Government/Politics - 234. page

According to a China Gate article reprinted from Apple Daily, “The Red Terror is appearing again in Mainland Chinese Newspapers and Websites." Reports have been widely disseminated that the National Propaganda Council of Ministers (also translated as National Publicity Council of Ministers) has issued an order to get rid of ‘three new types of anti-personnel’ (Anti- Communist Party, Anti-Government, and Anti-Nation).”

On January 4, 2013, the National Propaganda Council of Ministers met in Beijing. Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee and the President of the Party School of the CCP Central Committee, attended the meeting and delivered a speech. Liu Yunshan served as Minister of the Central Government Propaganda Department for several years. He has now taken command of suppressing public opinion.

Source: China Gate, April 2, 2013
http://www.wenxuecity.com/news/2013/04/02/2318501.html

On March 28, 2013, Liu Yunshan, Principal of the Central Party School, hosted a forum at the Central Party School in Beijing. Liu discussed strengthening the need for the Party members to study and carry out the key messages that President Xi Jinping delivered during the 80th anniversary of the Party School. Liu called for the entire Party to launch a campaign to “study, do research on, and practice (Party ideology). The forum recognized the improvements already made in Party members’ behavior while mentioning unhealthy tendencies, including a "lack of diligence and focus in study and a disconnect between studying theories and applying the theories." The participants in the forum included representatives of the students and teachers from Party schools at the provincial levels, advanced research classes, and youth league classes.

Source: Xinhua, March 29, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/zgjx/2013-03/29/c_132269962.htm

On March 27, 2013, the front page of China’s state-run media People’s Daily was displayed on the bulletin board (Today’s Front Pages) of the U.S. news museum (Newseum) located on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. At the same time, Newseum’s sixth floor exhibition hall also showed the day’s front page of People’s Daily. People’s Daily reported this news and bragged that the front page of People’s Daily was displayed in the U.S. capital in Washington, D.C. for the first time. [Editor’s note: As a news museum, Newseum has many galleries displaying the news from different periods in history and major events, as well as front pages from each state and 80 samples from over 700 countries around the world.]

On March 23 and 24, 2013, the "World China Study" Forum was held at the Shanghai World Expo Center. It was co-sponsored by the State Council Press Office and the Shanghai municipal government, including the Shanghai Social Science Academy and the Shanghai City Press Office. About 500 scholars in China studies came from around the world to discuss the relationship between China and the rest of the world, as well as China’s development road in the next decade.

Three scholars were given awards for their contribution to China studies:

Сергей Леонидович Тихвинский, a Russian Science Academy member, the former Russian special ambassador to China; Ezra Feivel Vogel, the Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences Emeritus at Harvard University, former Director of the Fairbank Center for East Asian Studies; and Jao Tsung-I (Mandarin Pinyin: Ráo Zōngyí), the emeritus Chairman of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). He is currently the Wei Lun Honorary Professor of Fine Art and Emeritus Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at CUHK.

Source: Guangming Website, March 23
http://politics.gmw.cn/2013-03/23/content_7094334.htm

On March 24, 2013, Qiao Xiaoyang, director of China’s National People’s Congress Law Committee, spoke at a forum where he explained the central government’s bottom line on the universal suffrage discussed for Hong Kong in 2017. Qiao said that anyone who stands against the central government will never be accepted as chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

Qiao’s purpose was to  reaffirm the bottom line on behalf of the central government: to ensure that Hong Kong residents consciously not choose a candidate who opposes the Chinese Communist Party.

Source: Hong Kong Wenweipo, March 25, 2013
http://trans.wenweipo.com/gb/paper.wenweipo.com/2013/03/25/WW1303250003.htm

On March 12, 2013, the Hong Kong English newspaper South China Morning Post posted the following question on “Today’s Poll” on its website: “Given the option, would Hong Kongers vote to return to being a British overseas territory?”  By March 16, several thousand people had voted. The results showed that 91 percent voted yes. Since Saturday March 16, that vote has been the most popular topic on the newspaper’s website. It has generated heated discussions and many commentaries in other social media websites as well.

Some readers’ feedback was that they did not like the poll. Some thought the poll was biased, as the majority of the newspaper’s readers are the 600,000 Hong Kong residents who hold passports issued by Western countries or they are foreigners who live in Hong Kong. Some commented that the results will shock the government of the Special Administrative Region (SAR) and Beijing.

The South China Morning Post has over 100,000 readers each week. It just introduced the new edition at the end of August 2012.

Source: BBC Chinese, March 16, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2013/03/130316_scmp_poll.shtml

On March 12, Yu Zhengsheng, the 4th ranking member of the 18th Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee and the new Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), gave a speech at the closing meeting of the first session of the CPPCC. He said, "We should comprehensively and accurately study and understand the bright theme, spiritual essence, and strategic planning of the 18th Congress of the Party; comprehensively and accurately study and understand the series of important speeches of General Secretary Xi Jinping; and continuously deepen our understanding of the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, its theoretical framework, and social system. We must unswervingly adhere to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, uphold and improve the multi-party cooperation and political consultation system under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, and firmly take the path of socialistic political development with Chinese characteristics. We should never copy the Western political system, always maintain a firm and correct political direction, and consolidate the common ideological and political foundation of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference."

Source: Xinhua, March 12, 2013
http://news.xinhuanet.com/2013lh/2013-03/12/c_114995349.htm

BBC Chinese published a report that discussed the statements that two Chinese leaders made during the recent National People’s Congress. Wang Yang, Member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China, attended the meeting held by the delegates of the National People’s Congress from An Hui Province. Wang praised the development China has made in recent years and attributed China’s success to the system and path that it has adopted. Wang said that China is developing rapidly and peacefully; he said the Western world is concerned about it and has used a number of methods in an attempt to slow down China’s growth. On March 8, Wu Bangguo, the departing Chairman and Party Secretary of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, asserted that China will consistently adopt the system that is represented by its people and will not follow the political model of the Western world. In 2009, Wu also denied the possibility that China would ever allow multiple parties.

Source: BBC Chinese, March 8, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2013/03/130308_china_politics_wangyang.shtml