Government/Politics - 263. page

On December 19, 2011, Study Times, the publication of the Party School of the Central Committee of the CCP, published an article affirming that “the foundation for China’s revival is socialist ideology.” According to the article, capitalist countries use the principle of "human rights above sovereignty" as an excuse to plunder global resources. Different from “free capitalism,” the core principle of socialism is “fairness.” Socialist ideology is what justifies the ruling status of the Chinese Communist Party. The article proudly concludes that the successful practice of socialism in China for over 30 years proves that socialist ideology is becoming the trend for the development of human civilization.

Source: Study Times, December 19, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/12/19/03/03_37.htm

Xinhua recently published an editorial commenting on the Canada’s withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol. The article expressed the belief that the sole motivation for Canada’s “betrayal” was to avoid a fine of CAN$14 billion due to the fact that Canada did not meet the requirements to which it had committed. The United States was referenced as another example of “Western selfishness” since the U.S. refused to even join the Protocol. Japan and Australia are considering the same action, following Canada’s move. The author of the editorial suggested that China should “pay close attention” to the “new signals in international relations” that appeared before and after the Climate Conference in Durban, and China should improve its readiness to face new strategic challenges in defending its national interests. The editorial concluded that moral standards no longer constrain some countries’ behavior, and the West will play more games showing a “loss of patience.”

Source: Xinhua, December 14, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2011-12/14/c_122418663.htm 

Zhou Nongbin, the former Deputy Chief Editor of Guangming Daily and a research fellow at the Marxist Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, published an article defending the need for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s leadership and ruling status. Zhou argued that China’s socialist system determines that it can only be ruled by the Communist Party, just like the capitalist system can only be controlled by capitalists. The author also dismissed the multiple-party system and said that the Communist Party will not allow capitalists to compete for the ruling position. Finally, the author clarified that the multi-party cooperation led by the CCP and the political consultation system is different from the multiple-party system. China will never adopt (multiple parties) or allow any parties other than the CCP to take the leading position.

Source: Qiushi Theory, December 9, 2011
http://www.qstheory.cn/dj/201112/t20111209_128957.htm

Study Times published an article analyzing several key issues that the Cultural Giant Strategy faces.

1) The existing government system: First, in the existing system the government is both the administrator of the culture entities and the host of the culture events at the same time. The government should shift towards being an administrator and be responsible for the entire society. Second, the government is unclear about the difference between a cultural service unit and a business unit and usually applies the same regulations to both. Third, some state owned culture entities have shifted outside of the socialist system. They lack vitality and competitiveness. Last, China lacks elite culture products that are original and have a competitive advantage in the world.

2) Products: In the process of building a cultural giant, what kind of products can China offer that will increase the power of the existing system’s influence?

3) A clear understanding of soft power: How can China turn a rich cultural resource into one with the power of influence and attraction? What is the basis for confidence in Chinese culture?

4) Understanding different paths in developing the culture system. Each region should assess its capabilities to avoid competing against each other. Specifically, they should focus on building their own cultural brand and understand its market potential.

Source: Study Times, December 5, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/12/05/06/06_33.htm

A Qiushi article discussed the trend of the world’s Communist Parties over the last 30 years. It stated that the Communist movement has been through major changes. At present, there are over 130 Communist Parties in the world with a total of just under 90 million members. China itself has over 74 million Communist Party members, accounting for 85% of the Communist Party members in the world. North Korea has about 4 million, Vietnam 3 million, Cuba 900,000 and Laos 100,000. The Communist Party is the ruling party in five countries with 83 million Party members, about 93% of the total in the world. It has six notable features. There is no more central leadership based on personalities; countries where the Communist Party is the ruling party, such as China and Vietnam, have made major achievements; now there are multiple Communist Parties in one country; gradual peaceful development is taking the place of violent revolution; the Communist Party is becoming the ruling party through elections such as in Moldova, Cyprus, and Nepal; and new international communication modes are replacing separate and isolated struggles for survival.

Source: Qiushi, December 5, 2011
http://www.qstheory.cn/zz/zgtsshzyll/201112/t20111205_127728.htm

On December 5, 2011, Study Times, a journal of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, published an article about how Marxism has become an integral part of modern China’s culture system. Marxism has changed China’s traditional language, changed the Chinese people’s philosophical way of thinking, and led the formation of China’s modern philosophy and social sciences as well as the formation of China’s popular culture.

The article further gives suggestions on how to promote Marxism in China and how to speed up the spread of China’s modern culture around the whole world, which includes “the socialist core value system” and “the socialist market economic theory.”  “This kind of revival is not to revive China’s ancient culture, but for China’s culture to achieve a high degree of modernization.”

Source: Study Times, December 5, 2011
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2011/12/05/03/03_30.htm

On December 5, 2011, Xinhua News Agency’s Outlook Weekly published an article titled “The Facts and the Truth about the Humanitarian Interventions." The article criticized the United States and the Western countries interference in the internal affairs of other countries, such as Libya, Iraq, Kosovo, and Somalia. “These ‘humanitarian interventions’ that the Western powers implement, are, in essence, to seek their political and economic interests in the name of ‘humanitarianism’ and ‘the responsibility to protect.’”

“If the United States, Britain, France, and others had truly intended to avoid an even greater humanitarian disaster, they should have strictly implemented the UN Security Council resolution 1973 (2011) on Libya. By establishing a no-fly zone, on the one hand, they could keep Gaddafi’s government from using their Air Force to attack the rebels and kill civilians. On the other hand, they did not have to support the rebels beyond the resolution. In the meantime, the United Nations could have sent in peacekeeping forces to isolate the two sides and keep them apart from each other, which would probably have stopped the expansion of the civil war and brought the two sides together at the negotiating table to work on a solution. Then, today’s serious humanitarian disaster would not have happened. However, the purpose of the United States, Britain, France, and other Western countries was not to urge the cessation of hostilities, but to achieve a regime change by supporting one party against the other in order to take control of the strategically important land and oil resources in North Africa.”  

Source: Xinhua News Agency’s Outlook Weekly, December 5, 2011
http://www.lwgcw.com/NewsShow.aspx?newsId=24873z

China Economy recently republished a report by Xi’an Evening News on a new construction project – a luxury county government building. Wangjiang County of Anhui Province is a “county in poverty.” However the county government is building a new county office building which is eight times the size of the White House. The latest investigation showed that the project never completed the required Feasibility Study Report or the Initial Design Blueprint. The construction also did not follow the national standards established by the government building regulations on the use of luxury materials. Around one-sixth of the project’s funding was sourced from the construction budget of the County Archives project. The building is coupled with the construction of a county square of the same size.

Source: China Economy, November 28, 2011
http://www.ce.cn/xwzx/shgj/gdxw/201111/28/t20111128_22870962.shtml