Government/Politics - 248. page

On July 26, 2012, Xinhua reported that the Hefei Municipal Procuratorate (the state prosecutor’s office) in Anhui Province charged Gu Kailai, the wife of Politburo member Bo Xilai, along with a family aide named Zhang, with intentional homicide in the case of the deceased British businessman, Neil Heywood. The two were charged at the Hefei Intermediate People’s Court after “prosecutors interrogated them and spoke to their defense team.” Xinhua stated that the investigation showed that Gu and Zhang poisoned Heywood due to a business conflict between Gu and Heywood that also involved Gu’s son. Gu believed Heywood was threatening her son. "The facts of the two defendants’ crime are clear and the evidence is irrefutable and substantial. Therefore, the two defendants should be charged with intentional homicide and held accountable for their criminal liability."

Source: Xinhua, July 26, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2012-07/26/c_112544655.htm

On July 23, 2012, Hu Jintao spoke at the opening of a special symposium held for provincial Party leaders. The entire Politburo, including all nine members, attended the opening. In his remarks, Hu stated, “We face unprecedented opportunities as well as unprecedented challenges.” He further indicated that there have been great changes within the Party. “The external risks are unprecedented.” There are many urgent problems that need to be solved.

Source: Xinhua, July 23, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/video/2012-07/23/c_123457270.htm

Zhu Mingguo, the Guangdong Provincial Political and Legislative Committee Secretary, recently delivered a speech at a conference of the Guangdong political and legislative system leading cadres. Zhu emphasized the protection of the people’s rights and the engagement of a full negotiation with the people in stability maintenance work. Zhu expressed his preference for maintaining stability in a harmonious way. 

Source: China Review News, July 18, 2012
http://www.zhgpl.com/doc/1021/7/0/7/102170729.html?coluid=151&kindid=0&docid=102170729&mdate=0718091843

As of July 20, 2012, a total of 98 central government agencies had published their actual 2011 expenses and their budgeted expenses for 2012 in the following three spending areas: overseas trips, auto purchases, and maintenance expenses for meals and receptions. The total 2011 expenses in these categories amounted to 9.36 billion yuan. Overseas trips accounted for 1.98 billion; auto purchases and maintenance expenses accounted for 5.92 billion; and meals and receptions accounted for 1.47 billion. The 2011 actual expenses for the Ministry of Taxation alone were 2 billion yuan, with 1.36 in auto purchases and maintenance. The budgeted expenses for 2012 were down by 1.38 billion to 7.98 billion yuan with 2.14 for overseas trips, 4.35 for auto purchases and expenses, and 1.49 for meals and receptions. Spending for the armed police was in 2011 actuals, but that figure was excluded from the 2012 budget.

Some experts suggested that there were more areas in which expenses could be reduced further. For example, cutting unnecessary overseas trips could result in a reduction of 30 percent; auto purchases could be reduced as well by limiting the new car purchases and selling used cars to recoup some of the expenses. Others indicated that a system of checks and balances is lacking, where new guidelines are yet to be established. The article indicated that the parties who have violated the system should take more responsibility.

Source: China Economy, July 21, 2012
http://www.ce.cn/cysc/newmain/yc/jsxw/201207/21/t20120721_21196784.shtml

General Guo Boxiong, Politburo member and Vice Chairman of the Communist Central Military Commission, stated that the entire armed forces “must resolutely follow the Party’s command and remain absolutely loyal and reliable.” Guo made the remarks at the University of National Defense. Guo urged increasing ideological education because of the fact that the Party has absolute leadership of the armed forces. This will “ensure that the armed forces, ideologically, politically, and in action maintain consistency with the Central Military Commission and resolutely follow the command of the Party Central Committee, the Central Military Commission, and Chairman Hu.”  He also stressed that efforts be made to "ensure high solidarity, security, and stability among the troops.”

Source: Xinhua, July 17, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-07/17/c_112460636.htm

Qiushi published an article that discussed the importance of ideology in the international contest. The article stated, “Firmly controlling a nation’s ideological position is not only its core national interest, but is also an important bargaining chip in the international contest. Today’s world has left ‘the era of violence and money control’ and ‘nuclear bombs and rockets’ have moved to the back of the stage. Competing for ‘soft power,’ including the right to determine what language is spoken, controlling the Internet, issuing information, establishing the rules, and leading the cultural trend, have become the focus of competition for comprehensive national strength. In this ‘war without smoke,’ between all participating countries and based on international and domestic pressure, China has gained the forefront in the ideology struggle. China’s ideological development faces many challenges. The article listed the following challenges:

1. The culture infiltration of Western hostile forces threatens the security of China’s ideology. 2. Different thoughts interfere with the recognition of China’s mainstream ideology. 3. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc have weakened the belief in China’s mainstream ideology. 4. Development and modernization as the main theme and goal have diluted the confrontation among different ideologies. 5. Multi-value oriented development has impacted China’s mainstream ideology. 6. Information being networked is challenging the ability to control ideology.

Source: Qiushi, July issue, 2012
http://www.qstheory.cn/zz/zgtsshzyll/201207/t20120705_168290.htm

China’s State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT) has issued new rules to ban the dissemination of uncensored online videos and micro-films on the Internet. According to the new rules: 1) Webmasters must be responsible for censoring all online videos and micro films before broadcasting any of them; 2) Associations of Internet audio-visual programs must self-regulate their work; 3) Government administrative departments have the authority to manage all Internet entities, including issuing permits to them or closing them down .

Source: China Review News, July 9, 2012
http://www.zhgpl.com/doc/1021/6/3/2/102163256.html?coluid=45&kindid=0&docid=102163256&mdate=0709220610

Despite the fact that the Vatican objected to China’s appointment of two Catholic bishops, the Chinese Catholic Church held two Catholic bishop appointment ceremonies: on July 6, 2012, for Bishop Qiu Fusheng in Heilongjiang Province and on July 7, 2012, for Bishop Ma Daqing in Shanghai.

The Vatican stated that the appointments were illegal because the Pope did not approve of either of the two bishops. The spokesperson from the Chinese State Administration of Religious Affairs asserted that the Chinese Catholic Association should be treated equally with other churches and that all of their activities are legitimate and effective. Therefore the church organization (the Vatican) should respect them.

The Vatican approved a few bishop appointments in the past; more recently the Vatican has expressed dissatisfaction with the bishops that China has appointed. In July 2011, the Vatican excommunicated Chinese bishop Joseph Huang Bingzhang, who Beijing had appointed without Vatican approval.

According to China’s official statistics, there are 5.7 million Catholic Church believers in China. However, an independent source suggested that the number exceeds 12 million.

Source: BBC Chinese Edition, July 4, 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/chinese_news/2012/07/120702_china_vatican.shtml