Government/Politics - 243. page

The website of the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party carried an article which Guangming Daily had originally published. According to the article, under the directives of the Party organizations in the Ministry of Finance, starting in 2008, a strategic effort has been under way for the Party organization to achieve total coverage and membership in all accounting firms. By the end of July 2012, there were 3,264 Party organizations formed within the accounting firms with Party membership reaching 34,842.

Source: The United Front Work Department of Chinese Communist Party, September 18, 2012 http://www.zytzb.cn/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/tzb2010/S2012/201209/731552.html

Xinhua reported on the two day trial of former police chief Wang Lijun at the Chengdu Intermediate Court. It took place on September 17 and 18, 2012. “The Public Procurator produced relevant evidence. Two lawyers that Wang appointed presented his defense. The court announced that the judgment will be announced at a later date.”

“The testimonies of witnesses show that on January 28, 2012, when Wang reported to the then official in charge at the Chongqing Party Committee that Bo Gu Kalai might possibly be a major suspect in the November 15, 2011, (Heywood murder) case, Wang was angrily rebuked and slapped in the face.” Xinhua did not name Bo Xilai.

“On February 6, Wang canceled his scheduled official duties saying he had conflicts due to other engagements. At 14:31, Wang entered the Consular General’s office of the United States in Chengdu without authorization.”

“The indictment of the Public Procurator shows that Wang had a brief conversation with consular officials about environmental protection, education, and other matters. Wang then requested the United States to provide asylum and wrote an application for political asylum saying that he had received a threat to his personal safety as a result of investigating a case.”

Source: Xinhua reprinted by People’s Daily, September 20, 2012
http://leaders.people.com.cn/n/2012/0920/c58278-19056593.html

According to the “Blue Book on China’s Social Management,” which the International Institute for Urban Development released on Friday, September 14, 2012, the priority of China’s reform should be to develop five elements that are missing in Chinese society.

First, to develop the missing middle class. “The direction of social and even political reform” should be to reduce the gap between the rich and poor. 

Second, to develop the non-government sector of society. Currently without a sector of society that is outside of the government, every reform and innovation has resulted in the expansion of government agencies, which in turn has led to growth in the power of the government. Thus there is no buffer against social unrest.

Third, to develop mechanisms that are missing in the system. Mismanagement is rooted in a lack of appropriate mechanisms, including an effective mechanism that allows people to seek relief from government abuse.

Fourth, to develop the faith that is missing in society. What is prevalent is that people have lost their values, have low or little morality, and lack self-discipline. “When one does not believe in the government, law, faith and moral values, the only thing left in his spiritual pillar is violence. This is the primary root cause of the frequent violence in the current society.”

Fifth, to develop the missing authority. The traditional governance structure is disintegrating and the new one has yet to be established. One innovation needed in social management is to push the government from being a “development-oriented government” to a “service-oriented government.”

Source: China News Service reprinted by People’s Daily, September 14, 2012 
http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2012/0914/c70731-19013702.html

The State’s Xinhua Wenzhai published an article that discussed the internal and external challenges that the Communist Party faces as the ruling party in China. The top 10 challenges are in the following areas: wavering on the basic Party line; diluting the party’s ideology; an incomplete democratic system within the Party; an excessive concentration of power; slackness and a lack of will; complacency and incompetence; deviating from the Party’s mission and rampant bureaucracy; ignoring social justice and shaking the foundation of the Party’s governance; corruption and abuse; the formation of vested interest groups within the Party; and Westernization and ignoring the Western hostile forces efforts.

Source: Xinhua Wenzhai, reprinted at People’s Daily, August 30, 2012
http://theory.people.com.cn/n/2012/0830/c40531-18872226.html

People’s Daily reported that, on September 12, 2012, He Guoxiang, a Member of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee and Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, visited four media companies. While there, he made remarks, emphasizing the need to study and implement Hu Jintao’s speech made earlier at a forum attended by provincial level Party officials. He also called for further strengthening and improvement of the anti-corruption campaign and training with the goal of creating a favorable environment for the opening of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party.

