Government/Politics - 236. page

Earlier this year, a young man, Yang Chong, held a placard in front of the Guangzhou Municipal Government office, calling on Chinese leader Hu Jintao to publicly disclose his personal assets. The authorities reportedly sentenced him to a year in prison on charges of "illegal logging," because of a previous case.

During the gathering at the end of March in 2012, Yang and more than 10 other young people called on Hu Jintao to initiate political reform.

Overseas Chinese media reported that the Guangzhou authorities put the young people in detention on charges of “illegal gathering.” They suddenly disappeared overnight. Some were secretly escorted back to their place of origin; some were sentenced to a labor camp; some simply went missing.

Hong Kong based Apple Daily reported on December 29, 2012, that Yang’s family was informed that the Jiangxi Hukou County Court had sentenced him to one year for “illegal logging.” His term began on April 28, 2012. Yang had been involved in a deforestation case three years ago. The authorities reopened the case, even though it had already been settled. Yang has entered his second appeal. Yang’s lawyer said that Yang Chong firmly claimed he was innocent.

Source: VOA Chinese, December 28, 2012
http://www.voachinese.com/content/hu-jintao-20121228/1574269.html

Recently, in response to waves of online reports netizens have posted about the corruption of government officials, People’s Daily published a series of commentaries on tightening the control of speech on the Internet.

On December 23, 2012, People’s Daily published a commentary titled, “With a Bottom Line, [the Internet] Can be Healthy.” The commentary stated, “Openness does not mean a person can do whatever he likes; freedom of expression does not equate to cursing all over the place; information sharing does not mean a person can freely publish others’ private affairs and spread rumors everywhere.”

On December 24, People’s Daily published another commentary on the same subject, titled “Place the Straitjacket of the Rule of Law on the Internet World.” The author advocated, “Only by placing the straitjacket of the rule of law on the Internet, … and making the offenders bear the burden of their offense, can we possibly rein in those irresponsible rumors.”

Source: People’s Daily, December 23 and 24, 2012
http://opinion.people.com.cn/n/2012/1223/c1003-19983605.html
http://opinion.people.com.cn/n/2012/1224/c1003-19994325.html

Li Jianguo, a newly elected Chinese Communist Politburo Member and the National People’s Congress Vice Chairman, has been accused of violating China’s Civil Service Law. He promoted his nephew-in-law, Zhang Hui, from a deputy division chief to the Party Secretary of Shizhong District in Jining City in Shangdong Province, making Zhang the youngest department-level cadre, thus violating the law.

On December 16, 2012, Han Chongguang from Handan, Hebei Province posted a miniblog stating that he had just made a report, using his real name, of the alleged violation to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for investigation. "Around 5 pm on the afternoon of December 16, 2012, I published a posting on the [sina] miniblog in which I used my real name to report on Zhang Hui, who was promoted in violation of regulations. Twenty minutes later, the posting was re-posted over 1,500 times. At 5:25, the sina miniblog administrator deleted my posting. I re-posted it nine times and each time the posting was deleted.”

Li served as the Party Secretary for Shangdong Province from 2007 to 2008 before being promoted to Vice Chairman of the National People’s Congress. He became a Politburo member in November 2012.

Source: China Yulun Wang, December 16 and 17, 2012
http://www.yulun55.us/article/8723.html
http://www.yulun55.com/article/8715.html

According to an article in Xinhua, the abuse of office increases as the end of the year approaches. “A county in Inner Mongolia is known for its hot springs. The deputy of the county magistrate in charge of external propaganda complained to the Xinhua reporter that, when the year end is just around the corner, many government departments come to visit the county to conduct inspections. One day, he received over a dozen official guests. What most of them wanted was to experience the hot springs. He ended up having eight hot baths that day. By the end of the day, he was almost dehydrated. For the last bath, he did not even bother to change clothes. He just waited right in the tub for his guests to join him.” In another county in Inner Mongolia, a county official told the reporter that, on that day, he had four breakfasts with those visiting officials.

Source: Xinhua, December 20, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/local/2012-12/20/m_124120545.htm

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

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

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