Government/Politics - 298. page

A draft law that allows the Chinese government to mobilize most of its adult population for defense duties was up for a second reading at the People’s National Congress Standing Committee session on December 22. The draft law emphasized that the State Council and the CCP Central Military Commission hold joint responsibility for national defense mobilization. It included that the National Defense Implementation Plan should be in sync with the Emergency Response Plan, which calls for Emergency activities that include command, the application of force, information, and supply.

The draft law also defined the reserve system. Reservists are to be part of the active-duty forces, reserve forces, or militia. It also included a section calling for the medical and health aid system to be active in peace and war situations. When national defense mobilization occurs, medical staff, medicine, and medical equipment will also be mobilized for wartime use.

Source: Xinhua, December 22, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-12/22/content_12689759.htm

The Chinese Society of Ideological and Political Work (CSIPW), also called the Chinese Association for Culture Construction (CACC) when dealing with foreign countries, opened its ninth conference in Beijing on December 15, 2009, according to Xinhua.

Li Changchun, a Political Bureau Standing Committee member of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a speech, stressing that ideological and political work should constantly create new content forms and methods to deal with new situations and tasks, so as to provide a strong spiritual power and ideological guarantee for the new development of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics. Ideological and political work should be done to support the development of the Party. The mass media, especially the Internet, cell phones, and other communication means should be used to continuously broaden the ideological and political work channels.

Source: Xinhua, December 15, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-12/15/content_12651886.htm

A recent Xinhua report shows that among the 35 newly elected members of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 80% hold administrative positions in universities or research institutes; among the 48 new Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) members, the proportion runs as high as 85%. In China, there are few private universities and research institutes. 

On Dec. 17，a Judge in Argentina issued arrest warrants for two retired Chinese Communist leaders for their crime of persecuting Falun Gong.

In the historic ruling, federal court judge Octavio Araoz de Lamadrid charged former president Jiang Zemin and his Police Chief Luo Gan with crimes against humanity. Luo Gan is the former head of the "610 Office," the extra-constitutional agency that carries out the persecution.

“This is the true reality of the creation of a Chinese Gestapo with the objective of exterminating thousands of innocent people [including women, the elderly, and children] under the control, direction, supervision, and coordination of Luo Gan, the accused … .” Judge Lamadrid wrote of the 610 Office in his decision.

Source: The Epoch Times, December 19, 2009
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/26693/

The widely usage of Internet and Web2.0 media enables the public to use blog postings and text messages among themselves to disseminate H1N1 information, says Globe, a biweekly magazine published by Xinhua. People don’t rely on the traditional media, which is more rigid in reporting the epidemic situation, any more. Thus the crisis of H1N1 also becomes a crisis for the media.

The media should create a favorable public opinion about stable and rapid economic development, said Liu Yunshan, Politburo member and head of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. He stated that the publicity and ideological fronts should study and implement the guidance of the Central Economic Work Conference, be in alignment with the Party’s assessment of the international and domestic economic situation, and with the Party’s economic policy and implementation thereof. 

The “China Marxism Forum 2009” was held in the Central Committee’s Party School in Beijing from December 8 to 9. Xi Jinping, Hu Jintao’s successor, member of the Politburo Standing Committee and President of the Central Committee’s Party School sent a congratulatory letter to the forum.

This forum was sponsored by the China Marxism Study Foundation, the only foundation in China that awards and organizes theoretical study of Marxism and the Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, and the National Development Bank.

Going forward, the China Marxism Study Foundation will sponsor the Marxism Forum annually, with the first meeting held this year.

Source: Study Times, December 14, 2009
http://www.studytimes.com.cn/WebPage/ny1.aspx?act=1&id=3120&nid=11328&bid=1&page=1

The Economic Observer Newspaper recently reported that the State Council is forming a committee to oversee all Chinese energy resources related management issues. The pending government body has been named the "National Energy Resources Committee." The director of this committee is likely to be a deputy prime minister or a state councilor. Members of the committee will come from the National Development & Reform Commission, National Energy Administration, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Environmental Protection and State Administration of Quality and Technical Supervision. The move comes as a result of past poor coordination of various government branches that have a say in energy policies.

Source: Economic Observer Newspaper, December 14, 2009
http://www.eeo.com.cn/Politics/beijing_news/2009/12/13/157999.shtml