Government/Politics - 257. page

Qiushi published an article about China’s image in international communities. The article stated that Western mainstream reports tend to “demonize, marginalize, and mystify” China. “In the political arena, the BBC, CNN and other Western mainstream media are highly concerned about how the Chinese government handles emergencies [social unrest]. Positive comments on the Chinese government primarily focus on the speed and attitude of the Chinese government’s reactions. … Compared to the American media led by CNN, the Western European media, represented by the BBC, tend to do reports that are more critical of China. For example, the BCC favors subjects related to Chinese minorities and ecology. In particular, its ‘Hard Talk’ program centers on Tibet and frequently interviews advocates of Tibetan Independence.” The article cited the example of BBC reports on poor weather during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics, which touched off one criticism after another of China’s environmental problems, “while in the U.S., ABC edited the footage of the Olympic opening ceremony and its effect was much more beautiful than that edited by China’s domestic media.”

Source: Qiushi, February 20, 2012
http://www.qstheory.cn/gj/zgwj/201202/t20120220_139574.htm

China’s Academy of Social Sciences published a report on a survey that indicated that more government officials (38.9%) than those of the general public (34.2%) agree that their children can be citizens or residents of foreign countries. The report concluded that those government officials of higher rank are even more likely to agree regarding their children. The ratio of those officials at the provincial/ministerial level is 53.3%; for those at the level of department chiefs or city mayors, it is 53.4%; county chiefs, 51.7%, and at the level of township chiefs 49.6%. The survey on which the above conclusions were based was conducted among government officials in 23 provinces and cities.

[Editor’s note: In China, the government bureaucratic hierarchy is, ranked in a descending order, premier, followed by provincial governors or ministerial heads, and then city mayors, county, and township chiefs.]

Source: Southern Metropolis Daily, February 21, 2012
http://nf.nfdaily.cn/nfdsb/content/2012-02/21/content_38395262.htm

The Chinese state-run media People’s Daily and Xinhua both published a report describing Chinese Internet users’ reactions to the statement that the Japanese Mayor of Nagoya made denying [that the Japanese committed] the “Nanjing Massacre.”

The Chief Editor of Huanqiu (a newspaper under People’s Daily) summarized the statements from Internet users in saying that the Mayor of Nagoya must apologize. If he doesn’t, China should declare he is an unwelcome person, bar him from entering China, and impose personal sanctions against him. At the same time, all Chinese tour groups should bypass Nagoya, allowing the crisis to escalate. 

Source: Xinhua, February 23, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-02/23/c_122741053.htm

On February 21, 2012, Nanfang Daily, an official Guangdong Provincial Communist Party newspaper, reprinted an article from People’s Daily (the original article is no longer available on the Internet), titled “Guangdong to Organize Thousands of Internet Commentators to Guide Public Opinion Online – Don’t Remain Silent When an Incident Occurs.”

In a speech that Zhu Mingguo, the deputy secretary of the CCP’s Guangdong Provincial Committee, delivered at a conference held by the Guangdong Provincial Federation of Labor Union, Zhu stated, “In today’s era of the Internet and blogs, everyone is a spokesman; everyone can be a reporter. The younger generations of workers all know the Internet. Therefore, the (CCP) labor union cadres must also know how to use the Internet. Whenever anything bad happens, cadres must not remain silent. ‘Not saying anything’ or ‘speaking too much’ will make things worse.”

Source: Nanfang Daily, February 21, 2012
http://media.nfdaily.cn/content/2012-02/21/content_38425919.htm

On September 5, 2011, Zhejiang Daily published an article, titled “A Five-Step Process: Actively Guiding Public Opinion Online.” A CCP propaganda department chairman in Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, wrote an article summarizing Taizhou City’s propaganda process on how to deal with sudden public incidents.

Step 1: Within three hours of a sudden incident, publish an online news brief and become the first authoritative voice on the Internet. Step 2: Within 12 hours, hold an online news conference to announce the relevant information based on “the principle of a quick release of the facts with cautious reports on the reasons and more reports on attitude” (relating to the sincerity of the government). Step 3: Mobilize Internet commentators (paid by the government) to set up online discussion topics and give positive responses. Step 4: Immediately follow-up with reports on any new developments. Step 5: Toward the end of the incident, when the public’s attention shifts away, issue fewer reports. At that time, no summarized reports or experience sharing reports are allowed so as to avoid another wave of heated discussion on the Internet.

Source: Zhejiang Daily, September 5, 2011
http://zjdaily.zjol.com.cn/html/2011-09/05/content_1069329.htm?div=-1

On February 2, 2012, People’s Daily published an article titled “How to Understand and Maintain Internet Sovereignty.” The article declared that “Internet sovereignty is a new form of national sovereignty,” which needs regulations and rules of conduct. The Internet is a new medium for exercising national information sovereignty. To some extent, however, the Internet erodes national information sovereignty. “The State is no longer the only center for the dissemination of information. Various actors can release information on the Internet, which undermines the state’s power over information ownership and control.”

The article suggests “exploring an Internet development path that suites China’s national conditions” so as to “effectively prevent Internet risks and resolve Internet crises.”

Source: People’s Daily, February 2, 2012-02-22
http://opinion.people.com.cn/GB/17003075.html

Wang Lijun, the former director of public security and vice mayor of the southwestern China city of Chongqing, who disguised himself and went secretly to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu City, and who China’s State Security officials later escorted to Beijing, is now nowhere to be found. His relatives have sought information from the authorities about Wang’s whereabouts, but to no avail. Last Thursday, Xinhua said that the Chinese authorities were investigating why Wang Lijun, one of its top police chiefs, spent a day inside the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu. Since then, there has been no official information from the Chinese authorities. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Ming Pao reported that Beijing has concluded that the Wang incident is a “very serious political problem.”

Sources:
Boxun, February 16, 2012
http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2012/02/201202141723.shtml
Xinhua, February 9, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-02/09/c_122681189.htm
Ming Pao reprinted by Nanyang Post, February 14, 2012
http://www.nanyangpost.com/news/china/8717.html

On February 13, 2012, the International Herald Leader, a newspaper under Xinhua News Agency, published an analytical article on its front page in which it observed, “The capitalist system has encountered the biggest crisis since its birth.” Holding Western capitalism accountable for the financial crisis and the economic recession since 2008, the article described “signs of a resurgence of Marxism” in the Western world.

“After the 21st century, though crises have occurred in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, contradictions still exist in the capitalist society. That is why more and more scholars value Marxism. Especially since the financial crisis, more and more people have been accepting the Marxist doctrine.”

Source: International Herald Leader, February 13, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2012-02/13/c_131402521.htm