[Editor’s note: This was the first time in 10 days that He Guoxiang made a public appearance. Since Xi Jinping had not been seen in public since September 1, one of many rumors was that the two had been injured in an automobile accident.]

Source: People’s Daily, September 13, 2012
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2012-09/13/nw.D110000renmrb_20120913_9-01.htm?div=-1

Last week a Chinese airline was called back to Beijing after 7 hours in the air flying to New York. Internet rumors had it that a politburo level official, who was fleeing China, was on the plane. The rumors prompted current references to information that had been published about officials fleeing the country.

China Economic Weekly under the People’s Daily featured an article in its 22nd Issue of 2012 on Communist Party officials fleeing China with large amounts of money. The article cited statistics released last year by China’s Academy of Social Science. It stated that 16,000 to 18,000 Party officials have fled the country since the mid 1990s, taking 800 billion yuan with them. For example, between August 3 and 5, 2003, on the eve of the effective date of the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime in China, Chinese customs authorities captured over 60 officials trying to exit China. One of them was carrying 600,000 Euros. The two UN conventions became effective in China on September 29, 2003. Within 24 hours, starting on the night of September 30, 2003, 51 Party officials were arrested at airports while trying to flee China.

Sources:
Radio Free Asia, September 5, 2012
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/sd-09052012143539.html
China Economic Weekly, June 4, 2012
http://paper.people.com.cn/zgjjzk/html/2012-06/04/content_1064433.htm?div=-1

Deng Yuwen, a deputy editor at Study Times, criticized Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao in a commentary he wrote, titled, “The Political Legacy of Hu and Wen.” The commentary was published on caijing.com.cn in three installments on August 30 and 31, and September 3, 2012.  In the second installment, Deng stated that during their ten years in power, Hu and Wen “created more problems than accomplishments” and they also brought about a legitimacy crisis for the Chinese Communist Party. The problems include the lack of political reform and more democracy. The commentary was soon taken down, although a search at caijin.com.cn still shows the title of the article.

Sources:
Wenxuecity.com, September 3, 2012 (contains a full version of the second installment of the commentary)
http://www.wenxuecity.com/news/2012/09/03/1956602.html
Caijing.com.cn
http://search.caijing.com.cn/index.jsp?key=%E9%82%93%E8%81%BF%E6%96%87&x=0&y=0&item=0

Yang Dacai, 55, head of the Shaanxi Provincial Bureau of Work Safety, was grinning in a photo taken after he arrived at the scene of a deadly traffic accident on Sunday in Yan’an, Shaanxi. Thirty-six people were killed when a bus rammed into a truck carrying a tank of methanol and caught fire. The photo triggered an online wave of criticism, which grew in strength when photos of Yang wearing five different watches, including Rolex, Mont Blanc and Radar, were posted online.

Although Yang defended his innocence claiming he had "used legal income" to buy them, the Party Discipline Inspection Commission of Shaanxi started an investigation. On Thursday, however, new photographs of Yang wearing four other watches appeared online. Experts identified those watches as two Rolexes, a Diagono by Bulgari, and a Constellation by Omega.

In recent years, a number of corrupt officials were uncovered via the Internet. Netizens accidentally ran across another official in Nanjing city who was found to be smoking 1,500-yuan cigarettes. This led to a series of other charges and, in 2009, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Beijing Institute of Technology professor Hu Xingdou said it involves “Chinese characteristics” to use Internet exposure to sack corrupt officials. It is also unfortunate that other conventional weapons against corruption, such as a public declaration of an official’s personal property, checks and balances of power, and monitoring by a free media, are not in place.

Source: Voice of America, September 6, 2012
http://www.voachinese.com/content/chinas-grasping-officials/1500248.html