Government/Politics - 276. page

Liu Yunshan, a Politburo member and head of the Party’s Propaganda Department, spoke at a working conference in connection with the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party, “[We] should vigorously sing the  praises of the Communist Party, socialism, open reform, the great motherland, and all nationalities. … [We] should interface with international communities and widely introduce them to the extraordinary history of how our Party has led the people through the revolution, development, and reform, and explain to them the core values of our Party as the ruling party to serve the public and the people so that the world better understands China and the Chinese Communist Party.” 

A ten-day training has been planned for the county level Human Resources and Social Security Bureau chiefs, the largest of its kind since its inception. The first session started on April 18 in Beijing. Accordingly to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, it is expected to take three years for all 3,000 grassroots bureau chiefs to complete the training course. The purpose of the training is to improve the leadership quality of officials at the local level, as well as enhance their capability to handle social crises and to combat corruption.

Source: Xinhua, April 18, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/society/2011-04/18/c_121318606.htm

Thirty-six “red” songs have been selected during a national competition to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. Under the lead of the Party’s Propaganda Department, State media, including China Central Television (CCTV) and China National Radio (CNR) are co-sponsoring the competition. The competition will culminate in the top 10 songs in early May. Guangming Daily is publishing one song a day out of the 36 selected. Study Press, the national publisher of the Communist Party’s Propaganda Department, has also released CD’s and DVD’s. Chongqing City’s Propaganda Department has ordered local official media to provide intense coverage of the 36 songs from April 10 to May 20. For example, during this period, Chongqing Satellite TV and the Chongqing Radio Station were ordered to repeat the broadcast of the songs regularly throughout the day. The city government is organizing musicians to teach the songs to the residents so that everyone can sing them.

Source: Chongqing Daily, April 20, 2011
http://cqrbepaper.cqnews.net/cqrb/html/2011-04/20/content_1352325.htm

Oriental Outlook, a weekly magazine under Xinhua News Agency, just published an article about widespread corruption in state-owned enterprises. According to Professor Lin, “an anti-corruption scholar” from the Department of Politics and Law at the Party School of the Central Committee of the C.P.C. (Communist Party of China), “An important reason behind the corruption in state-owned enterprises is the excessive power that top leaders hold. Without any effective system to monitor them, they can make major decisions arbitrarily.”  

Source: Oriental Outlook, April 18, 2011
http://www.lwdf.cn/wwwroot/dfzk/current/251212.shtml

The Beijing Communist Party Youth League recently cancelled a debate forum that was to be given in memory of the 100th anniversary of the “1911 Revolution,” even though students from 16 universities in Beijing and Tianjin were expected to participate. Experts suggest that the cancellation was due to the sensitivity of the topic because it touched the subject of “revolution” and also used the words “college students” and “rally.” Communist Party officials have always considered these to be unstable factors.

Hu Xingdou, a professor of economics at the Beijing Institute of Technology, said he was surprised by the cancellation of the debate but could understand the reason. “The memory of the 1911 Revolution could indeed awaken people’s awareness of revolution. College students have historically been the driving force behind China’s revolutions, including the ‘June 4th’ student movement. The government is on a high alert for them, just as it is for the Jasmine Revolution."

According to Wikipedia, the “1911 Revolution” (or Xinhai Revolution) began on October 10, 1911, with the Wuchang uprising, and ended on February 12, 1912, with the abdication of Emperor Puyi. It resulted in the fall of the Qing Dynasty and marked Sun Yat-sen as the Founding Father of the Republic of China .

Sources:
Radio Free Asia, April 13, 2011
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/tew-04132011111818.htm                                                        
Wikipedia, "The Xinhai Revolution"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1911_revolution

Starting in mid April, the central government is launching a two-month campaign to crack down on “illegal online promotion.” It is a joint effort by the Chinese Communist Party’s International Communication Office, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Administration for Industry & Commerce. The Xinhua article says “In recent years, some companies and individuals have employed illegal means to carry out online promotion activities. The government has been able to identify a number of those who are conducting illegal online promotion. … They have used improper means against competitors, fabricated facts for the purpose of extorting money, sensationalized online news to profit from the attracted public opinion, and engaged in private transactions for illegal personal interests.” The campaign aims to “regulate online communication and promotion activities.”

Source: Xinhua, April 13, 2011
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2011-04/13/c_121300026.htm

Source: VOA, April 9, 2011
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/news/20110409-College-Students-Work-at-Grassroots-119530704.html

[Ed: Ai Weiwei，a well known Chinese artist, designed the Olympic’s Bird’s Nest stadium and has also focused on government corruption, especially in the construction of schools that collapsed during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. The police recently arrested him and charged him with "economic crimes."]

Source: Huanqiu, April 8, 2011
http://opinion.huanqiu.com/roll/2011-04/1615335.html