Government/Politics - 261. page

On January 21, 2012, Qiushi, a flagship publication of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee published an article titled, “Cultural Soft Power Is the Unity of Direction and Quantity.” According to the article, China must “use the socialist core value system to guide the development of ideology in society.” The article criticized and opposed “neo-liberal ideas,” the ideas of "democratic socialism saving China," a "Confucian-oriented China," and "universal values.” The article stated that, at the same time, China can learn any capitalist management principle, mechanism, or technique that is conducive to the development of China’s cultural undertakings and culture industry.

Source: Qiushi, January 21, 2012
http://www.qstheory.cn/hqwg/2012/201202/201201/t20120121_135708.htm

On January 16, 2012, Qiushi published an article titled, “Make Every Effort to Improve Party Leaders’ Credibility.” The article proposed five ways to improve Party leaders’ credibility: 1) Strengthen people’s faith in Communism; 2) Strengthen ties with the masses; 3) Change the concept of being the authorities and provide good services for the masses; 4) Follow rules and procedures; 5) (Have an attitude of) dare not corrupt and cannot be corrupted.

The article lists some examples on how to improve the Party leaders’ credibility, including sending letters to the Party cadres during holidays to remind them, presenting relevant shows, having relevant conversations, having corrupt officials who are in prison share their experiences, visiting farmers in the rural areas, severely punishing corrupt officials, and building an electronic monitoring system.

Source: Qiushi, January 16, 2012
http://www.qstheory.cn/dj/201201/t20120112_134628.htm

On the eve of the New Year, the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council held a joint Chinese New Years’ event in the Great Hall of the People. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao delivered a speech at the gathering. “The new year is an important year in the course of the development of our country. We will strengthen and improve macro-control, continue to maintain rapid economic development and stable prices, accelerate the transformation of development patterns, adjust the economic structure, improve the coordination and sustainability of development, push harder on the reform and opening up, continuously increase the vitality and momentum of economic and social development, and place more importance on protecting and improving people’s livelihoods to let the people share in the achievements of the reform and development!”

Wen stated, "We are going to face bigger challenges in the new year."

Source: Xinhua, January 21, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2012-01/21/c_111456893.htm

Source: Study Times, January 16, 2012
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2012/01/16/06/06_48.htm

Study Times published an article on the Communist Party’s objective of developing and promoting its mainstream culture. According to the article, the key to enhancing China’s soft power “is to develop and nurture our own mainstream culture that is attractive, appealing, and easy to spread.”

“In today’s society, the socialist mainstream culture in our country is the socialist culture with Chinese characteristics that is guided by Marxism, drawn from the fine traditional Chinese culture and the fine cultural heritage of the world, [maintains] the advanced nature and the spirit of contemporary times, and serves the people.” The article expressed the belief that the mainstream culture must be heavily promoted and marketed in order to ensure that the people accept it. “Moreover, [we] should have brand-name mainstream culture products to effectively take over the international culture market, win over international consumers, and ultimately improve the position of our mainstream culture in the world’s culture and enhance the our country’s cultural soft power.” 

Source: Study Times, January 16, 2012
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2012/01/16/15/15_26.htm

In preparation for the Party’s 18th National Congress, an unidentified senior official from the Communist Party’s Organization Department stated in an interview with Xinhua that representatives from the front line grassroots will account for more than 32% of the total representatives and Party leaders at various levels will account for no more than 68%. There will be a significant increase in representatives of the workers working in national State-owned enterprises. Of the total representatives who are from provinces, districts, and cities, about 10% will be workers.

The representatives will come from about 3,890,000 local Party organizations with over 80 million Party members. According to the Party official, there will be 2,270 representatives attending the 18th National Congress of the Party, 50 more than the number that attended the 17th National Congress. “The representatives to the 18th national Congress must be the outstanding elements of the Party. [We emphasize that they must be politically advanced, which means] the representatives must hold firm beliefs [in Communism], be politically correct, have good character, excellent job performance, and a strong ability to perform their duties as representative.”

Source: Qiushi, January 13, 2012
http://www.qstheory.cn/dj/201201/t20120113_134700.htm

On January 6, 2012, Qiushi, a journal of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, published an article titled “Independent Media Are the Guardians of the Capitalist System.” The article is a short commentary that intends to solicit more supportive comments from Internet users. It invites them to post their comments in a box below the article to “list examples explaining why independent media cannot really be independent and to further analyze the biggest truth behind independent media so as to lead people to discuss and understand the nature of freedom of press in the West.”

Citing the “Murdoch News Corporation scandal” and the U.S. mainstream media’s “delayed” and “negative” reports on "Occupy Wall Street," the article criticizes freedom of the press in the West as a “self-proclaimed signboard.”

Source: Qiushi Journal, January 6, 2012
http://www.qstheory.cn/llzx/201201/t20120106_133752.htm

Ye Hailin, an expert at the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies under China’s Academy of Social Sciences, made some recommendations that China should use to greatly enhance its anti-terrorist forces. He suggested that China consider promulgation of an anti-terrorism law to change the current practice of applying criminal law and increase the capability of its police powers in targeted areas. Although it should not expect too much, China should also seek international cooperation. “We must understand that, since the death of bin Laden, it has been be the same old model of ‘the terrorists in my country are the freedom fighter in yours.’ … [We] should rely on those countries that are friendly, i.e., those who share common interests and aspirations with us and with whom we have built a foundation of cooperation, such as Pakistan.” Lastly, Ye recommended that the people should be prepared to build their mental capability to withstand anti-terrorist measures that will inevitably affect their livelihood.

Source: International Herald Leader, January 9, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/herald/2012-01/09/c_131344251.htm