day before Valentine’s Day, People’s Daily published an opinion piece, "Valentine’s Day Is about Love, Not about a ‘Hotbed’ of Corruption and Degenerate Behavior."

The article said, "In recent years, this romantic holiday, which originally belonged to single men and women, has become an excuse for some married men and women to seek excitement. It has become a ‘hotbed’ for a small number of Party members and cadres to become ideologically degenerate, lead a dissipated life, and become corrupt. They also use this romantic holiday to adopt a variety of forms to meet demands from their ‘lover,’ even using their power and spending huge amounts of money, just so as to win a smile from the beauty. What particularly needs our attention is that this phenomenon has gradually spread to our Party members and cadres, and has even penetrated to a small number of senior cadres. In Recent years, the Party has investigated and punished a few senior officials, including Bo Xilai, Liu Zhijun, and Chen Liangyu. In addition to their abuse of authority for personal gain and trading power for money, there is another significant characteristic. It is ‘having mistresses’ and ‘engaging in improper sexual relations with multiple women.’"

Source: People’s Daily, February 13, 2013
http://hb.people.com.cn/n/2013/0213/c337099-18154196.html

China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection said on February 14, 2013, that, as of February 13, 2013, at 10 a.m. and based on data it has collected, the radiation level was normal in Beijing, Harbin, Changchun, Shenyang, and other cities in China.

The Ministry said, "North Korea’s third nuclear test has not had any impact on our nation’s environment and our people’s health. No artificial nuclear radiation from the nuclear test has been detected within our borders." According to the Ministry, data from 25 monitoring stations and 12 mobile locations in the northeastern border region (close to North Korea) showed that radiation levels were normal and within the daily average. The Ministry stated, “If any radiation had been released, it would have moved toward the southeast; as of today, it has not had any impact on China.”

Source: The Ministry of Environmental Protection, reprinted by Huanqiu, February 14, 2013 http://world.huanqiu.com/regions/2013-02/3639513.html

Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the China Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, visited the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and the Lanzhou Military District Command on February 2 and 3, 2013. While touring the Lanzhou Military District Command, Xi emphasized that China “must make efforts to expand and deepen military readiness, to promote the acceleration of the development of information technology, and to constantly enhance the combat capability of information systems; this is to ensure that the military troops quickly respond when called upon, are ready to fight when responding, and will win if engaged in a war.”

Source: Xinhua, February 6, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-02/06/c_114637957.htm